Generation gap should be bridged

by Nimal RANATUNGA

The child is highly fond of the grand parents. Similarly the pet of the grand parents is the grandson or the granddaughter. The grandchildren are more attached to grandparents than to their own parents. The activities of both the elder and the child are strongly intrinsically linked. They play and sing together. The children are highly anxious to listen to the interesting stories told by the elders. The sight of elders is a pleasure and to associate them is the highest mental bliss for them. The elder motivates and emboldens the child to be active and complaisant. With the passage of time under the influence of urbanisation, modernisation and globalisation the emergence of an intensively complexed society and the psychogenic changes in the outlook of children resulted in drastic transformation in their behavioral pattern of life. This is the period that the child steps into the stage of adolescence.

During this stage an attitudinal change of the youth towards the elderly is vividly evident as he is gradually detached from the grandparents and he is away from them. The fascination which the child derived from the elder had faded away and now he is devoid of those pleasant reminiscences.

On the other hand the Elder is highly depressed and frustrated as he is away from his loved and charming ones. Even though the elder is well looked after by the others at his own home he strongly feels that he is desperate as he is highly segregated from the youth.

Apparently a gap has invariably emerged between the youth and the elder creating a discernible void in the human relationship. If the affable relationship with the child from his infancy with the elder which infused vitality to the life of the elder continued consistently it would certainly invigorate eternally the entire life of the elder. It is the prime duty of the adults particularly the parents to see that the youth is close to the elder and his affectionate intimacy with the elder continues impressively devoid of any interruption.

The teachers of our school - system should make a sincere endeavour to convince the students the remarkable and the memorable service rendered by the elders to diverse spheres of the country, particularly to the family, society and the community.

The children should be persuaded to extend their care and succour to the elders, whenever it is possible.

It is an indisputable fact that in accordance with our highly honoured traditions elders are considered to be a significant segment of the population highly exemplary to the younger generation in several aspects.

If the younger generation is incidentally segregated from the older generation they would not accrue the sublime benefits from the elder, instead they would get accustomed to a profligate life pattern.

Pertaining to this analysis it is pertinent to retrospect the magnimous qualities inherent in them. Some elders are perspicacious as most of them possess the capacity and the ability to view problems and issues from a broad perspective. They are gifted with the exemplary skills of aplomb and flexibility. They do not appreciate puerile aesthetic contributions as most of the elders are enriched with refined tastes.

They are endowed with human ken pertaining to the matters of paramount importance concerning our life.The elder who is the illustrious and the gracious member of the older generation is respected and venerated by everybody. The younger generation should be exposed to his tangible influence to inspire the youth to lead a successful, meaningful and a worthy life.

(The writer is former Director of Education and presently the Director of the Education Division of HelpAge Sri Lanka.)