A Chair Affair

I am not picky when it comes to chairs. Any chair that allows me to hang my legs down comfortably, curl them up snugly under me on its cushioned surface, or place my feet firmly on the floor, is chair enough for me! Chairs come in all shapes and sizes, and in several styles. Not being an inordinate chair person, I could find myself more than comfortable even on the floor. That is … until the chikungunya virus felt the need to pay me a very vicious visit! I am not going into the details of this dreadfully, debilitating disease because I am certain some of you, like me, have been called to endure the trauma and travails of this terrible trial by fire as it were. And, God forbid, chikungunya fell for you hook, line and sinker. You’d actually begin to walk like a duck! At least that’s what happened in my case, and I cannot stop wondering at the misnomer! You better humour me even if you disagree, ok? Hobbling along the road, or climbing up/down the over-bridge at Nungambakkam/Tambaram station, I could tell for sure which of my fellow travellers had had the vile visitation upon them. Easy. We all had one thing in common: the duck walk! That was the only way our legs could get any respite from our body weight. Or so I presumed. Not one of your bones is spared!

 

Sitting down, which was more of a reflex action whenever I chanced upon a chair, became the bone of contention between my mind and my bones. Heard of “the spirit is willing”, but the “flesh is weak” haven’t you? Only thing here it comes with a tweak; that is… my fortis, living bones, suddenly seemed to have developed rigor mortis! A good eight months on, found me slowly limping back to near normalcy, or should I say, ‘new normal’, learning to live with a little stiffness of the joints and a curtailed agility that I was unaccustomed to.  Thank God, it is now a thing of the past, though it did last long enough to remain unforgettable. This particularly painful period in my life flashed through my mind when I suddenly hit upon the idea of today’s nugget on chairs in public waiting areas: A Chair Affair!

 

How many times we are all witness to the elderly having to struggle to seat themselves in (deliberate usage) the shiny, steel chairs, strategically placed all along the waiting areas on a railway platform or in an airport! Reason? The seating arrangement, impeccable as it is, is far too low for bones that that have seen better days. I know the immense difficulty I faced living with the aftermath of chikungunya. Then just imagine the plight of our elderly folk, who, waiting to catch their train/plane, are forced into a struggle just to sit, and then, to get up as well. Like we have reserved parking for the physically challenged, why can’t there be a few higher/taller, wider chairs in each/every other row of chairs in station/airport waiting halls reserved for elderly travellers! Such seating arrangements would speak of a true concern for those dear folk who have given a good part of their lives to uplifting society in some way or other. Whenever I see the plight of such passengers, I cannot but help wonder what it is that prevents us from making and placing easily sittable waiting chairs for them. Leads me to…

 

Hospital waiting hall seating. One would think that, at least here there would be elderly-friendly chairs: higher/taller, wider! But no. Here too they’re all the same: low chairs that make any onlooker squirm at the sight of someone struggle to sit. Then talk about them having to get up – that plight and sight is another sorry story in itself! And what about the wheelchairs? The less said the better. Narrow and low. Sometimes you are informed that the height of the wheelchair can be adjusted, but invariably that is more said than done. One doesn’t have to try hard to imagine the plight of big-made patients who have to squeeze themselves in and struggle themselves out of a wheelchair! Brings to mind the idiom – “adding insult to injury” doesn’t it?

 

Don’t get me wrong. I am not fault-finding or nit-picking. Just hoping that sometime soon, we realize that in incorporating small changes, these waiting areas can become a little more elderly-friendly. They well deserve to at least, sit and get up with dignity in public places.