GENERATION GAP AND OLD AGE ADVERSITY !
How do societies treat old people? This is an interesting question. Almost in all existing societies of the world this question is asked; in some it is extensively debated and in others the debates are carried to their logical conclusion. Aging is a reality of life though no one knows how long one is to live. Ancient Indian ages had divided life span into four parts and for each part of life they had defined the type of duty they have to perform. The last phase of life, according to the traditional knowledge is the period for reflection, meditation and asceticism. How far that is possible to stick to, is again a moot point.
Recently, a study titled “Human Rights of Elderly in India: A critical Reflection on Social Development” has been released by Agewell Foundation after it conducted interviews of 5,000 elderly people across India. The conclusions it has drawn are not happy ones. At least we never expected that Indian society has undergone such a radical change. To highlight the point the study broadly says that two-third of elderly people of India, meaning people above the age of 60, are neglected by their families and one-third of them have suffered physical or verbal abuse. The elderly people in urban India have become more vulnerable to both neglect as well as physical or verbal abuse. This is depressing no doubt. The more depressing is that in our country there are very few old-age homes. These exist only in some major cities of the country whereas in rural areas there is hardly any old age home.
This study was carried out on 5000 elderly persons in different parts of the country. The organization claims that the study was carried out by top experts in various branches of social science like anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and social workers. As such we have to give credence to their finding especially when they have conducted extensive field study. What the society will do about this issue is a question that will have to be debated in academic and administrative levels. What should interest us more will be to analyse the causes of this phenomenon. In the first place, the present age is the age of tremendous scientific and technological development which has left deep impact on society and life style. This has caused generation gap which is a continuing process. It means that the gap that exists between the father and the son is greater today than what it was in earlier generation. However, the gap does not end there with the son. The gap between the son and the grandson is also widening and leaving its impact on the second generation also. By and large the impression with the younger generation about the elderly is that they are of old fashion that has no takers now and hardly bear any co-relation with the up-coming generation.
How do societies treat old people? This is an interesting question. Almost in all existing societies of the world this question is asked; in some it is extensively debated and in others the debates are carried to their logical conclusion. Aging is a reality of life though no one knows how long one is to live. Ancient Indian ages had divided life span into four parts and for each part of life they had defined the type of duty they have to perform. The last phase of life, according to the traditional knowledge is the period for reflection, meditation and asceticism. How far that is possible to stick to, is again a moot point.
Recently, a study titled “Human Rights of Elderly in India: A critical Reflection on Social Development” has been released by Agewell Foundation after it conducted interviews of 5,000 elderly people across India. The conclusions it has drawn are not happy ones. At least we never expected that Indian society has undergone such a radical change. To highlight the point the study broadly says that two-third of elderly people of India, meaning people above the age of 60, are neglected by their families and one-third of them have suffered physical or verbal abuse. The elderly people in urban India have become more vulnerable to both neglect as well as physical or verbal abuse. This is depressing no doubt. The more depressing is that in our country there are very few old-age homes. These exist only in some major cities of the country whereas in rural areas there is hardly any old age home.
This study was carried out on 5000 elderly persons in different parts of the country. The organization claims that the study was carried out by top experts in various branches of social science like anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and social workers. As such we have to give credence to their finding especially when they have conducted extensive field study. What the society will do about this issue is a question that will have to be debated in academic and administrative levels. What should interest us more will be to analyse the causes of this phenomenon. In the first place, the present age is the age of tremendous scientific and technological development which has left deep impact on society and life style. This has caused generation gap which is a continuing process. It means that the gap that exists between the father and the son is greater today than what it was in earlier generation. However, the gap does not end there with the son. The gap between the son and the grandson is also widening and leaving its impact on the second generation also. By and large the impression with the younger generation about the elderly is that they are of old fashion that has no takers now and hardly bear any co-relation with the up-coming generation.
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