OLD AGE CARE
   Date :01-Oct-2019

 
 
THE Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has done well to ask the Social Justice Ministry to review the effectiveness of the existing law against abandoning and abuse of elderly parents. It appears the PMO does not consider the existing law stipulating a jail term of three months effective enough to deter children from abandoning or abusing their old parents. Hence the need for a stronger and more effective law. The original law was enacted in view of the growing population of old people and children’s tendency to leave their parents in old age to fend for themselves for various reasons, including the need to go abroad for furthering their careers or pursuing higher education. Such instances are on the rise in recent times, leaving old people in the lurch with old age becoming nightmarish due to dwindling physical capacity and some form of ailment rendering them incapacitated. It is in this state of life that the old people need assistance of all sorts, including financial and emotional. And unfortunately in most cases there is nobody around to meet these demands.
 
SO LONG,
 
KALIA CHARACTER artists, with their seemingly little but tractional contributions, pump in fresh life in films they act and offer a lasting memory to the followers. Viju Khote provided Indian cinema one single sentence that went on to become a legendary bestowal and an immortal contribution. “Sardar maine aapka namak khaya hai,” as a terrified ‘Kalia’, with a gun on his temple, blurted out his response to the furious ‘Gabbar’ in all-time classic ‘Sholay’ in 1975, little did the reel world know that it would become a stuff for legends. Not that the single-line dialogue was the only notable performance by Khote in Hindi film industry, but the magic it created has culminated into a folklore. Khote’s passing away has brought curtains on a significant career in film and television world. That he went on to deliver more such moments like ‘Kalia’ in the later part of this career was an assertion of this mild-mannered gentleman’s acting prowess. Hindi as well as Marathi film industry have lost a true gem whose glitter will last forever. So long, ‘Kalia’. Go well!