A study of 55 women aged between 60 and 90 in Kolkata challenges one of the most persistent assumptions about old age: that people become defined primarily by illness, dependence and the need for care. The accounts gathered through the ‘Cultures of Ageing’ research survey show that later life can also involve work, relationships, aspiration, pleasure and the continued effort to preserve one’s identity.
The study, initiated by voluntary organisation Anjali under the guidance of Jadavpur University professor Parmita Chakraborty, includes women from different classes, castes, religions and occupations. Its significance lies not only in the diversity of the participants, but also in the way it shifts the question of ageing from individual decline to the social and urban systems that determine whether older people can remain active, connected and autonomous.
That shift matters because older women are often viewed through a narrow care framework. Once a person crosses 60, the assumption can be that physical capacity, income and independence will inevitably diminish. The study, as reported by Anandabazar, presents a more complex picture. Ageing may bring bodily changes and slower work, but it does not automatically remove the desire to earn, form relationships, experience joy or make decisions about one’s own life.
One of the clearest examples is the story of Satarani Pal. She began working in a circus at the age of 12, performing on a unicycle, trapeze and roller equipment. After turning 60, that work stopped, but she began sewing on a machine. The change illustrates an important distinction: work is not only a source of income. It can also be a source of identity, routine and self-worth.
For an urban policy system, this distinction is consequential. If older people are considered only as recipients of medical services or family care, the spaces and arrangements that support their participation remain invisible. A woman who continues to work may need safe mobility, access to suitable employment, social contact and control over her income. These needs are different from, though connected to, the need for healthcare.
The study also exposes the class differences embedded in ageing. Women with financial security may be able to choose how they spend their post-retirement years. Those dependent on physical labour face a sharper risk. Illness can interrupt their earning capacity and, with it, their financial independence. The resulting pressure is not only economic. The report links the loss of financial independence to mental stress and anxiety, showing how health, livelihood and emotional well-being are interconnected in later life.
This is where the urban question becomes more than a matter of household economics. Cities organise access to work, healthcare, transport, neighbourhood relationships and public space. When an older woman’s ability to participate depends on whether she can continue working, reach people safely or remain socially connected, ageing becomes partly a question of urban infrastructure and governance.
The findings further complicate the belief that family is always the primary guarantee of security. In Indian social thinking, families are commonly treated as the natural support system for older people. But the experiences recorded in the study show that families can provide care in some cases and indifference in others. Family members may become a source of support, but family settings can also produce neglect, financial exploitation or loneliness.
This does not make living alone a synonym for vulnerability. Nor does living with relatives automatically ensure safety. Friends, neighbours, self-help groups, workplaces and even pets may become meaningful forms of family. The implication is that support for older people cannot be designed around a single household model. A resilient ageing system needs to recognise the wider networks through which people receive companionship, assistance and a sense of belonging.
For city authorities, that raises an institutional challenge. Support networks often operate informally, while public systems tend to be organised through departments with narrower mandates. Healthcare may sit apart from social welfare; livelihood support may be separate from community development; housing and neighbourhood planning may not account for the needs of older residents. The material supplied with the study does not establish a specific policy response, but it makes the fragmentation visible.
The question is particularly important for older women because gender shapes both their economic histories and their social choices. The women in the study came from different occupations and social backgrounds, but the reported experiences show that ageing does not erase earlier inequalities. A woman who spent her life in physically demanding work may enter old age with different resources from someone who has financial security. Access to family support, control over money and the ability to continue working are not distributed equally.
The study also challenges the idea that desire ends with age. Its participants spoke about love, sexuality, intimacy and decisions concerning their own bodies. Such experiences are often excluded from public discussions of ageing, which tend to focus on disease, dependency and institutional care. Treating older people only as patients can deny their agency and make their emotional and personal lives disappear from policy conversations.
Ratnabali Roy, Anjali’s head, said that viewing older people only through the needs of treatment and care pushes questions of leisure, communication and mental well-being into the background. She called for a people-centred approach to ageing. The statement points towards a broader understanding of care: not merely keeping people medically stable, but enabling them to retain dignity, relationships, choice and participation.
That approach also exposes the limits of relying on families to absorb every responsibility. Some older people may require long-term treatment for conditions including memory loss. Families may not always have the time, money, skills or physical capacity to provide such care. The report notes that government infrastructure is still not adequate everywhere. It does not provide a detailed assessment of specific facilities or budgets, but it identifies a clear gap between the scale of possible care needs and the assumption that households can manage them alone.
The evidence from Kolkata therefore points to three connected layers of ageing support. The first is healthcare and long-term care, particularly for those living with chronic conditions. The second is economic security, including the ability to retain financial independence where possible. The third is social infrastructure: the relationships, groups, workplaces and neighbourhood connections that prevent later life from becoming defined by isolation.
These layers cannot be treated as interchangeable. A financially secure woman may still experience loneliness. A woman surrounded by relatives may still face neglect or exploitation. Someone who remains physically active may lose independence if illness removes her income. The study’s central contribution is to show that no single indicator—family presence, income, health or residence—can adequately describe an older person’s life.
The larger urban question is whether Kolkata, and cities more broadly, are prepared to treat older residents as citizens with continuing choices rather than as a category requiring passive protection. The reported study does not offer a complete answer, nor does it claim to represent every older woman in the city. Its value lies in making visible experiences that conventional ageing narratives often overlook.
What the evidence confirms is that ageing is shaped by the interaction of work, money, health, family, community and personal identity. What remains unresolved is how responsibility should be shared between the state, society and families. The stories of these 55 women suggest that a credible system of ageing support will need to protect people from illness and insecurity without taking away their right to work, connect, desire and decide for themselves.
