The cliche of caring for those who once cared for you being one of the highest honors in life is rapidly being ignored and losing its value in modern society. Adults and teenagers are eager to throw the elderly of the family into homes and never turn back. The same elders who spent sleepless nights to ensure the best possible environment for their children until they were ready to be independent are treated as unnecessary burdens when they’re the ones who need a little taking care of.

The Good Old Days

Clearly, these situations require change under the circumstances that the caretakers have provided an appropriate environment for the children. However, it’s selfish to forget the elderly who fulfilled their responsibilities with the utmost care.

An author published by NPR states in his article,

“My grandparents and great-grandparents didn’t seem to need clubs. They all lived in our house. Growing up in India in the 1970s and ’80s, I remember my great-grandmother making her own pickles, teaching me about gods and goddesses, playing endless games of solitaire in the sun.”

There were times where the idea of sending your parents and grandparents to nursing homes and clubs for the elderly was unheard of. Why would anyone need or want to send their own family elsewhere? Modern society answered this question by wanting to rid themselves of the godawful burden of one or two extra family members to care for.

The New Road

In India, it is common for children to flee overseas and visit on rare occasions. Considering the fact that by 2050, a quarter of the population will be over 60, there is a rising need for addressing the issue surrounding quality of life for this part of the population.

For some children, being abroad means not being able to attend their own parent’s cremation in time. Additionally, 15 million elderly Indians live completely alone.

Moving ahead, the solution is a difficult one to come up with. The government obviously needs to budget out funds for elderly homes for cases where their children don’t support them, but most importantly India needs to restore the family values that are still engrained somewhere in society.