Understanding the everyday processes of aging in urban Delhi

Healthy aging, self-care, and choice in India: Class-based engagements with globally circulating ideologies

Euro-American notions of successful and healthy aging are taking root globally, shaped and inflected by local cultural and political contexts. India is one place where globally inflected discourses of healthy, active, and successful aging are on the rise. However, notions about just what constitutes healthy aging and how to achieve such a goal do not play out the same way across the globe. This article explores how older Indians of diverse social classes are thinking about their own lives in relation to broader discourses of healthy aging circulating within India and abroad. Analyses of in-depth interviews with 25 individuals (11 women and 14 men, ages 57 to 81, across a range of social classes) reveal that while many among the urban elite are enjoying participating in a globally informed healthy-aging culture, such trends are not at all widespread among the non-elite. Moreover, Indians across social classes tend to interpret their own "healthy aging" goals in ways at odds with their perceptions of Western paradigms of healthy and successful aging, sometimes incorporating critiques of the West into their own reflections about health and well-being in later life. By examining how healthy-successful aging ideologies play out across divergent national-cultural and social-class contexts, our aim is to challenge universalizing models and heighten understanding of social inequalities while opening up a wider set of possibilities for imagining what it is to live meaningfully in later life.

Successful Aging in the Indian Socio-cultural Milieu

There is a growing recognition of the importance of subjective definitions of successful aging from a clinical and policy perspective, and for their social and cultural relevance. However, the voices of older Indians remain largely underrepresented in the emerging body of qualitative literature on successful aging. Given this gap, and India's burgeoning older population, the present study set out to examine their subjective perception of successful aging. Using convenience sampling, data was collected from older men and women (N = 63, M Age = 71.21) living in the community, and in old age homes in Delhi NCR, through face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in four primary themes and eight sub-themes - Successful Aging as Personal Well-being, Tensions between Agency and Fatalism, comprising three sub-themes viz. the person as an active agent, co-existence of agency and fatalism, and negotiating with the invisible powers; Linked Lives comprising two sub-themes viz. the aging parent and the adult child, and spousal interrelationship; and The Social and Built Environment comprising three sub-themes, viz. complexity of social life: the health interface, social life in the neighborhood, and the good house. These findings provide a culture-specific view of successful aging in the Indian context, and reveals the multifaceted conceptualization of successful aging of older Indians - one that encompasses various biopsychosocial components.

Certeze Village: The Dilemma of Traditional vs. Post-Modern Architecture in Țara Oașului, Romania

The traditional Romanian village has recently seen unmistakable transformations. The import of architectural styles from EU countries and the need to modernise dwellings, combined with considerable legislative voids regarding the protection of the built-up heritage, have strongly modified traditional architecture and resulted in irremediable losses in terms of rural authenticity and landscape aesthetics. This study aims to analyse the need for preserving existing traditional architecture in Certeze village, which has been severely jeopardised by the import of post-modern elements. The perception of both locals and tourists on these aspects was evaluated using the survey method. Results outlined more conservative views from the older inhabitants who are still attached to traditional constructing styles, while younger respondents preferred the more modern houses. Most tourists also showed an increased interest in the traditional architecture and criticised the newer constructed buildings. The contrast between old and new, which at this point is ubiquitous in the area, remains an element of intergenerational negotiations and risks the diminishing of the cultural authenticity of Certeze even further.

Ageing and Self-Care in India: Examining the Role of the Market in Determining a New Course of Growing Old among Middle Class Older Adults in Urban India

With the decline of the joint family system, middle class older adults in urban India are increasingly relying on the Self-Care approach as later-life care arrangements. In particular, these older adults are relying on the market for their everyday physical and emotional care needs. Applying the North American Successful Ageing model and the political economy and consumer culture of ageing framework, the present study highlights how the market is creating a new imagination of growing old in urban India. Additionally, through qualitative interviews, the study demonstrates how perceptions regarding the ageing body among middle class older adults in urban India are gradually transforming. Finally, the study indicates how with changing filial and intergenerational ties, familial care is being replaced by the market.