WOES OF THE SANDWICHED GENERATION

As a sensitive senior citizen, I thought of perusing through some great literary works in order to find a solution to the woes of the sandwiched generation. I found in a remote corner in my home library lying a yellowish book partly eaten by some silverfish. Yet, they had left the most important lines in the book for me to ponder on.

‘Men may come and men may go
But I run forever.’

Alfred Lord Tennyson, the Nobel laureate of the Victorian period of England had written these golden lines in his ‘BROOK’.

The lines referred to a brook he had surveyed to write a poem, but I was inspired by the lines to write this article on behalf of the most affected segment of the population not only in our country but also in other countries too. To say frankly, Lord Tennyson has been my muse in many a writing.

History of the parliament reminds us that from time to time elections are held and people’s representatives are elected to govern the country. They enact legislature and implement. The political parties of the representatives change and some go into oblivion after their defeat. Some seasoned politicians remain forever through their common sense and some do volte face very adroitly to stick to their seat.

The political turncoats are many in history, yet their interpretations are very thought provoking. Hoodwinking of the people is their mastered art and they are very consummate in it. If I come back to my topic again, MPs come to the parliament on people’s back and they leave, but this great edifice remains forever, runs forever.

Great expectations

The portfolio of finance is one of the most important in the Cabinet and the people always have great expectations on the minister of finance. Some of them in the annals of parliamentary have proved their mettle and some have brought utter disgrace to this sublime office of the country.

One aspect is conspicuous and that is the portfolio is offered to one of the most senior and battle hardened politico who could keep the steering wheel well balanced. He or she should be prepared to face both brickbats and bouquets alike. One’s disposition, personality, and the soul are best displayed in this exercise.

The budget is to be presented to the parliament in a few days; in the offing. Intensity of the great expectations is on the rise. The relevant and irrelevant authorities have already implied what to expect and what not to.

While there is hope there is life. My concern here is to air my views on behalf of the sandwiched generation. This term simply means the segment of the population between the young generation and the old generation, in other words, the sons and daughters of the old people and the fathers and the mothers of the children.

A sandwich is two slices of bread, often spread with butter with a layer of meat, etc. between them.The middle layer is well pressed and so is the sandwiched generation; crushed by the dual responsibility of looking after the old parents who deserve their nursing and bringing up the children which is a gigantic task in the modern society.

It is discernible that the income level of this generation fluctuates due to many a volatile situation of the economy. The oil price bugbear, severe droughts, political instability, shortsighted political decisions to cushion the spiraling cost of living, foreign aid blockades, to cap them all, the enormous wastage of the administrative system on tamashas and many other unnecessary fanfare lead the way to ruin.

The sandwiched generation is compelled to bear the brunt. Free education has almost become a misnomer and the the educational expenditure of the schoolgoers has become an unbearable burden to the parents while they have to look after the unproductive aged parents.

The lion’s share of the income earner has to be spent to feed the hungry mouths of the children and the dependents.

Village money lenders and the mushrooming micro credits financiers are always eying this segment of the society to thrive on. They fall prey to these governmental and private sector octopuses and forever become debt stricken.

Gross national product

The situation is pathetic and they fall into the ditch of social outcasts, economically.

The government is also entrapped in the net of foreign debts and both people and the rulers are forever ruined.

In general, people are also very lethargic and spend most of their time at the tea kiosks and on culverts criticizing the governments and nobody realizes the gravity or the crux of the ongoing ordeal. The pith of the matter is that the economy ought to be driven by the long time objective of the maximization of the gross national product.

In so far as, in a welfare state like Sri Lanka people have got used to eat without pouring honest sweat.

The sandwiched generation has to attend many a social function at the village level and at the working place. Birthdays, weddings, funerals, celebrations, pilgrimages, parties of myriad nature, finding dowries for the girl-children and making houses for the sons add to the daily burden of this segment of the population.

The stress, depression, ignorance and many other sociological factors lead them to commit suicide. The alarming crime rate, bank heists, highway robberies, drug business and the drug addiction could be attributed to this great tragedy. Moral paralysis of the society seems to be the tip of the iceberg.

The sandwiched generation is buried to the throat. The well-designed budget could be the harbinger for them to relieve for another year! Hope is eternal in the human heart.

After all, ‘The sandwiched generation has always been a weary lot in face of inescapable gamut of suffering, to clinch it over’.

"…AS DRY AS THE REMAINDER BISCUIT AFTER A VOYAGE.’’

- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)