The summer wind was cool. Mrs. Ray's arthritis was acting up. The first 30 minutes after getting up in the morning was brutal. Thereafter, walking along with everyone else made things a little better for her knees.
She would cloister with the other older people in the monastery just after waking up, groaning as she went. Saayaa would be a patient listener to her problems, problems of the same nature everyday. Mrs. Ray had become a widow recently. Mr. Ray had been a part of the Geriatric Counsel of the town. Nothing in the village happened without talking about it with the elders of the village. Mr. and Mrs. Ray were fond of each other. But Mr. Ray had been suffering from oesophageal cancer which had progressed to the point where he couldn't swallow food or drink. It was difficult for everyone to see his pain. So when he passed away quietly, the people wished for him to be at peace finally, and let him go. This included Mrs. Ray. She prayed he would have a good afterlife. She mourned him, but her practicality told her he was better off gone rather than suffering each day, getting worse progressively.
"He is in heaven for sure," Mrs. Ray said. "He was a good man." She fell silent.
Saayaa nodded in assent. "He took good care of us," she said.
Mr. Ray had not only been in the Geriatric Counsel, he was the head of the group.
Saayaa said thoughtfully, "We will require someone new."
The Ganashakti magazine was pinned on the common newsboard.
"Look," someone said.
"WANTED FROM THE CITY: A smith to oversee the making of the Common Room separately for the gents and ladies of the village. A plumber to oversee the repairing of the plumbing in the entire village. A psychiatrist for tending to the daily lives over the increasing number of sad elderly people in the Geriatric Counsel. Searching for a humble attendant for the elderly and as a helping hand for those in the monastery."
The Buddhist monastery attracted many people to their village. The majority of people in the village were Hindus, but they loved going there to pray in silence. It was said that at one point of time decades ago when drought struck the land, somebody had a dream where Buddha pointed a finger at the place where the Shrine now stood. When they dug a well in that place, they found an underground reservoir of water which saved them from a calamitous situation. The people decided to build a Buddhist monastery there.
The people of the village paid a visit every evening when the monks would pay homage to Lord Buddha. The monks were mainly from outside of the village, but some people came from the village itself.
Mr. and Mrs. Ray's son had become a monk. Initially they had resisted his decision. When they saw how much at peace he was though, they let him go. Mrs. Ray would often go to the shrine to pray, even though she barely saw her son there, among the many bald sannyasins of Buddhism.
Neena was 11 years old, and destitute. She had lost both her parents to robbers who had taken their lives on the trip to the city through a shady forest. She would do odd jobs to bide her time in the village.
Seeing the notice for a helping hand, she turned to the monastery.
Of course, the monks, unsure at first, decided to give her a chance, and she did well.
A psychiatrist had come from the city as per their request. Dr. Kapil.
Dr. Kapil was the first to ask, "Who are the Geriatric Counsel?"
Mrs. Ray filled him in.
The elders of the village (The Geriatric Counsel) were collectively responsible for the many decisions taken in the village. Whenever some decision needed to be taken, they would sit together, decide and let the villagers know under the various aspects of the village paper, "Ganashakti". With the demise of the two most lovable of the elderly in a month, all the elders were feeling down. It is said that the chance of suicide in a depressed person goes higher up as they age.
Saayaa's husband became the head of the Counsel.
Every morning at 6 a.m., the elders decided to jog 5 km. At the end, they would close with the formation of a laughing club. At evenings, the Counsel would come together and together be a part of the counseling sessions.
One evening, Mrs. Ray said, "I remember the time when you
Stood as a lonely flower
Amidst the green
A shower of red and gold.
I remember your loneliness would
Prick my heart
like a shard
And the ruby red that glowed
Would give you company
For That was when I stood
With you
Always
With you."
"That's remarkable," Dr. Kapil said, "But what is its purpose?"
"This was what my husband wrote to me when he first started courting me."
Mrs. Ray laughed.
"He used to see me in secret when I was in the cow shed milking the cows. Then I used to be alone plenty of times. He would observe me doing my daily chores and finally one day, he brought up the courage to speak to me. He proposed to me. I didn't know what to do, I was flabbergasted. No guy had talked to me, let alone propose. I grew red and told him to go away. When he came back again, he and his father talked to my father and just like that, I was told to prepare for marriage!"
Mrs. Ray sighed.
"I remember how he used to pick up even the slightest changes of my mood. I knew he loved me, he knew I loved him, and everything else was a question of adjustment. He never hurt me. I don’t know what I had ever done to become so lucky...but now he is gone."
A single tear fell from her eyes.
"Enough about me," Mrs. Ray said.
And as the discussions went on, people felt more at ease.
Saayaa hugged Mrs. Ray.
"You're lucky you knew him before marriage. I met my husband at the marriage mandap."
Saayaa said, "There is something I want to bring to the forefront of the Geriatric Counsel."
Everyone turned to her with attention.
"It is about our neighbours, the Chaurasia family."
Saayaa continued grimly, "There we have a case of domestic violence, the son and his wife mistreat and even hit their mother and father."
A murmur of resentment and two or three "What!" resounded.
So the decision to separate them was taken.
Such decisions were difficult, but necessary.
The cruelties that were committed when the people became elderly were there everywhere, but the strength to revolt against the culprits rarely came from the elderly population, who were prone to forget and forgive a lot.
But not in their village. The Geriatric Counsel would always have the upper hand. Whether to greet each other when they saw each other at morning walks, grieve together at each others' losses, or be happy for the village as a whole, they had their own power at each others' hands.
You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.
2 comments
Interesting concept having a geriatric council. At least, they will have a lot of experience and hopefully wisdom to make good decisions. They will certainly have accumulated many memories.
Reply
Thank you
Reply