Wails of forgotten mothers muted amid revelry

The whole world celebrated the 'International Mother's Day' on Sunday with great enthusiasm cloaked in motherly fondness, showing people how much does a mother mean to her offspring.

Social media platforms were flooded with messages by millions of sons and daughters pronouncing their love for their mothers to the world and enunciating how they owed their mothers their successes in lives.

Well, it is indeed a pleasure for us to see how important the mother is in one's life. While huge public display of affection embellished the greatness of motherhood across various platforms, commercial establishments made some quick bucks selling their myriad products that reflected love for mothers.

However, for millions of mothers across the country, who have been languishing in 'shelter homes' and 'old age homes' far away from the public eye, unattended by their children and other relatives, the day made no difference.

Though only a very few got the taste of charity, as a whole, abandoned and destitute mothers had no takers while the privileged and celebrity mothers hogged all the limelight.

Not so long ago, before the concept of 'micro families' emerged, mothers used to enjoy the care and affection of their children in the fag end of their lives.

But with the passing of time, vanishing ethics and the growing trend of 'I, me and myself' have downgraded the dignity of aged people and resulted in mushrooming of 'homes'.

Fishing in the troubled waters, property developers found huge scope in constructing gated communities for senior citizens across major metropolitan cities in the country including Hyderabad and a new trend, though morbid, in the well-to-do households, started picking up.

Though the property developers promised heaven for the aged in their attempt to cash in on the young sons' and daughters' inconvenience in tending the parents who gave them lives, once the gated community started picking momentum, the so called 'old age paradises' turned to be a real hell of senior citizens.

Coupled with neglect are several geriatric issues that pushed millions of mothers to despair and misery.

If the situation in the old age homes and gated communities is sickeningly gruesome, even for a few mothers who continue to live within the four walls of their houses with their children, the scenario is no different.

Official data shows that 52 per cent of aged women are victims of domestic violence. What more, recently a video went viral that shows a son pushing his aged mother to death from the terrace of his apartment, as he was irritated by the whims and deteriorating health condition of his mother.

All these happen in a country where the society has been taught since time immemorial that 'mata, pita, guru daivam' (Mother, father and teachers are equal to god)!

Conveniently forgetting these nauseating facts, the world continues to celebrate the Mother's Day. It is a bit incomprehensible for a sensible person that cultures across the world put a day aside each year to celebrate motherhood and forget their parents the rest of the time.

A real-life encounter with the suffering mothers who grew up their children to be the best citizens, giving up all their material pleasures, will put any civilised citizen