Friday 30 November 2012

AREN'T THEY USEFUL? RESPONSE TO A COMMENTARY...

                 Yesterday in the article titled "Elderly people are assets", I highlighted the place of elderly persons,their roles and how we can tap the riches in them and turn them into a lucrative business.I pointed out that these chaps aren't irrelevant.They still have something meaningful to contribute.That what they have is original and first-hand.That  we better store what they have since losing it is catastrophic to us and generations to come.

                  A colleague pointed out in a commentary that the usefulness of these heroes has been overtaken by events.That we should hold them responsible for the mess they did to the world and to the present and coming  generations.That their wisdom is obsolete to the extent that it is not in tandem with the present day needs -what he called 'modernity'.I promised to respond by writing a follow-up article to the previous one to drive my point home.And this is it.

                 Methinks it is paramount to note that sins committed in the past can't form basis to lock out fruits and useful deeds that happened in the past too.I'm of the view that these guys did their wrong things.They committed sins.They made wrong and defective decisions that we are now paying for dearly.Yes,this happened.But should we continue staying in self-denial?Isn't it possible to see the good side of these peoples' lives?Is our condemnation of their deeds fair and rational?Can we pick useful lessons from their lives and actions?Do their mistakes and misgivings shape our present day life engagement?

                  My point was clear;that these persons have their angelic side.Lets not condemn them in totality.That this condemnation is of no benefit at all.That we stand more to lose than gain by passing out blanket condemnation on these chaps.That some of the things we need are uniquely within them and can't be found anywhere.And that we should tap these "things",store them and turn them into an investment.I will give few examples on this.

                   The human nature advances through mistakes.That human beings are strengthened by the challenges they face.They grow stronger and "wiser" depending on the situations at hand.And one needs not to experience these challenges personally to learn.Life is always is a web of activities and learnings.You learn through the mistakes of others before you.This is the bottom line.So this begs the questions - are the misgivings and mistakes of those who came before useful?Do they play a role in how we relate with others and environment?

                   Our kids spend hours watching cartoons and comedies.We complain that they are "spoilt".That they are incapable of reasoning and thinking.But have we ever asked ourselves why?Don't we have something useful to offer to counter this "infiltration" of our kids?And that is why I proposed that we tap the riddles, songs, proverbs, late-night-stories offered by these grandmas/pas and animate them.By animating them we make them easy to read and understand by our kids.In doing so we will end up creating employment opportunities and kill this infiltration of our kids.Isn't that useful?..It is up to you to decide!

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