Page 41 - Seniorstoday February 2024 Issue

Over their two scores span of marital and regularly and keep them posted about all
professional partnership, Vikas and Vikas
had nurtured a strong network of friends,
nourished NGOs and flourished in their
practice of building offices and homes and
in the process many hearths and much
warmth. They were fortunate to have
acquired a cross-ventilated apartment in
a central location, with expansive views of
the rising sun from beyond the mountains
and the setting sun over the placid sea
disappearing into the horizon. They had
also presciently invested earlier on in a
huge parcel of land abutting the Pawna lake
in Lonavala, where they had built a small
weekend getaway.
Cognizant of the milieu of disparity
and deprivation in large sections of the
society and impelled by their own sense of
responsibility, Vikas and Vikas had taken
under their wings Manik, an orphaned girl,
all of 7 years, responding to an appeal in
the papers by the police following the tragic
death of her parents in a road accident.
Manik, was much younger to Vikas’ own
children, who were by that time doing
their graduation in faraway colleges. They
brought up Manik with all the love and
care like biological parents would do and
ensured her education in a good school
followed by admission into a famed college
from where she graduated with degrees in
social studies and public policy. They also
made conscious efforts to ensure that Manik
got to know their own grown up children
well and develop a relationship with them
through regular visits and travels together.
Manik had grown into a confident woman
and expressed a desire to work in the social
sector and soon took off to work with a
well-known NGO based in Delhi, devoted
to the cause of child welfare. Manik would
stay in touch with her foster parents
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #56 | FEBRUARY 2024
the developments on her social work front.
Manik would often travel to various cities
and rural areas of India as a part of her
work to get a real understanding of issues
facing children and how her NGO could
help their cause. Not surprisingly, over a
period of time, as years flew by and given
the itinerant nature of her work and her
passion, Manik would go incommunicado
for long periods of time.
Vikas and Vikas were contemplating
their own future having got used to an
empty homestead with their children
having become German citizens and Manik
busy as ever in her social work. They had
peaked in their profession and had no
further milestones to chase nor were they
enthused any longer in staying the course.
They were in fact getting overwhelmed
with all that they had built over the years
– a roaring money spinning practice, a
palatial apartment in Mumbai, a large
land in Lonavala and huge investments
– much more than they ever will need in
the remainder of their lives nor will their
children ever need, successful that they
were on their own in Germany.
Different points of views from friends and
well-wishers were more confusing than
resolving. Their financial and legal advisors
had typical unidimensional views of what
to do with their estate and how to will it
right, as though one can control wealth after
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