Reflections about the old people
AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT IN ISTANBUL
Between 9-12 October in the splendor of Dolmabahce saraii the prime minister of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan will open an international congress dedicated to the status and well-being of the senior citizens around the world. Turkey, where the old people are highly respected, is the most natural host for this important event.
The story about the millions of years of life on Earth and the history of millennia of our human civilization is a fascinating one. It is a hymn of aging and maturing, processes that symbolize the progress of mankind. The people of all cultures, creeds or ages, whether individuals or nations young and old, fully understand that fact. Nobody would dare say that the junior age of the planet, the Jurassic period, with the dinosaur rexes all around, was a better time for living here just because the Earth was 230 million years younger than it is now.
Therefore, at least for us, who are 70 on average, it is clear that despite we were all physically stronger, more alert and more libidinous earlier than we are now – young age is like yet to be fermented wine. It is sweet, easily hits the head and cuts the legs but the taste, value, quality and appreciation of the old, well-matured wine is something different.
The question now is how to encourage the mankind to take a good look at itself in the objective mirror on the wall. Humankind has grown older, grey and silver haired but it is more beautiful than ever. The message is that Snow White has lost her goldilocks and grown hairs indeed white as snow but nobody needs to be sent to the dark, cold forest to die. We want to live together happily ever after.
When I was a kid destiny compensated for my immediate family dismemberment with an exceedingly romantic period of growing among tightly woven families of Muslim ethnic Turks, Russian orthodox refugees and a French catholic. This is all literally true. It happened 60 years ago in a derelict, abandoned Jewish building right in the heart of Skopje, the capital Macedonia. A huge sea of young very enthusiast communists engulfed this micro cosmos of my childhood.
The son of the patriarch of the Turkish family lived to become (he ran the campaign) the official candidate for the first elected President of the Republic of Macedonia. He, d-r Halit Shaban, was much older than myself but we were friends and I learned from him that people express their good manners through respect of seniors. He showed that literally kissing hands of grandparents or friends within a family circle is a manifestation of respect, not servitude. Even today hand-kissing or as the Italians call it baciamano, the Croats rukoljub or the Germans Handkuss - is practiced in Turkey and other cultures too. During the young feudal age actual kissing of the hand of the senior was a required gesture, expression of politeness. In some cultures that is still a norm.
Standing up when a senior enters a room or giving up one’s seat in a bus, manifests other, deeper, substantially more meaningful form of social climate for the elderly in the society at large.
The times have changed, though. Modified forms of mutual respect between and within various cultural and age groups will be established. There are political parties promoting and defending the rights of seniors. The sheer volume of old population indicates to significant changes ahead. The seniors will vote themselves into respect. Alert and creative senior women will spectacularly outnumber the men in the sea of those over 65. The ladies will articulate their rights ever more persuasively. In short, our wisdom will determine the forms and the pace through which a balanced relationship among the individuals and peoples will be achieved. I have no doubt that this meeting in Istanbul, motivated by a great Turkish culture of respect for its seniors and supported by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will become a beacon for the entire world for the inspirational journey towards dignified old age. 623 words 3,033 characters
Between 9-12 October in the splendor of Dolmabahce saraii the prime minister of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan will open an international congress dedicated to the status and well-being of the senior citizens around the world. Turkey, where the old people are highly respected, is the most natural host for this important event.
The story about the millions of years of life on Earth and the history of millennia of our human civilization is a fascinating one. It is a hymn of aging and maturing, processes that symbolize the progress of mankind. The people of all cultures, creeds or ages, whether individuals or nations young and old, fully understand that fact. Nobody would dare say that the junior age of the planet, the Jurassic period, with the dinosaur rexes all around, was a better time for living here just because the Earth was 230 million years younger than it is now.
Therefore, at least for us, who are 70 on average, it is clear that despite we were all physically stronger, more alert and more libidinous earlier than we are now – young age is like yet to be fermented wine. It is sweet, easily hits the head and cuts the legs but the taste, value, quality and appreciation of the old, well-matured wine is something different.
The question now is how to encourage the mankind to take a good look at itself in the objective mirror on the wall. Humankind has grown older, grey and silver haired but it is more beautiful than ever. The message is that Snow White has lost her goldilocks and grown hairs indeed white as snow but nobody needs to be sent to the dark, cold forest to die. We want to live together happily ever after.
When I was a kid destiny compensated for my immediate family dismemberment with an exceedingly romantic period of growing among tightly woven families of Muslim ethnic Turks, Russian orthodox refugees and a French catholic. This is all literally true. It happened 60 years ago in a derelict, abandoned Jewish building right in the heart of Skopje, the capital Macedonia. A huge sea of young very enthusiast communists engulfed this micro cosmos of my childhood.
The son of the patriarch of the Turkish family lived to become (he ran the campaign) the official candidate for the first elected President of the Republic of Macedonia. He, d-r Halit Shaban, was much older than myself but we were friends and I learned from him that people express their good manners through respect of seniors. He showed that literally kissing hands of grandparents or friends within a family circle is a manifestation of respect, not servitude. Even today hand-kissing or as the Italians call it baciamano, the Croats rukoljub or the Germans Handkuss - is practiced in Turkey and other cultures too. During the young feudal age actual kissing of the hand of the senior was a required gesture, expression of politeness. In some cultures that is still a norm.
Standing up when a senior enters a room or giving up one’s seat in a bus, manifests other, deeper, substantially more meaningful form of social climate for the elderly in the society at large.
The times have changed, though. Modified forms of mutual respect between and within various cultural and age groups will be established. There are political parties promoting and defending the rights of seniors. The sheer volume of old population indicates to significant changes ahead. The seniors will vote themselves into respect. Alert and creative senior women will spectacularly outnumber the men in the sea of those over 65. The ladies will articulate their rights ever more persuasively. In short, our wisdom will determine the forms and the pace through which a balanced relationship among the individuals and peoples will be achieved. I have no doubt that this meeting in Istanbul, motivated by a great Turkish culture of respect for its seniors and supported by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will become a beacon for the entire world for the inspirational journey towards dignified old age. 623 words 3,033 characters
