Figuratively or otherwise, even as the huge distance between Planets of the universe is being made to look not as huge as the reality, the distance between the elderly members of the family in particular and society in general seems to have become huge on the mental plane. That distance, being often described as generation gap has diminished the dimension of differences and disagreements between the youngsters and their grandpas and granduncles as the case may be. Life’s experiences of the elderly over many decades with the lessons learnt (or not learnt) are not to be ignored according to wise counsels. Carelessness while walking on uneven surface resulting in hurt due to stumbling and sustaining cuts while using sharp knife are common examples of the consequences of trying to learn lessons of life first-hand. Hundreds of fables, proverbs, lyrical lines in Kannada such as the pithy three-liners of 16th century philosopher Sarvajna and the priceless gems of wisdom, Mankuthimmana Kagga, written by D.V. Gundappa (1887-1975), rated as Kannada Bhagavadgita, published in 1943, are often cited by the literati to bring home the messages in the form of life’s do’s and don’ts as virtual capsules.

The elderly urbanites marked by excellent academic record endowed with the faculty of communicating eloquently keeping august company with their rustic counterparts marked by down-to-earth style of speaking are the assets bequeathed by both to gen next, but no takers in our times. The inter-generation distance between the elderly and the young on counts of daily chores, already considerable at dawn only rises by sundown, leaving the two parties in no frame of mind to barter a friendly deal of give’n’take. To start the elusive distance, the elderly, after a few winks of sleep overnight gets around to go through the paces of morning’s ablutions before getting treated to coffee or tea. The piquant scenario of the youngster lazying in bed is disheartening to the elderly, with no option to bear it without a grin. The rest of the day witnesses the youngster busy with various routines, including engagement with laptop, mobile phone and so on reminding the elderly about the wisdom of adhering to the time-honoured principle ‘Discretion is the better part of valour,’ by looking the other way.

The choice for the two apparently warring parties living under one roof is between harmony in the family or avoidable heated exchanges, the jeans stumping the dhoti in a metaphorical sense. ‘East is east, west is west, and never the twain shall meet’ fits the generation gap’s distance in our times.