March 20, 2025. I am happy that I am invited by Social Workers' Association of Queensland (QLD), Australia to share my views in connection with Social Work Day, 2025. The theme is 'Intergenerational Solidarity for Well-being'.
It is a happy coincidence that this session is held on World Happiness day.
Hence, I greet my Australian counterparts with the traditional Indian greetings for happiness.
सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः। सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत्॥
(sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ sarve santu nirāmayāḥ।
sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu mā kaścidduḥkhabhāgbhavet॥)
May all be happy, may all be free from illness. May all see what is auspicious, may no one suffer.
(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.14).
I am also glad to share the fact that the day is also observed as 'World Sparrow Day' and we have a theme for the day: 'A tribute to world's tiny messengers'. The holiday initiated by Pune-based Indian conservationist, Mohammed Dilawar with the organisation 'Nature Forever Society' (NFS), is a reminder for everyone of the role every creature, some seemingly insignificant for the human species, contribute to the well-being of all (sarve bhavantru sukhinah).
Let me share my reflections on the theme and the day, under 6 headings. They are not necessarily interconnected, nor do I claim that they lead to some conclusions derived from them. However, I have tried to incorporate some praxis models as well.
1. Social Work and Social Work Day. Personally, I am glad for the opportunity, though I don't feel equipped for that - after a break of four years from the academic circles, and almost 15 years from Social Work education circle. However, I deem it an opportunity for connecting with the professional network, reflecting on our society and our role as professional social workers.
I consider it my good fortune to learn at the school of SW considered the first and no. 1 institute in the country, Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS). It was also my good fortune to have worked at a school of SW, which was the first in our state (Keralam) and in the past few years rated no. 2 in the country (deservedly so, I trust) and to lead the school for some time. When I started off as a SW Educator, we had just 4 schools of SW in our small state of about 40000 sq km and almost 40 mln population. Now it has more than 100 SSW (in India it is now over 1000 SSW). In the past 3 decades, the presence of social work professionals in schools (especially private), hospitals, the welfare sector etc. has increased manifold. The moot question is whether the increased presence of Social Workers is making a difference on the well-being scenario.
2. SOME RECENT CASES AND QUESTION OF INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY
In the last two months, in the relatively progressive state of Keralam (with a very high HDI almost comparable to several European nations, but for per capita income) in India, the following cases were noted. I find them indicative of the rupture in intergenerational care.
a) In Trivandrum, Venjaramood, a youngster (Afan 23) murdered his grandmother, paternal uncle and wife, his younger brother, and his girlfriend. He also attacked his mother, who is still undergoing treatment. The case reveals a clear rupture in intergenerational connectivity.
b) In a clash between the students of 2 schools, one boy of X grade was murdered, as if in a pre-planned manner. This is a case of intra-generational conflict, most likely of a lack of intergenerational care.
c) Last week, a 12-year-old girl, killed her 4-month-old sister, the daughter of her foster parents, fearing that the new arrival would deprive her of the love of her foster parents. A clear case of a lack of unfettered communication between the older and younger generations.
While these might be exceptions, we feel we are losing what used to hold our society together - in sophisticated terms, intergenerational solidarity, in common parlance, 'family' - immediate and extended. The elders at home and in the neighbourhood, the teachers, the religious ministers - the church or temple priests, the Imams of the Muslim communities. A key influential figure, the school teacher (usually local) is now no longer free to intervene in moulding the youngsters, especially if that involves correction. Family, once thought to be the safest place for an individual, is now looked upon by individual rights proponents as exploitative, enslaving, circumscribing and subjugating individuals - especially, women and children.
Despite the antiquity of the theory, I feel what was described by Ferdinand Tonnies (1887) in Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (Community and Society), a reality occurring in Indian society now. Gemeinschaft - community/we-ness - shared culture and space, has indeed given way to Gesselschaft - society - relationships governed more by formal, impersonal, contractual relationships. Self-interest, rational calculations, formal rules guide our relationships. But we are encompassed by the new cultural revolution - and it all happens almost unawares.
It is not exactly a nostalgia about a lost world or times, but an observation of what is happening around, and how things can be made better.
Perhaps, these instinctual animal follies of human beings were there earlier too, but were kept under check and control and people didn't have the resources to do otherwise - money and means of communication. Now there is access to both these to many more people than it ever used to be - to men and women, the young and the aged, the rural and the urban, and that has led to an increase in the choices before the individuals, and a slackening of the systems of control on them.
Perhaps, things are better off now - All around me, Keralam or UP, I have observed an increase in material well-being, and better formal systems for ensuring well-being - child and elderly protection policies and legislations - with gender and ability parameters attached
We are said to be at the stage of reaping the demographic dividends - and perhaps, that is happening; though more as an accident, and less on account of goal-directed and purposeful investment in human development.
Is there a monoculture of minds? (Vandana Shiva, Monocultures of the Mind, 1993).
The world is becoming UNIPOLAR and appears plagued by One-Size-Fits-All syndrome. But generally, people and the leaders are looking forward to that direction and model.
Our family, gender, child rights, education perspectives, policies etc. appear to be getting stitched in this paradigm, and I feel that this is not for good.
Generally, we (Indians) tend to be highly critical of the 'Western*', read American, way of life. But somewhat like how we Christians pray (without meaning it), 'Our Father in Heaven... your kingdom come... as it is in heaven' with a shift '...as it is in the US'... it could be education (basic or higher), dressing, technology, transportation, laws, interpersonal relationships etc. Almost all, critiques and admirers have the US model of economic progress and infrastructural and technological development in their minds as the model.
So on the one hand, we are becoming progressive, if the American/modern way of life is progressive, on the other hand, we tend to be losing what we think now was to be good from the olden times - the inter-personal relationships, the informality, the care (bordering interference), the greater public space and less of private & personal space.
Can there be a going back? I don't think so? However, a process of rediscovering what we have almost lost or are in the process of losing is worth the while, so as to prevent a total loss of such positive aspects of diverse cultures.
3. A FAMILY CASE STUDY OF INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY
My father lost his father at the age of 12, he had just one younger sister. He had to shoulder the responsibility for his small family. He appeared to be a toughie to us. He married my mother almost 10 years younger to him, when he was 28 - both belonging to that class termed 'the silent generation)
I belong to the cohort of the baby boomers-X. Since then generations have been termed y, z and alpha by ingenious searchers of the dominant knowledge system. I envy the knowledge system, perhaps, of which I am a passive part, in spite of being in India and not very deeply into the knowledge-building process. It keeps on reinventing ideas, and generating ideas - thus, we have Silent/traditionalists - 1928-45; Baby boomers - 1946-1964; X - 1965-80; Y/Millenials - 1981-1996; Z/Zoomers - 1997-2012; Alpha - 2013-2025 (Douglas Coupland's 1991 novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.) In contrast, we in India, would have been happy with one concept of being born humans, ad eternum.
We were a 'small family' of 9 siblings, a father, a mother and a grandmother. My mother was in her late 30s when I was in school, and my grandmother, in her 70s. There used to be some verbal fight between the two of them - generally only on account of my grandmother trying to do something involving manual labour - either cleaning the premises or sweeping the floor. The daughter-in-law, who was my mother, cared that the older lady did not ruin her fragile health.
At times, I felt a bit ashamed that we were a huge family - though there were many other families in the neighbourhood having children in the range of 7 to 9, and an exceptional 14 as well. When I was in grade 1, my eldest sister was in grade X. Then we watched her going to the famous Maharaja's college, doing her studies, rather exceptionally well, while taking almost full charge of the kitchen where almost 6 of us who were to go to school after a filling breakfast, and perhaps, some preparations for the lunch also had to be done. Those having accomplished, she would go to college and come back and while she assisted my mother still with 3 tiny tots to be taken care of, managed her studies by sitting late into the night. The pattern was followed by two others who were junior to her. I have never heard my mother asking them to help her out or asking them to focus on their studies. Two of them entered into service in higher education, and another one with an M. Tech entered into a public sector firm as an engineer. All of them served the full term of their regular service in their chosen career, brought up their nuclear families and have begun to lead happy retired lives, without ever looking for a second innings career, and complementing their empty nests with travelling to see around (which they are now able to afford), travelling to be with their children and finding time to meet with their relatives and friends.
Being right in the middle of the order of siblings, I had a quartet of elders and juniors as siblings. Of the lot, I might have been the one who had to go to the most ordinary type of schools of those days, and soon after schooling, I got some inspiration to leave my family and philosophically, embrace the global family by aspiring to be a priest in the Catholic Church. Since then, I have deliberately distanced myself from my family of origin, and that has become a habit for me.
Communication: Me and the elder four used to communicate regularly through letters till the internet took over, and we all graduated to emails and then WhatsApp. Among them, there continue regular phone calls and visits I suppose. The practice we began as siblings living together at our ancestral home, of greeting everyone on birthdays, still continues - it has further extended to the partners and children of the siblings as well.
Care: My elderly parents were taken care of by my brothers who were around and the elder sisters, each one taking a turn so that none of them had to severely compromise with their professional tasks as well as care for their parents. I had often felt that it was too much for them to manage their homes and care of their elderly parents. My father passed away, while still able to move around and manage his basic needs, while my mother was bedridden for almost 5 years. I would have recommended that she was left with a care home, because in spite of a full-time caregiver, air/water bed besides my brother giving care, she was developing bedsores. I did not interfere, however, my younger brother, a medical practitioner, took it upon himself to give care to my mother, and did so very well, till she passed away. I would have rather suggested a care home - but my siblings felt it their duty to take care of their parents at their own home, in spite of their busy home and job fronts.
Disengaged Oldage: But what I observed was, though their basic needs were rather well taken care of, once they were past a stage, and had stopped reading newspapers or magazines, life had become sheer boredom for them, with hardly anybody to converse with, TV channels not giving them any interest. When the smaller kids were back from school, they had some engagement, otherwise, they had a very long lonely day at their disposal, with hardly anyone else around, unless the caregiver was such that she was able to engage them in some meaningful conversation. I hope this does not happen to our generation.
Our new-gen - Y & Z (millennials and zoomers) - 16 of them - except the youngest 2 in the schools, all are on their own. While most of them, in spite of the liberal education they received have tried to stick to the conventional mode of establishing a family within the community as guided by the church, while a lone exception among them is well accommodated, without many questions asked.
Now, we try to make it a point that at least once a year, we try to gather together at some place or other, to make sure that the ties are not lost. All our next-gen children (Millenials, Zoomers) had the experience (privilege/blessing?) of having both the parents to care for them, while most of them had a maximum of 1 sibling to deal with. I have observed, while most of us siblings have gone past the age of 60, they tend to be taking care of their children when they are in distress, rather than the other way about - so far!
I am not a fan of larger families nor am I advocating for larger families - I find the following aspects of our life as supportive factors:
- A Christian (read, religious) upbringing
- Acceptance of religious (conventional - communitarian) values.
- Minimising wants - realistic - accommodating - not being very ambitious about positions and possessions.
- Deliberate support for each other.
- Regular communication
- Efforts to find time to meet together.
Now we try to express our aspirations for well-being in such complex phrases as 'intergenerational solidarity and care for well-being'; we meant the very same thing and experienced that when we said that families were important and that family values ought to be promoted - in the sense of being communitarian than individualistic, while ensuring greater well-being of the individuals.
Population Explosion - Demographic Dividend - the Small Family Norm
We were a generation taught constantly by the ideal of a small family - 'hum do, hamare do'. We think and feel that it is the larger population of the country that is making India backward.
In the southern states of Keralam, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the birthrate is now below the replacement level - the modernist syndrome has caught up with them. And the Chief Ministers of AP and TN are now advocating for larger families.
Smaller families tend to have better access to educational, health and technological resources, however, parental engagement in earning is seen to affect the care of the younger generation. The care and connectivity tend to be losing ground and the children are becoming technology and device-dependent.
The threats of drug addiction and negative influence of the digital media are also found to be increasing. The cases like the ones cited in the beginning may have such causes behind them.
The increased stress on individual rights - almost leading to a culture dominated by individualism - seem to limit the possibilities of teacher/school-level interventions for moulding the children.
However, I see schools and higher education centres as the best means to ensure intergenerational solidarity for well-being.
4. A Traditional Indian Scheme for Intergenerational Well-Being
Indian Knowledge System provides a framework for intergenerational well-being based on the ancient social structure. It is termed Varna-ashrama
Dharma.
• Varna
– groups in the community – castes
• Ashrama
– stages in one’s life
• Dharma
– duties
Accordingly, the life span of a man (of course, it is a man's world - and women are significant, only as supporters of men in fulfilling their duties. However, this could now be applied without discriminating between the genders) is thought to be 100 - shatayu purushah. And the 100 years are divided into quarters of 25 years.
• 1.
Brhamacarya – Learner - devotion to learning, devotion to elders. Obedience and
care are the prominent attitude, and concentration on the word (Brahman) is expected to keep the learner from all other distractions, including the sexual drives. Hence, a Brahmachari is considered to be someone who does not engage in sex, more as a natural fallout of one's dedication to learning.
• 2.
Grihastha – Establishing and caring for one’s family, engaging with the world, producing children and goods, the core stage in life to establish and contribute to the sustenance of the society.
• 3.
Vanaprastha – Retirement and recollected life – attending to developing one’s
higher self - in the direction of Maslow's self-actualisation.
• 4.
Sannyasa – Complete dedication to social well-being and the common good - bahujana hitaya, bahujana sukhaya. At this stage, the ideal would be that of Jivanmukta, the individual who has attained liberation from all that binds one - family, possessions, ego, and is ready for 'moksha' (liberated or self-actualised state), but is still willing to be on earth, with the desire to be of service to the fellow beings on the common home attain self-realisation.
- Can there be any room for such a way of life, which is a drastically different worldview than what is promoted by development thinkers and the world nations, as that is based on minimalism, transcendence and duty/call for the common good? Is that feasible? Is that sustainable? This is not attractive, however, it solves the issue around intergenerational solidarity to a great extent - people retire from active life, reduce their needs and dependence on things and people, and finally when time comes, even say no to food and drink, letting oneself released into the next stage - hopefully of 'nirvana' or 'moksha'. (It is said that the Hindutva proponent Veer Savarkar did exactly that in his final days, though he was just about 80 plus, refusing food and drink, thus letting himself go - according to him, it was atmaarpan, not atmahatya. This is said to be a practice in Jain tradition, praanopavesham. The historical figure Chandragupta Maurya is said to have done that.)
5. SOME PRAXIS EXPERIENCES IN THE REALM OF INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY.
At Sacred Heart College, Kochi, an autonomous higher education institution affiliated to the university of Mahatma Gandhi, Kottayam, we introduced service learning equivalent to 1 credit (40 hours of field service) as mandatory for any under graduate student of the college. We appoitned a Social Worker as Student Development Officer for helping the students to fulfil this requirement in a meaningful manner.
5.1. Age-friendly Club - was one such initiative in collaboration with the Geriatric Care department of a neighbouring hospital. It offered volunteering opportunities for the students to engage with the elderly in the after school hours.
- Learning opportunities for the elders a) spoken English b) French c) How to send mail, use social media - especially, WhatsApp/video call/email. Entertainment.
5.2. Jesus Youth - Engagement with Individuals in Beggary
Jesus Youth (JY) an international organisation among Catholic youth promoting a life style patterned after Jesus, usually have units in Catholic Higher Education institutions, without making their activities exclusive. Every Wednesday, JY facilitate a gathering of some 100-odd people who earn through begging. St Vincent de Paul Society of the local church offers them a rich breakfast.
Then they wait. The students engage with them, speak with them. They share their concerns/experiences. There is someone to listen to them. They are taken out for an outing with the students accompanying them. During the feasts like Onam and Christmas, they are gathered together for a celebration with gifts for each of them being sponsored by some generous benefactor.
5.3. Vayovedi - Vayo Vadanappally - Social Worker who is in-charge of the Integrated Child Development Service Scheme (ICDS) initiated a forum for the elderly to come and meet and have some periodical entertainment or outing, through the budgetary planning of the local self-government. The local government had allocated an amount of Rs 3.5 lakhs for the same, indicating great possibilities locally.
5.4. Seniors as Educators - The New Education Policy (NEP 2020) of India, promotes Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) stressing rediscovery, learning, preservation and application. In this aspect, it is recommended that the senior citizens as repository of such knowledge be invited to engage with the younger generation through lectures, interactions, trainings and internships.
I think this could be a meaningful way in which a mutual beneficial intergenerational exchange can take place, leading to intergenerational solidarity.
5.5. NEP - Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) & Senior Care
The role of elders in cultural assimilation is stressed. I recall a long pending proposal to make local government initiated elderly day care centres, parallel to the ECCE programme of ICDS. Ensuring the necessary safety measures, periodical engagment of the senior citizens of the locality with the pre-school children of the same locality can be a rewarding experience for all concerned, I believe.
5.6. Foster Care - My former student, now a professional with the state social welfare department, speaks about odd experiments in having an elderly person accepted in the pattern of a foster child. Adult Foster Homes (USA) and Family Based Care (Europe) experimented in western societies can be a meaningful means for well-bein across generations, in developing societies, which are inevitably and increasingly becoming westernized societies, with all their baggages.
5.7. Education and Cooperation for well-being
As the world celebrates the International Year of Cooperatives - two of the principles of Cooperation, I find very significant for all professions, especially social work.
a) Education - Social Worker ought to be an educator irrespective of their specific field of operation - educating the organisation (school, hospital, rehab centres, welfare centres, community-based organisations, community development programs, research centres...), educating the community around - on the need and methods of building meaningful and organic relationships, especially promoting healthy and sustained family relationships.
This has to find place very specially, in the basic formal education system, with inputs and support for self-reflection and inculcation of values and habits that build up solidarity across ages.
b) Cooperation among Social Workers and other fields - especially, in tapping the religio-spiritual resources, irrespective of one's belief systems.
6. SDGs and Intergenerational Solidarity for Well-beingI feel, in today's world of global warming and climate crisis, any discussion on well-being cannot set aside the importance of sustainable development. Intergenerational solidarity, the mutual support and understanding between different age groups, is crucial for achieving sustainable wellbeing. Several SDG targets directly or indirectly rely on this principle:
While all the 17 goals can be seen as interdependent and connected, I consider the goals on poverty (1), hunger and malnutrition (2), health and well-being (3), quality education including continuing education (4), gender equality (5), clean water and sanitation (6), affordable and clean energy for all (7), decent work and economic growth (8) and sustainable cities and communities (11) are very much directly linked to intergenerational solidarity, with the realisation that earth's resources are limited, and can get exhausted or polluted, threatening the survival of the future generations. Here the solidarity for intergenerational well being demands intergenerational equity, especially in the realm of consumption (responsible consumption and production - SDG 12) and of cooperation among all concerned (SDG 17) for such systems and structures (SDG 16) to evolve.
Here I would like to underscore the need for a profession like Social Work to cooperate with the religio-spiritual resources that can influence this changeover, with the transcendental and interpersonal values they are capable of promoting well, when compared to purely rational systems with no transcendental references,
I conclude with an interesting quote from the Book of Psalms of the Bible:
Ps 102:18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord.
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* I see modern - western - American in connection with progress and development as more or less inter-changeable terms.
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