Before You Read: Don’t Call Them Old
The people we are quickest to underestimate live in our own homes
Think of an elderly person in your home or neighbourhood. Now be honest: have you ever spoken to them slowly and loudly, as if to a child? Decided something for them 'for their own good'? Assumed they wouldn't understand? We often do this to the old — out of love. But how do you think it feels to be on the other side of it, after a lifetime of being capable?
Imagine you, at your most capable, suddenly being told you can't go out alone, can't choose your own food, can't be trusted to remember.
The title is a joke the story invents. There is no such thing as Vitamin-M — Ravi's mother wishes someone would invent a 'memory vitamin' to give to forgetful old people. But by the end of the story, the joke turns around completely, and it is aimed at someone you would never expect. Keep the made-up 'Vitamin-M' in mind — the whole story is a setup for who really needs it.
The story is by Asha Nehemiah, a much-loved Indian writer of warm, witty stories for young readers. It is gently funny and quietly wise. Before you read, here are six words the story uses to paint its old man — and his world.
Six words from the story. Tap each to flip.
Q1.If a flat is poky, it is:
Q1.What is 'Vitamin-M' in the story?
Think of an elderly person in your home or neighbourhood. Now be honest: have you ever spoken to them slowly and loudly, as if to a child? Decided something for them 'for their own good'? Assumed they wouldn't understand? We often do this to the old — out of love. But how do you think it feels to be on the other side of it, after a lifetime of being capable?
Imagine you, at your most capable, suddenly being told you can't go out alone, can't choose your own food, can't be trusted to remember.
The title is a joke the story invents. There is no such thing as Vitamin-M — Ravi's mother wishes someone would invent a 'memory vitamin' to give to forgetful old people. But by the end of the story, the joke turns around completely, and it is aimed at someone you would never expect. Keep the made-up 'Vitamin-M' in mind — the whole story is a setup for who really needs it.
The story is by Asha Nehemiah, a much-loved Indian writer of warm, witty stories for young readers. It is gently funny and quietly wise. Before you read, here are six words the story uses to paint its old man — and his world.
Six words from the story. Tap each to flip.
Q1.If a flat is poky, it is:
Q1.What is 'Vitamin-M' in the story?