I’m going to tell you a little story that I heard about a week and a half ago. A story of a mother, just like mine and your’s.
This summer of 2018, I’ve joined an organisation called HelpAge India, working to empower the disadvantaged elderly. On the very first day of my internship, I thought to myself of how HelpAge must have been helping elders who have lost their family in some tragedy, who have no one on this planet, no family and no friends. Little did I know, that there are parents out there who have been left to die, assaulted, abused and beaten up by their own blood. I heard the story of a mother who was pushed from a rooftop just for loving her children too much, just for living with them and just because she was a dependent. Her son couldn’t take her compassion anymore. She perhaps was now a burden. She was thought to be a trouble to the home, a home that she built. This was one of the moments where my heart sank. I saw the media coverage on YouTube about the story. I researched more and my helplessness only grew more. It was not just empathy, I can assure you about that. It was much more. It was her sense of belief which was betrayed by her own son, that made me lose my belief in the world for a moment. Within moments to follow next, I put my thoughts together and strived to do something more about it.
As a young person, am very active on social media, especially Instagram. I have about 4500 followers. I have now decided to reach out to more young people through the power of Instagram stories and build advocacy on the issue. I’ll be at the Parliament street on 15th June, 2018 with my friends instagramming live, through the power of my smartphone, to mark the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day with the HelpAge India team. Will you join me to help advocate for a world that is sensitive to it’s elderly and promotes love, dignity and empowerment in their lives? Let’s come together to fight abuse, loneliness and neglect in their lives.
For the next one month, I’ll be interning with HelpAge India at the Delhi office, helping in the Communications and Advocacy team to amplify their efforts and build a more inclusive world for our destitute elders.
Credits: Ankita Arora, 20-year-old Literature student from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University.
