Skip to main content

India's 50% parents in old age live "miserably": Lonely, isolated, without care, support

By Ashok Kumar*
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and HelpAge India, the population of senior citizens in India is expected to reach 173 million by 2026, and they will constitute one-fifth (20 percent) of country’s population pie by 2050. Parallel to their growth, their problems are also increasing simultaneously in the changing cultural scenario and loneliness is one of the most terrifying aspects of their life.
One of the main causes of stress and depression in millions of elderly people, who often live alone or with the spouse, is absolute poverty and distress. Apart from all these touches of melancholy, lack of income security and access to quality healthcare make their life more vulnerable and fragile.
Quite often, they tend to give up, withdraw themselves, doubt their own abilities and easily become victims of negativity, frustration, helplessness, and begrudging attitude. They give up all hope and courage, forgetting that hope is their ultimate power, it is a lifeline for all humans and just as oxygen is must for us to survive, hope too is important in our life to live and grow happily and healthily. Therefore, losing hope is suicidal. We need to behold and cultivate hope in our life and we must also inspire others for embracing hope, especially to the Senior Citizen’s Community.
Rather, a positive mental approach can lead the life onto a progressive track. First of all, they have to concede that life after retirement is the Third Stage of our Life and it is the most precious and important aspect of one’s life. We must treat it as our “Third Youth” and should live it joyfully to the fullest extent. In fact, the status of Senior Citizenship should be treated as a “Badge of Honour” with the utmost respect and dignity. However, in reality, old age is perceived differently in our society. The general feeling about old age is very gloomy and self-defeating.
Due to fast-paced life and growing livelihood challenges, families, especially in large cities, are unable to pay adequate attention to the aged members; parents and grandparents. Eventually, they become the victim of loneliness and depression. It is really unfortunate that more than 50% of parents in their old age are living a miserable life; lonely, isolated, and without any care or support from their children and relatives.
Parents who spent their whole life in raising their children, taking care of their education, using all their hard-earned money, time, and energy to make them capable of living a comfortable and joyful life. It is really painful that many such parents are forced to live a life full of negativity and acute frustration which is a grave situation and a matter of serious concern for the government and society as a whole.
Let us try to understand as to what is the root cause of this problem which is spreading like an epidemic in our society. Probing a little into our social system you would find that the genesis of this problem lies in the fast changing lifestyle, rapid modernization, urbanization, cut-throat competition, mad rat race for jobs/careers, and desire for becoming rich overnight.
These incessant material desires have resulted in breaking and destroying the rich old joint family system. Families are getting divided into smaller units and people are moving in large numbers from rural areas to urban city centers. All this has forced the old-aged parents to live alone and isolated life without any support from the children.
The emotional attachment of parents and children is diminishing very fast and ethics and values are the victims of this rat race. Our education is also a big contributor to creating this mess in our society; it has failed to create values and happiness in the lives of the people. Irrespective of their age, people are becoming increasingly bankrupt, emotionally as well as spiritually. Money has become the prime focus of the present generation in the absence of humanistic values and character building.
Children no more have any respect or gratitude for parents, teachers, and elders. The increasing incidences of violence in schools, keeping and using arms at a tender age and injuring the fellow students and teachers, these are the matters of serious concern for the government, policymakers, and educational experts.
An ancient Buddhist scripture, “Sutta Nipata,” states, “Though being well-to-do, not to support father and mother who are old and past their youth- this as one’s downfall”. Means, those who do not care and support the aged parents when they need the most are bound to suffer and face their downfall. Aging societies can flourish only if they embrace the ethos, give high respect to the elders, and spend quality time with them.
We shouldn’t forget that every human being is respect worthy and must be treated with utmost reverence. Every person is born to live a life of hope, joy, true happiness and dignity. We should all make honest and sincere efforts to promote these values in our society. We must inspire and encourage our children and youth to help and support elderly people by sharing their time, money, and happiness.
On the other hand, we encourage our senior citizens to realize their own and unique potential and share it with society. No doubt, dejection is a serious problem for them, but it shouldn’t be considered as the part of fate. Life can be moulded in a better shape with positive thinking and hope. Elderly people can definitely live a happy, healthy, and long life by looking ahead and striving forward courageously with a positive attitude towards everything they come across in life.
---
*Executive Director, AAP International

Comments

Nshiness said…
Thank you for sharing the useful Information. I'm looking forward to More Updates from you.

Senior Citizen Retirement Homes in Chennai
Luxury Senior Citizen Homes in Chennai
Retirement Homes in Chennai

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.