A 107 and still going strong! Lourdes Conceicao Lobo has hit
the century mark and a little more, probably making her one of Goa’s oldest
ladies. But Lourdes is not crunching numbers, rather she is looking back at the
years spent in fortitude, the will of God and the warmth of her ever-present
family. “Even though some of her grandchildren are out of Goa, in the past five
years of so, everyone has made it a point to come down for ‘Mae’s birthday’ on
December 8. She is the pillar of the family that binds everyone together,”
avers her grandson, Jonathan Lobo. Living in Camurlim for the last 65 years, Lourdes
has lived a disciplined life, the merits of which she has imbibed in her four
children and six grandchildren. “She was systematic and strict when it came to
prayers, obedience to parents, respecting others, punctuality and the like. We
were punished for disobeying or answering back. But she also has a very kind
and generous side, sharing things with others,” he adds unperturbed by a
serious life-threatening ailment at 102, she has lived beyond to tell her
story. But it’s the events and happenings in today’s world that have saddened
this peaceful lady. “She feels that nowadays, most have lost the very essence
of life; that is to love and care for one another and trust in God,” says
Jonathan on his grandmother’s behalf.
Terming his grandchildren as his raison de etre, Prakash
Naik believes that all it takes to keep that grand old link alive is a lot of
love and understanding. “There is so much we can learn from them, just as they
can from us. My granddaughter, Anushka wakes me up in the morning and recites
her alphabets to me and later in the evening when we go for a walk. I recount
stories of the past to her. She sincerely believes that I am her partner and no
one can tell her otherwise. We share a great rapport,” enthuses this Panjim
-based septuagenarian.
These privileged senior citizens are nevertheless getting to
be a rarity these days, with many left to idle their sunset years in utter
loneliness. “We raised two children by the sweat of my brow, but today they are
miles away in a foreign country. The grandchildren are almost alien to us. We
had hoped we would have them around in our old age, but alas,” lament Alzira
and Mike Sequeira.
‘Blame it on nuclear families,” says another widow, Matilda,
who has been denied the privilege of being with her grandchildren. But to
bridge the gap she has been spending a considerable amount of time with
orphans. “These little ones are so grateful for the love which they reciprocate
endlessly,” she says of the joy she as now found.
‘It’s the generation gap,” say the young ones in their
defense, but the undeniable fact is that the rift is threatening to sever this
precious and irreplaceable grand old link.
