Which is the worst disease in our country? Tough to decide! Yet ageism would rank really high in the hierarchy of diseases, though here is hoping that such an abomination does not exist! Want proof that ageism IS a major dis-ease in India? Well, look at August 21. It is both, the World Entrepreneurs' Day, and the World Senior Citizens Day.
There was some hoo-ha in some places, including some educational institutes about the entrepreneurial day as start-up's matter a lot, especially amongst the youth. The other day, however, just did not register!
Do I hear a murmur that it is so celebrated in America? Ah, are not indians obsessed with America, despite Trump!?! Their sons and daughters might accept the lowliest salaries there, constantly shift jobs offered literally by the year, while the Damocles' Sword called the pink slip always hangs dangerously low in the AI era! Yet what matters to most happy families is that Gen Next is in the U.S! How does it matter that the Green Card list is longer than the tail of Maruti in Ravana's Lanka!
Given such obsessions, the American Senior Citizens Day should have mattered a lot hereabouts, right? Incidentally, the euphemism called 'senior citizen' , quite an Americanism, notwithstanding, ageism IS rampant in India.
What is ageism? It is harassing, dishonouring, ill-treating an individual because of his/her age. India,supposedly a country of the young, is very good at it. The respect once traditionally accorded to the elderly has vanished in to thin air some decades ago, while the majority of the youth are nothing to write home about, obsessed as they are with consumerist dreams the market place makes them wallow in mindlessly.
Most of them do not even know the basics of their specialisation at the degree level because they never attend lectures. Not attending lectures is a boast according to them. Nobody is bothered, least of all their parents. They are, moreover, very rigid about only their way. Anyone who does not agree with them has to be on the high way!
Such shallow 'wonders' would always mock the "senior citizens" as they are so encouraged from within the folds of the family itself. Actually, most seniors have a lot in them which can enrich the relationship sphere, the familial space as well as the workplace! No wonder, the Modi government recently declared special positions for senior professors, and, mind you, there are no age limits! Nice to know india is anti-ageism at least at some level!
Pratima@ We ARE our energy. The biological age does not define us.
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