Daily Times June 28, 2021 My ‘age’ was a ‘burden’ and I lived in silence,” wailed a 78-year-old’s journal, stricken by chronic loneliness. His words perfectly encapsulate his pain, but many others spend their days wallowing in seclusion. Regretfully, this vantage of the ivory tower is a best-case scenario. May it be the clutches of emotional, psychological or physical trauma, the trauma of those shackled down by the grip of age remains a silent menace. Remember the heart-wrenching video of a man and his wife mercilessly thrashing his elderly mother? Countless others languish in the same agony and desperation. When their own flesh and blood turns a blind eye to their troubles, thankfully, they have the state to mind the store. In a first, a man was recently sentenced to one month for torturing and forcefully evicting parents from the house. The wronged elderly have the Parental Protection Ordinance 2021 to be grateful for. Thank heaven for the changing tides! Now, the kaptaan has come to the aid of those who were being sandbagged by their kith and kin.