A few days back while discussing about some work with my colleague who is 65 yrs old, suddenly my back ached and I realized that the seats which has been allotted to him was quite uncomfortable. Once the discussion was over I pulled a comfortable chair from the other room and passed it to him.
Days passed by and once again I witnessed the same emotions, expression on his face which I had witnessed with another colleague(68yrs old) in my previous job.
There's something that pinches me all the time, our education, social & political system promises us a peaceful old age after our life's hard work and dedication then how cum so many people above 60 & 70 years are either working or looking for job?
Is it out of choice?
Is it out of habit? or
Is it due to circumstances?
Whatever the reason is the after effect is something like this:-
1. You can see them sitting in one corner of the office away from everyone else,
2. They are never a part of the jolly happenings in the work place,
3. They are criticized for being slow with their work (obvious at their age),
4. People get irritated and sometimes make fun of them for their disabilities like hearing problem or lack of computer knowledge(which is again obvious)
5. If they have their own group then their discussion consist of their achievements or complains about the young generations irresponsible conduct which in return give way to a cold war.
All these are fine as it happens in close groups BUT the extreme happens when
6. A young boss humiliates an elderly person showing off the power of his position...........
Gosh, I wonder how they take it.
Because if it happens to me........
At work place everyone is judged primarily on the basis of performance (lets ignore the other things for now) and a little mistake..............
someone has said it right "Tong is the deadliest weapon."
May be I'm looking at the whole thing from a negative aspect. It definitely can be argued that they are independent, have a social life and most importantly they are not dependent on their kids.
But I'll still not agree because whenever I look into their eyes all I see is emptiness,going through the files, sipping the cup of coffee, walking from one end to the other in the office and their broken smiles.
The other reason is my grandfather, he is 102 yrs old. He spends his time looking after his animals and between his grand children. He is proud of being able to do all this without any help.
The last time I saw him he was literally talking to a calf, I was shocked and thought his old age has started affecting his brain but later on asking my cousin told me that's the way they live. Their love is not confined to human beings only. And here we go on building roads & buildings in the name of beeeeeepppp development.
Coming back to the point, he is a part of the family with people who understand him and no one criticizes him for his mistakes. Most importantly he is living HIS LIFE.
Which ever way we select, problems are unavoidable but the point is we have a choice, either live your own life or a life designed by others. After all I have this one life man.
I wish, we could spend more time LIVING & less time MAKING A LIVING!!!
