Aging And The Indian Diaspora: Cosmopolitan Families In India And Abroad( Series - Tracking Globalization )

Aging and the Indian Diaspora examines cosmopolitan, middle-class families living in India (especially Kolkata) and abroad, as they cope with aging in a transnational era. It focuses on remarkable changes taking place in India, such as the surge of old age homes, the increasing prevalence of living alone, and the transnational dispersal of families. Sarah Lamb writes beautifully, in a clear, engrossing and accessible style, and she also makes very interesting comparisons to the ways people think about aging and being a person in the United States. The book provides just the right amount of engagement with theory--contributing to theoretical understandings of globalization, modernity, aging, agency and personhood--while offering the moving stories and reflective insights of her informants. As a blurb on the back cover states, this book is destined to become "a classic in the anthropology of India, comparative modernities, and aging." The three chapters focusing on life in Kolkata’s surge of old age homes are especially riveting.