Ankur Warikoo's emotional post on watching parents grow old hits close to home

Entrepreneur and content creator Ankur Warikoo shared his personal reflection on growing older alongside one’s parents, opening up about the quiet, often unnoticed shift in roles that came with age, where care, concern, and responsibility slowly began to flow in the opposite direction.

“It’s a weird feeling seeing your parents turn old,” he began, setting the tone for a post that several users described as both comforting and quietly heartbreaking.

Warikoo went on to share, “My parents are 74 and 72 years old. And when your parents get old, something weird begins to happen.”

What followed was a series of simple, everyday moments that painted a powerful picture of role reversal:

“You hold their hands while they walk.
You ask them to be careful while crossing the street.
You scold them because they use the phone on loudspeaker.”

He continued, describing how care slowly shifted in subtle but undeniable ways, making sure they don’t eat junk, reminding them to express themselves clearly when in pain, asking them not to jump or to be careful on stairs, and even teaching them how to use phones or escalators.

“You have to show them how to use the escalator. Teach them how to use the phone for their benefit. Warn them of scams," he wrote.

Summing up the emotional shift in one line, he wrote, “Your parents have basically become your kids!”

He then reflected on the deeper meaning behind this transition:

“Such a weird circle of life.
They raised you.
Taught you everything you know.
And now you have to guide them.
Make sure they follow everything they taught you.”

At the same time, he acknowledged the tenderness that came with it: “At the same time, it is an unexplainable feeling to hold your mother’s hand and walk the streets of a new city, as she gazes in wonder. And pride.”

Take a look at the post here:

The post touched hearts all around social media, with several users sharing their own perspectives and emotions.

“Beautifully said.. though I’d gently challenge one part, our parents don’t become our kids, they become mirrors of our own capacity for patience, dignity, and the kind of care we once received without understanding its depth,” one user wrote, offering a thoughtful counterpoint.

Another user pointed out a more personal thing: “You are lucky to have both your parents with you. Make the most of the time you have.”

Several others related to the gradual nature of the change. “Felt this. You don’t notice the shift day to day, but one day you realise you’ve become the one watching out for them in the same small ways they once did for you.”

Warikoo’s words, according to some users, captured a quiet truth, one that wasn’t often spoken about, but was widely felt. Not as a dramatic turning point, but as a slow, almost invisible shift, where love began to look a little different.