Balasore: The longing in the eyes of Panchanan Panda was writ large as he woke up to begin the new year. A stoic silence permeates his room where he has spent the last many years, remembering yesteryears, all alone. Still, he gathers himself, walks to the window to watch the sunrise, like any other day, and awaits the day to unfold.
A resident of Bahanga Gopalpur in Balasore district of Odisha, Panchanan knows he is destined to spend the rest of his life in the Amritdhara Old Age Home in Chandmari, Sahadevakhunta. Like Panchanan, many others have resigned to their fate of living alone in the last years of their lives bereft of care and love from their own family.
Here, the inmates are given to share the solace of strangers who have become a second family for them. “I’ve been here for seven months now,” he shares, his voice trembling with emotion. “My son and his family are in West Bengal. We haven’t spoken in over 22 years. I have lived alone for most time, even after fracturing my leg. But when I couldn’t manage anymore, I had no choice but to look for a home,” says Panchanan, whose family had assured him that they would come back and settle in Odisha. But that, Panchanan realises, was a promise made to be broken.
For Panchanan, the New Year is particularly difficult. “I think of my family, but there’s no point. They won’t come back. The loneliness is killing me, but I am trying to divert my attention to other things. What else can I do,?” he questions.
For others, the heartbreak is compounded by betrayal. Rukmani Behera, an elderly woman from Jaleswar, claims she was driven out of her home by her daughter-in-law after losing her only son to Covid-19. “She denied me food, shelter, and love. When my son was alive, he protected me. But after he passed, I had no choice but to leave,” she recalls.
Now a resident at Amritdhara, Rukmani finds some peace, though the scars of the past haunt her. “I’m better here than at home. But every New Year, I think of my son. If he were alive, I would not have been here. My daughter-in-law’s cruelty wouldn’t have driven me away. It’s hard, but at least here, I don’t feel unwanted.”
However, for Panchanan, Rukmani and many like them, this New Year’s Day began with a joyous moment. Visitors started arriving at the old age home with gifts and wishes. Among them was Dr Vijayalakshmi Sahu from Fakir Mohan Government Medical College, who distributed winter clothes.
“It’s heartbreaking to see parents abandoned like this,” she said. “They deserve care and love in their final years, but instead, they find themselves here, longing for the families that left them behind.”
The silver lining in the cloud is the home, where the staff work tirelessly to bring comfort to the residents. Dr Saroj Mohapatra, who oversees the home, calls it a 'home away from home' for the elderly. “These people won’t beg on the streets, but their hearts ache for their families,” he says. “We try our best to ease their pain through activities and outings, but the longing for their loved ones never truly fades.”
There are times when the elderly at the home are taken on outings to nearby temples. Like on this New Year's Day, they visited a temple, which made them happy. "For us, seeing the clock tick, minute after minute, day after another, is getting difficult. During such time, going out for a while and getting to spend a few hours in a temple gives us much contentment," says Panchanan.
During festivals and important days, one event or the other is organised to help the elderly participate and enjoy. "We intend to make them feel wanted. Most of them have none to call their own. So we help them mingle in the festivities and little joys of life," Mohapatra adds.
At Amritdhara, the inmates bond among themselves and make friends. It helps them form their community. "There are days when these residents burst into laughter together and that fills my heart with gratitude. I believe, this is what I am supposed to do - to make the elderly and abandoned live life to the fullest even without their family," avers Mohapatra. Easier said than done. Mohapatra also knows there is no substitute for the family, "but life has to go on," he quips.
Like Panchanan and Rukmani, most of the other inmates at the old age home, seem to have accepted the dark truth of life that they are alone. "We have come alone and we know we will go alone too. But the children who we gave birth to and made self-sufficient, have today abandoned us. And they are so busy in their lives, that neither do they care for us, nor want to even make a call and find out if we are still alive," says Rukmani with a teardrop sliding down her wrinkled cheeks.
According to the Population Census 2011, there are nearly 104 million elderly people (aged 60 years or above) in India and among them 53 million females and 51 million males. In 2022, Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar had listed various initiatives taken by his ministry in the last eight years and highlighted that the government is planning to set up old-age homes in every district of the country and has identified 250 districts where it will be tying up with local NGOs in the area.
The elderly population in India is expanding at an unprecedented rate and could surpass the children's population by mid-century, reveals a new UNFPA report, underlining that young India will turn into a rapidly ageing society in the coming decades. India has one of the highest populations of adolescents and young people in the world. At the national level, the share of the elderly (60+ years) population is projected to increase from 10.1 per cent in 2021 to 15 per cent in 2036 to 20.8 per cent in 2050, according to the UNFPA's India Ageing Report 2023.
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