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Tamil Nadu
Neglected: Pechiammal of Nadumudalaikulam in the space outside her daughter’s home; Nallakurumba Thevar and his wife, Rasamma of Munduvelampatti at their dwelling. 
They are not able bodied. Loss of sight and hearing and arthritic pain in joints are unavoidable for them. The fragile frame betrays a strong will to live. But with whose help? Lives of the elderly in rural pockets of Usilampatti block of Madurai district is of suffering, despair and, above all, ostracisation by their own kith and kin. Their existence within the household is determined by their ability to earn. Otherwise, they are either abandoned in their native villages or forced to spend their last days on the ‘thinnai.’ This is not a social condition but a resultant effect of economic consequences with that of impoverishment, rising prices and difficulty in providing non-financial assistance like personal care. Balusamy (65) and his wife Pasupathy (60) of Munduvelanpatti near Karumathur have 6 children but are left to work on their own and make a living. While their sons and daughters have migrated to towns and cities seeking better livelihoods the couple has to fight it out in the village. Balusamy is a butcher who sells mutton during Sundays and earns Rs.1,500 a month. Pasupathy says, “We buy o ru seru arisi (one and a half kg of rice) once in three days and vegetables depending on the requirement and existing prices.” Pasupathy, who has health problems, says, “I have not seen a doctor owing to our economic condition.” The condition of Pechiammal (80) of Nadumudalaikulam is pathetic. Mother of five children and a widow, she is almost physically immobile and has been made to live outside the house, on the ‘thinnai,’ for the last three years. Her diminutive and malnourished appearance says it all. She has to feed on the leftovers of her daughter’s family. Ten per cent of the village population constitutes the elderly who are dispossessed by their children, according to a member of the Association of Rural Development Trust. The dynamics of elderly poverty here functions in a similar pattern irrespective of caste as this practice cuts across caste groups, with government-sponsored social security schemes hardly reaching the needful. Those like Nallakurumba Thevar (90) and his wife, Rasamma (80), are a bit fortunate as their children live nearby. “It is a social compulsion that we live away from our parents after marriage,” admits N. Gurusamy, who runs a petty shop in Munduvelanpatti. The problem of elders is compounded by the absence of employment caused by successive failure of monsoon. Most of their children have left for other States. This stark phenomenon of children looking at their parents as a burden that could not be carried along was first noticed by National Service Scheme volunteers of Arul Anandar College.
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