India needs to take the lead in redefining what it means to be an older adult
What do you think of if someone asks you to describe old age?
At a recent interaction with community service organisations (CSOs) working on longevity, I learnt that your answer would probably depend on how old you are. Younger respondents quickly conjure up words like walking stick, grey hair and nursing home. Financially secure seniors cite freedom from responsibility, travel, the joy of grandchildren, and spirituality. This difference in mental models is important to internalise as India turns from a young country with 50 per cent below the age of 25 years to a country with the largest population of elderly in the whole world.
We are still struggling to reap the demographic dividend of our broad youth base. Soon, we will have to figure out how hundreds of millions of senior citizens can contribute to and be cared for in our society.
Just recently, I turned 65. So did lakhs of other people in India. Sixty-five seems different to me — a new way of feeling old. The country’s average lifespan is 67.2 years. I am sharply aware of both my mortality and my privileges. I can access the best medical care, the best fitness options and nutrition. I can continue to write and work actively. I meditate, I pray. I stay positive with the blessing of many friendships, and a loving family. These are all things that global research has proven to produce better outcomes as one ages.
So, I am determined to make this the best decade of my life yet. To be part of a positive revolution in the mindset on ageing. To give at least as much as I receive; to cultivate and spread faith in human innovation and to nurture gratitude for the miracle of life.
This is what older people want to do for themselves and society — but not everyone gets to do it. In India, 40 per cent of older adults experience poverty, compared to less than 10 per cent of the general population. Only 14 per cent can use the Internet, and less than 5 per cent report being part of a social organisation. The elderly are more likely to be female, have much less education and live more in rural areas. More than one in three seniors still do not have the luxury of retiring, and many continue to do unpaid work, 65 per cent of those in agriculture and allied activities. Those who do retire can feel a sudden lack of purpose, a loneliness. With the rapid nuclearisation of families, in just 20 years, an estimated 80 million elderly will live alone or with just a spouse.
There are reams of data on how much will change in our demographics, and what we can reasonably predict about the quality of life and care, social security, and public amenities. We can share the estimates of mental health disorders among the elderly.
But data do not tell the whole story, or the only story. The good news is that samaaj-based institutions have been very active in India for decades. HelpAge India was set up in 1978 and works with two million elderly, actively advocating better state intervention. Since 1999, the Agewell Foundation has worked with a network of 80,000 volunteers across 768 districts to reach 25,000 seniors daily. Carers Worldwide aims to reduce the burden of 2,00,000 unpaid senior caregivers. The list goes on. These organisations do not just want to help seniors, they want to change the narrative on ageing. Grey Shades showcases many intrepid seniors who are giving back gracefully. Like army veteran and psychiatrist Rajinder Singh, 91, who is setting up a third mental well-being centre to address addiction in young people in Punjab. Like Harbhajan Kaur, 99, who realised her ambition to earn some income by becoming a cooking sensation at the age of 90. CSOs are trying to normalise these exceptions so that longevity and health spans are reimagined in a society that takes the elderly for granted. It shouldn’t. One in three seniors want to actively volunteer and contribute to their communities if they can find the opportunity.
Can India take the lead in redefining what it means to be an older adult? Can we do it in time for the seismic shift in our demographics? It depends. So far, the state is only just beginning to wake up. Less than 5 per cent of senior citizens get any reliable social security payments or services. Some policies, including the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 are simply unimplementable. There is a long way to go.
The private sector has still not tapped the potential of senior citizens to keep contributing productively. Nor has it stepped in to provide better living and recreational facilities, even though the “silver economy” is currently pegged at $7 billion. We have nothing like the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), a strong advocacy body with 38 million members that markets must reckon with in providing senior citizen products and services.
It is the society that must lead the way. And private philanthropy is critical to kickstart the multi-sectoral innovation we need.
At 65, I often turn to the Beatles song that captured the angst of a whole generation. “When I get older losing my hair, many years from now…Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m sixty-four?”
The country will soon have to answer that question to hundreds of millions of folks, on whose shoulders it now stands.
