Editorial
The moving tale of Selina
Need for return to core values
The tragic story of Selina Majumder, abandoned by her children, and now languishing in an old home, must have spoilt the breakfast of many Daily Star readers on Sunday. They had to pinch themselves to believe the plight of a mother falling victim to inhuman indifference from her immediate family.
The saddest part of the story is that all of her four children are well-placed in society; with no financial reason whatsoever to be ruthlessly callous to an elderly mother at the hour of her need. All she needed is a warm corner for herself in the household of those she considered her near and dear ones.
This brings to the fore decaying family values lost in the whirlwind of so-called modernity and selfish nuclear lifestyle. One might point to western societies where the old and the infirm are taken care of by society. This cannot hold good in our context. For, we don't have the infrastructure to render service to such people. Besides, they are not asking for too much either, given that they did so much for the family and society at large. The children of the abandoned lady might not have been what they are today but for her great care in their formative years. It is really unfortunate that they are completely oblivious of the debt they owe to the mother. Even in the West, many people feel that their high-paced life is pushing the elder citizens towards a lonely, precarious existence which they themselves regret a lot about.
Selina's story is perhaps an example of perverted modernization which is entirely out of place vis-a-vis our core family values. It negates our age-old culture of looking after the elderly as part of our familial, social and religious duty. See, how a plethora of phone calls were made to The Daily Star office after we published her story: the outpourings of empathy for her through anxious queries about how they could come to her assistance obviously brought out the best in humanity. Also add to the loving care of Dr Shah Alam and the lone attendant at the old home, you cannot but have an incremental faith in humanity.
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