The Wrinkled Outcaste
THE WRINKLED OUTCASTE
A Study on Ageing in India
GAYATHRI DEVI S, HS11H019
Fast-paced. That is how I would summarise the world around me. All are so busy running berserk behind money that they forget even about their own kids. In this world, if I say the elderly are neglected and forgotten, I hardly think it would be a surprise to anyone. Where have the respect, care and affection gone? Why do we see old-age homes multiplying when each set of parents have an average two children and hence plenty of room in their houses for their parents? Why is it that we have old and destitute people begging for alms in even a metro like Chennai? My term paper looks into this very same issue. It is shocking to know that India is getting old. The bare reality is that today, there are 77 million old people in India. In the next few years it will grow up to 177 million. Improvements in medical field have resulted in an increased life expectancy rate from 40 years in 1951 to 64 years. This started creating issues in the household as the size of houses did not increase with the increase in number of years a person can live. As a result there is growing stress in the household. Insecurity and isolation are the major issues generated among the elderly due to generation gap and changing lifestyle. There was a time when old people never had to worry about their old age disabilities as there will be someone or the other to look after them. Increase in the number of nuclear families resulted in an increase in working women. Consequently old parents become a burden for their children. The objective of this term paper is to describe elder abuse, to explore the problems faced by elderly, find causes for it and develop a way out of this. The basic problems faced by both old men and women are economic insecurity. There is also wide noticed loneliness leading to mental illness. Why is it happening? Lack of time; no one has time to listen to what old people want to say, they don’t ask for a
A Study on Ageing in India
GAYATHRI DEVI S, HS11H019
Fast-paced. That is how I would summarise the world around me. All are so busy running berserk behind money that they forget even about their own kids. In this world, if I say the elderly are neglected and forgotten, I hardly think it would be a surprise to anyone. Where have the respect, care and affection gone? Why do we see old-age homes multiplying when each set of parents have an average two children and hence plenty of room in their houses for their parents? Why is it that we have old and destitute people begging for alms in even a metro like Chennai? My term paper looks into this very same issue. It is shocking to know that India is getting old. The bare reality is that today, there are 77 million old people in India. In the next few years it will grow up to 177 million. Improvements in medical field have resulted in an increased life expectancy rate from 40 years in 1951 to 64 years. This started creating issues in the household as the size of houses did not increase with the increase in number of years a person can live. As a result there is growing stress in the household. Insecurity and isolation are the major issues generated among the elderly due to generation gap and changing lifestyle. There was a time when old people never had to worry about their old age disabilities as there will be someone or the other to look after them. Increase in the number of nuclear families resulted in an increase in working women. Consequently old parents become a burden for their children. The objective of this term paper is to describe elder abuse, to explore the problems faced by elderly, find causes for it and develop a way out of this. The basic problems faced by both old men and women are economic insecurity. There is also wide noticed loneliness leading to mental illness. Why is it happening? Lack of time; no one has time to listen to what old people want to say, they don’t ask for a
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