A heartbreaking story has emerged from Uttar Pradesh where a father who dedicated his entire life to his children's success is now spending his final days in a Jaunpur old age home. Silvinder Singh, once an engineer who worked with major oilfield companies abroad, finds himself confined within the grim walls of a shelter while his three sons run a multi-billion dollar empire from New Jersey, United States. The father who once carried his children on his shoulders now struggles with loneliness, as his successful offspring claim they have no time or emotions left to support him.
Silvinder Singh explains that his three sons are well-settled in New Jersey and have grown into billionaires rather than mere millionaires. One son works as a chartered accountant, another is a mechanical engineer, and the third owns a large hotel and liquor business. Although they own prime flats in Mumbai, no family member lives in them, and the properties have instead been handed over to relatives and acquaintances. When the sons offer formal invitations for him to visit America, the grueling twenty-hour flight proves impossible for his frail and aging body. According to Singh, his children offer to send money and hire a maid to cook, but money cannot cure the profound loneliness of old age or replace the warmth of family.
Singh comes from an educated background, as his father worked as an electrical engineer with the Food Corporation of India before moving to England. Singh himself completed his engineering degree in Mumbai and spent years working for major international oilfield companies with a monthly salary reaching up to 2.5 lakh rupees. He invested every single penny of his lifelong earnings into his children's education and weddings. His life suffered a major blow in 1994 when his wife passed away from cancer. Despite spending 28 lakh rupees on two major surgeries at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, she could not be saved. He notes that the family remained united as long as his wife was alive, but everything fell apart after her passing.
Following his retirement, Singh worked as a manager at a diamond firm in Surat. There he met two kind individuals from Jaunpur who told him about a local shelter. Although his employer in Surat wanted him to stay because of his dedicated and educated service, Singh chose to move to the Jaunpur ashram based on his acquaintances' recommendations. He expresses deep gratitude toward the management of the ashram, describing their selfless round-the-clock care as a second lease on life. He notes that they provide him more love and respect than he ever received from his own family, leaving him with the painful realization that extreme wealth does not guarantee a compassionate heart.
