INDIA: Aged Will Number Over 137 Million Aged By 2020

Like most Asian countries, India has a tradition of showing respect to the elderly and looking after them in their old age. Folk literature is full of 'Granny Tales' with local variations but the images of children cuddling up to the resident grandmother to listen to fairy tales is common. But the changing social equilibrium, globalisation, consumerist culture, are casting their shadows on a once important relationship. This is especially true of urban societies where extended families are slowly disappearing and living in confined spaces create tensions of adjustment. Stories of abandoned parents are not uncommon any more. In fact, the government is about to enact an ' Older Persons (Maintenance, Care and Health) Bill' which would make protection and maintenance by heirs a legal right for those over 60. Loneliness and alienation in the elderly have been exacerbated by the fact that urbanised Indian parents are having fewer children today and young Indians are leaving the country in droves to become what is known as 'Non-Resident Indians'. The empty nest syndrome is now an Indian reality too -- enough,at least, for the film world to take notice and actually draw patronage. Better healthcare, better financial status are adding to the lifespan of the middle-aged. The last census in 2001 revealed that India's population is steadily ageing, though not as rapidly as was projected by United Nations demographers. At a little over 76.6 million people above 60 years, constituting 7.2% of the country's 1.02 billion population, the country qualifies as an 'ageing' country as defined by the United Nations. According to World Health Organisation(WHO) estimates, India's aged population is the second largest in the world, which is projected to touch 137 million by 2020, which must be good news for the makers of 'grey' movies. Says Nilanjana Sen, writer and impromptu performer: ''Talent never dies. It just needs the right atmosphere and encouragement to flourish. Why should we feel that we are useless just because we've crossed 50?'' . Notes from Inter Press Coverage of Seniors in Indian Films