we have many stereo types in our films which take an extreme view instead of being balanced.there is no perfect situation or solution in life.i watched Baghban the other day and felt what a shoddy job the director had done with the storyline. A banker who is dealing with money and investment day in and day out is broke to the extent that he has no money to repair his spectacles after retirement.....Have they forgotten that banking jobs carry pension and even if his PF is nil, he still has something to live on. ...The other films too show things in a very unrealistic manner making the children villains and the parents eternally suffering ....I am sure there are such cases but they may be few ...
Hindi films are known to exaggerate many real life situations to the extent that they almost become funny and ridiculous, I agree Baghban is quite shoddily done and we cannot digest a savvy banker to be so gullible. Yet there are many such examples where children do make a big show of love adn devotion to parents and once they get everything turned into their names, they leave their parents on their fate!
Of course there are some children who are so greedy that they become totally uncaring and insensitive to the needs of the parents. So, it is better for everyone to be prepared for the worst and see that they are financially comfortable during their old age, may be even book a old age home ...
A renowned builder in Pune built such a project on the outskirts of Pune, an up-scale, modern scheme of bungalows and rowhouses in picturesque surroundings, and it has become a fashion in the affluent families to book a home for the elderly in that scheme. They even have their own bus service to and from prominent areas in the city! Many elderly couples actually are opting on their own free will to go live there! Maybe it is a welcome and positive sign since more and more children are now migrating out of country and are unavailable to care for their parents!
Absolutely ! One should move with the times, I too have visited a couple of such old age homes, one run by a christian institute which caters to thye middle class people which was run beautifully...Another like in Pune, is on the outskirts of the city with small villas and row houses, looked after by the staff and the people living there seem very happy since they have company and have a set routine..
But still the ones run by government and NGOs are very dismal since not all old people can afford better places. All they offer is food and roof over the head but lack warmth and love of a home!
Few days back in one news snippet, one elder age home, is evacuated and sold to a private real estate owners, and the elders who were staying there has been stranded at the road side, a really sad story and government should have stepped in there, instead of keeping mum.