After keeping her child in her womb for nine months, making uncountable sacrifices to raise him and make him stand on his feet, the reward, she, a seventy-year-old mom, has received is abandonment by her child. Instead of providing her with the care she deserves in her old age, she has been thrown out like a dead leaf from a tree, but she is not a leaf. She is a living person, a mother who devoted her entire life to her son, but all she receives in return is a lonely life in the four walls of a building full of elderly people, discarded by their children just like her. Do parents, who raise their children with their sweat and blood without seeking anything in return, deserve it? No.
National Parents Day is an awakening call for us to treat our parents like parents. In India, National Parents Day is observed on the fourth Sunday of July every year, which is July 28, 2024 this year.
Origins and Purpose of National Parent’s Day
National Parents Day is celebrated in different countries on different days. Its origins are not the same in every country but the purpose is same. National Parents Day is a day dedicated to appreciate and recognize parents’ efforts. Now many may think parents don’t need recognition for the job they are supposed to do. It’s surely parents’ duty to look after children but it’s not easy. It often asks for sacrifices. Parents teach, guide, listen, cheerlead, comfort, discipline and do many things for their children beyond imagination. Their job doesn’t have any days off, nor are they paid. After all their hard work, there should be at least a day to thank and encourage them. Hence, comes National Parents Day.
What does our culture say about parents’ Importance?
Touching our elders’ feet is taught in Indian culture. It involves bowing down to them to touch their feet. And this is not a superstition. It’s part of our culture for multifarious reasons. One reason among them is that when we bow down, we learn to become humble and don’t become egoistic. There may be some situations in our life that require us to be humble. Bowing down to our parents or elders teaches us to be patient and humble in such situations and to adopt more good qualities. Another reason is that when parents touch our heads to give us blessings, positive waves enter our minds with their good wishes, boosting positivity.
Elderly Care Homes or “Orphan” Elderly Care Homes?
Old-age homes make it easier for many children to conveniently free themselves from the responsibilities of taking care of their parents. But the real purpose of these care homes is surely not to get rid of the elderly after they’re of no use. That’s not what our culture teaches us. Elderly care homes are supposed to be for those elders who are helpless and without family. So, instead of calling them old age homes or elderly care homes, we should call them orphan old age homes or orphan elderly care homes. If abandoning children in orphanages just because parents don’t want to take care of them doesn’t make any sense, how do the children who shun their old parents in care homes make any sense?
Gain Life Experiences from your Parents
Our parents have an exchequer of experience with them and their grey hair is proof of that. They have knowledge and expertise that we don’t possess. Ignoring them when they give us advice means backing down from success. Instead of thinking or assuming ‘my parents don’t know anything’, we should try to learn from them and listen to them. Who knows, we may find the greatest mentors in our house in the form of parents. No matter how busy we are, we can squeeze out at least a couple of hours for having heart-to-heart conversations with our parents.
Do we Respect our Parents?
In old times, people wouldn’t oust even their domestic animals. They would keep them under their care even when the animals would get old or sick. However, now the situation is so bizarre that let alone their domestic animals, people don’t respect even their own parents. After serving their purpose when both domestic animals and parents get old and are not beneficial anymore, they’re thrown out like a drowned bee is thrown out of milk. Parents deserve respect, care, and love. We should pay off our debt to them by looking after them just like they used to do when we were little. We may not be as good as them but it’s still far better than misbehaving with them or abandoning them.
TEAM Campaign
TEAM stands for Together Eating A Meal with Family. This is a campaign initiated by Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan to strengthen family bonds. Family meals are a crucial step to evoke feelings of love, support, and loyalty among all family members. While having meals together, they share their thoughts with each other, seek or give advice, and support each other when needed, which makes them get closer to each other and they emerge as a strong family. Children grow up in such environments understand the values of relationships with their parents and never shun them when they grow up.
Let’s Celebrate this Parents Day with our Parents and not for just one day
Get up in the morning and start your day with parents’ blessings. It will fill your entire day with enthusiasm and positivity. Provide them with respect, seek their advice, look after them and let them play and laugh with their grandchildren. A residence with their children, with their family, is their happiest place, not a care home. This is how every day should be celebrated as Parents Day. Let’s not let it turn into just a day with no meaning. This National Parents Day 2024, let’s make a difference!
