Western Style Retirement Homes in India, A New Phenomenon

Source: www.theworld.org
NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 5, 2010: While retirement homes for the elderly are commonplace in the US, they are a new, and growing, phenomenon in India. Fountains tumble in manicured gardens. Gray haired retirees shuffle along on afternoon walks. Inside the activity center, card players pair up in the early evening. And elderly spectators gather as a ping pong rally heats up. While it may seem like a Florida retirement village with its leisurely pace, this one is located two hours south of New Delhi in the Indian state of Rajasthan. And the 600-unit complex has a few features you won’t find in Ft. Lauderdale.

Small speakers around the courtyard send soothing mantras into the night air. They are part of the mediation centers provided for the residents. For the more devout, a Hindu temple has nightly services.

Until recently, you wouldn’t find retirement communities like this one in India. This is a country where people are supposed to care for the parents who raised them. It’s part of the deal. But the terms of that deal are starting to change, says Jitender Datta. He owns a condo at the Ustav and splits his time between India and Baltimore, Maryland. A generation ago we could never think that our elders should have a separate place for retirement, but now because of the new dynamics of the country for the last 15 years, I think it’s changing, changing a lot. Even your kids, they don’t want to stay in the same city because they got a better job somewhere else. Just like in the US.

As the economy in India has taken off, so have young job seekers, moving from villages to cities and from Indian cities to capitals around the world. The new economic climate in the country has meant better paying opportunities - and more of them. But it also means late hours at the office or graveyard shift. All those changes have affected Indian families. And it’s sparked a new market for retirees in India.