S enior
Citizens
The childhood is lost by attachment to playfulness. Youth is lost by attachment to woman. Old age passes
away b y thinking over many things. But there is hardly anyone who wants to be lost in Parabrahman
From ‘Bhaja Govindam’ b y Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya
The boundary between middle
age and old age cannot be
defined exactly because it
shifts according to context
and to society. People can be
considered old because of
certain changes in their activities
or social roles. For example,
people may be considered old
when they become grandparents,
or when they begin to do less or
different work – retirement.
Most countries have accepted
the chronological age of 65 years
as a definition of ‘elderly’ or ‘older
person’ or ‘senior citizen’.
"Senior citizen" is replacing
the term ‘old-age pensioner’
traditionally used in UK. When
defined in an official context,
senior citizen is often used
for legal or policy-related
reasons in determining who
40
is eligible for certain benefits
available to the age group.
The term, senior citizen, has
come into widespread use in
recent decades in legislation,
commerce, and common
speech. Especially in less formal
contexts, it is often abbreviated
as "senior(s)".
Traditionally terms such as old
person, old-age pensioner,
or elderly have been used
as a courtesy and to signify
continuing relevance of and
respect for this population group
as "citizens" of society, of senior
rank.
In the Hindu way of life and
thinking, the life period of a
human being is divided into four
stages or aashrams:
• Brahmacharya (life of a
student with a solemn vow of
chastity and strict discipline),
• Grihastha (getting married and
becoming a house-holder),
• Vaanprastha (the retired life
with penance) and
• Sanyasa (the life of an
anchorite – a hermit).
This was the best family planning
suitable for mankind all over the
world.
According to the Vedas, the
life period of a human being
is approximately one hundred
years. This period was divided
into four stages. One was
bound to study up to the age
of 25 years, then, to live the
life of a householder up to the
age of 50 years. Then going to
a tapovan (place of religious
practice in countryside), just
in a corner of some forest; and