Dubai: If you believe everything you see and read online, then don’t!
Earlier today, a picture of a girl crying with her grandmother surfaced online and went viral. In the picture, a 14-year old was visiting an old-age home for a school trip and broke down in tears when she saw her grandmother in the same home. Apparently, her parents had lied to her and told her that the grandmother was living with relatives. The unexpected meeting was emotional and it was captured by a photographer.
The incident is purported to have taken place in the Manilal Gandhi old age home in Ghodasar, Ahemdabad, Gujarat.
A school organised a tour to an old age home and this girl found her grandmother there. When she used to ask her parents about the whereabouts of grandma, she was told that she has gone to meet her relatives. This is the society we are creating...#Heart_touching.. pic.twitter.com/fHRFVFAFyx
— Anita Chauhan (@anita_chauhan80) August 21, 2018
Shared by @anita_chauhan80 on twitter, the post garnered 20,000 retweets, 48,000 likes and 1,700 comments. The post started a discussion about Indian society and how many parents are abandoned by their children.
While a picture is worth a thousand words, the story behind this one is fake.
To begin with, the picture is not recent and was taken in September 2007, by Kalpit S. Bhachech.
According to a report by newspaper The Indian Express, broadcast channel BBC Hindi conducted an interview with the girl and her grandmother. It was found that the original narrative is false. Bhakti’s grandmother was not left in a home or forced to stay in one, she actually went by choice.
Additionally, Bhakti was aware that her grandmother was in a home but she didn’t know which one. According to reports by other newspapers, when the incident took place, Bhakti and her grandmother ran to each other and cried.
After @anita_chauhan80’s tweet went viral, people were quick to ridicule the parents for abandoning the grandmother. Others were “heartbroken” and called the incident “painful” to read about.
Cricketer Harbhajan Singh tweeted the story from his official handle @harbhajan_singh and said: “Shame on such people....” His post was liked more than 2,000 times.
Shame on such people... https://t.co/I589oDJMqw
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) August 21, 2018
Another user @MeenaDasNarayan posted: “Oh… let us make a silent pledge to take care of our elders and not let such a fate happen to them!”
@Vineeth92529169 said: “Pity on those kind of people who forget their elders… But one day they will become old too. May God bless them and have mercy. Don’t cry kiddo, be happy that you have found her.”
Not all of us parents think that living in an old age home is the worst thing on earth and is equivalent to being abandoned by our 'ungrateful' children. Some of us are looking forward to it. PS: you don't have children to reap gratitude.
— kavitharao/The Librarian (@kavitharao) August 23, 2018
While some people clarified that the story is dated, others argued that the picture was still relevant. Online users talked about how many elderly people are “abandoned” in India in such homes, and how more and more homes are being constructed.
However, some argued in favour of old age homes. Author @kavitharao tweeted on the issue: “Not all of us parents think that living in an old age home is the worst thing on Earth and is equivalent to being abandoned by our ‘ungrateful’ children. Some of us are looking forward to it....”
