No Eid joy for old home residents

They wore new clothes and had special food on Eid day but that did not make them feel any good at the Old Rehabilitation Centre in Gazipur. 

Away from family and children, the day was like any other day of the year, said the old home's residents, many of whom were not visited by their dear ones on the special occasion.

"I cannot meet my family members even on this Eid day. This is not life," said octogenarian Tafazzal Hossain.

He came to the rehabilitation centre at Bishya Kuribari in Gazipur sadar upazila two years back after the death of his wife.

Tafazzal badly missed his grandchildren, son, daughter-in-law, daughter and relatives at the centre and so went back home in Haatpagla village of Mymensingh after three months.

But his destiny brought him to the old home again two months back.

Tafazzal's son Ruhul Amin, a worker of a ready-made garment factory in Gazipur, said no one was there to look after his elderly father at home, which was why he had left him at the old home.

"My sister Parul was admitted to a private clinic in Mymensingh a week before Eid. Had I taken my father home, who would have looked after him? Besides, he might have a heart attack if he got to know about Parul," Ruhul said.

Another resident, 85-year-old homeopathy doctor Abdul Hamid was reading an old newspaper without spectacles when this correspondent visited the centre. He too came to the old home after his wife's death.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke about his daughter and two sons.

The entrance to the centre. Photo: Abu Bakar Siddique

“It is not possible to do certain things at old age even if one wishes to do,” he said, adding that he was neither happy nor sad at the rehabilitation centre.

Abdul urged the young generations to take care of old members in their families. “Every human being, if he lives long, would go through old age,” he said. 

"My daughter-in-law does not care about me because I am not a good person. So, I live here," said 62-year-old Joynab Begum, her voice infused with sadness and anger.

Once she used to be a proud mother of a daughter and two sons -- one marine engineer and the other, a businessman, and lived at Dohar in Dhaka.

Soleman Gazi, 85, became angry when asked about his family.

Five years back, his younger son Khaleque Gazi took him along, saying that they were going to Soleman's elder son Golam Gazi's place but instead left him at the gate of Gazipur's old home.

Not everyone at the old home, however, was brought there by their immediate families. Motija, 64, and Fatema Begum, 80, do not have husband and children.

Motija's elder sister left her here 16 years ago since she could not see properly and had difficulty in walking.

She usually spends Eid days with her relatives every year. But this year no one came to take her home.

Fatema, who used to work as a domestic help, was brought to the old home four years ago by her employer as she grew old and so became unable to take care of herself, let alone others.

Moharaj, one of the 80 staff of the centre, said many of the residents have their movements restricted due to old-age ailments. They need medicines regularly.

“I am becoming more responsible towards my parents while caring for these elderly people,” said Moharaj who works as an attendant.

A total of 203 senior citizens -- 100 men and 103 women -- live in the rehabilitation centre, according to the centre's caretaker Md Abu Sharif.

The centre gave new clothes to all on the Eid occasion and vermicelli and puffed rice for breakfast. About 500 people offered prayers at the mosque inside the compound. After the Eid prayer, pulao (special rice dish), beef and chicken curry and curd were served, Sharif said.

"Every child should take care of their parents until death," he sighed.