When does someone become unwanted for his family and society? Man’s average lifespan has increased with the progress of medical science but the seniors are not treated any better these days. They are seldom treated humanely, in contrast with the social security measures civilised countries are supposed to put in place.
A recent report in Manorama about a primitive practice in some parts of Tamil Nadu sparked some memories. “Thalaikuthal” is a kind of mercy killing for the old.
I came across this strange custom about 15 years ago, when one of my relatives narrated his experience as a personnel manager at a prominent sugar company in Tamil Nadu. He was busy taking over another sugar company which was declared a sick unit in the hinterlands of the state.
The factory looked like a haunted house. He was shocked to hear that seven or eight employees had killed themselves by jumping into an abandoned well on the compound. More shockingly, the managers at the factory did not view this as strange. They were used to the practice and were prepared to offer jobs to the sons of the employees who took their lives.
However, I could not keep the information aside as something routine. I probed more and the newly gained knowledge about the practice of undeclared mercy killings gave me so many sleepless nights.
No one complained about these deaths. The family of the diseased, community leaders, the panchayat, the company and even the police viewed it as something very natural and inevitable. The police asked how could they file a case against the son of the deceased without anyone complaining.
Aged and about to lose their jobs, these fathers stood no chance before their young sons. Even the mothers wanted their sons to get jobs with the factory rather than shouldering the burden of looking after the old men for the rest of their lives.
Some of my friends dismissed these reports as incredulous but I received several letters pointing to the prevalence of such customs in different parts of Tamil Nadu.
I wrote a story based on these revelations. It was named ‘Jalasamadhi’. When I wrote the novel ‘Adayalangal’ later, I developed the theme further and tried to convey it through an officer who wanted to highlight these incidents and view them from a plane of morality and humanity. “Priyamvada” was one of my favourite characters.
The recent report is more disturbing. Readers may find it unbelievable in this modern age. The news item quotes a study that says that the practice of nudging the aged to death is prevalent in a few parts of Tamil Nadu. While about 30 percent of people viewed it as a custom, 22 percent consider this as a relief to the aged.
Apparently, there are 26 methods of mercy killing and there are expert executioners in the villages. These methods include the conventional as well as modern techniques such as lethal injections. If the mercy killings were done after intimating the relatives and the people in the village earlier, it has become a more secretive affair today.
This practice is part of the throw-away culture which does not think before disposing of the old and the useless.
The reported study was done by an assistant professor of the University of Madras. Her name was Priyamvada, like the protagonist of my novel written years ago.
I felt like my character coming to life. I wish this Priyamvada leads a resistance to this practice which is as cruel as female foeticide.
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