leftthevillagefirstforuniversityinNagpurandthenfor
professional opportunity in the States. As he became
successful,hesenteverlargeramountsofmoneyhome,
helpingtobuildnewhousesforhisfatherandsiblings,
bring clean water and telephones to the village, and
installirrigationsystemsthatensuredharvestswhenthe
rainy seasonswere bad. He even built a ruralcollege
nearbythathenamedforhismother.Buttherewasno
denying that he had left, and he wasn’t going back.
Disturbed though my father was by the way America
treateditselderly,themoretraditionaloldagethatmy
grandfather was able to maintain was possible only
becausemyfather’ssiblingshadnotlefthomeashehad.
Wethink,nostalgically,thatwewantthekindofoldage
mygrandfatherhad.Butthereasonwedonothaveitis
that,intheend,wedonotactuallywantit.Thehistorical
patternisclear:assoonaspeoplegottheresourcesand
opportunity to abandon that way of life, they were gone.
THE FASCINATINGTHING is that, over time, it doesn’t
seemthattheelderlyhavebeenespeciallysorrytoseethe
children go. Historians find that the elderly of the
industrialeradidnot suffereconomicallyandwere not
unhappyto beleftontheirown.Instead,withgrowing
economies,a shiftinthepatternofpropertyownership
occurred. As children departed home for opportunities
elsewhere,parentswholivedlonglivesfoundtheycould
rentorevenselltheirlandinsteadofhandingitdown.
Risingincomes,andthenpensionsystems,enabledmore
and more people to accumulate savings and property,
allowingthemtomaintaineconomiccontroloftheirlives
inoldageandfreeingthemfromtheneedtoworkuntil