Gungtong the empty households - From a positive lens

I visited most of the remote villages in the country in the past five years as a radio/TV reporter. I also read articles and stories about the Gungtong (empty households) and Rural Urban Migration. However the issues are slightly different from the way I see. I may be wrong, but I have different opinions. I discovered that many who left villages were mostly parents who are living with their children or with some close relatives. Now, let us consciously realize the expectations of our parents. Our parents sent children to school despite facing lot of hardships in remote villages. They do this with a hope for a better life style in future with their children when they grow old. This encourages them to commit their children to education. Parents  prefer or say that they will stay with one of their children in future. Therefore many of us prefer our parents to stay with us once we get a decent job. I think we all at least prefer our parents to stay nearby especially when they grow older rather than keeping them far away in remote villages. I am sure many of us feel sorry for such parents when we come across them, living in remote villages and their children living in towns. I was very emotional when some elderly people shared their admiration for those who stay with their children, far away.

But I also know that there are some parents who prefer to stay in village, in their own house but they are mostly the wealthy ones. But I am talking about the ones who own their children as their only property. So, I think we cannot abandon our poor parents in the old poor villages for the sake of this simple issue. By doing this we are not only taking up great responsibility of taking care of our parents but also preserving very rich social values by having them around to share their wisdom and experiences with today’s diverse challenges.