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LIVING: POST-RETIREMENT
Immense Difference
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ESTATE COST
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Apartment away from river: Rs 1,100 per sq ft
Apartment facing river: Rs 2,500 per sq ft
Plot with 2 bedroom house away from river: Rs 2,000 per
sq yard
Plot with 2 bedroom house on the river front: Upto Rs 5,000
per sq yard
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Arjun Singh Seth,
72 and Nirmala Seth, 62, got there before the boom. Residents of Delhi's
Chandni Chowk, they were exhausted by life in the crime-infested capital.
Seth's health suffered; his heart problem precipitated a serious stroke.
Then they moved into Rishikesh's Gangasthal Apartments when it was built
three years ago. They have become so attached to life there that they
can't think of moving back. Says Nirmala: "You can't imagine what
a difference it has made to him to live in such a calm, unpolluted place-it's
better than any bypass operation."
The Seths didn't opt for their current home
for lack of alternatives. Arjun Singh's job as an officer in the Railways
enabled them to travel extensively. They explored many possible retirement
spots from Kashi to Kanyakumari before deciding on Rishikesh, where spiritual
solace came with an equable climate. They tested the waters by living
in the ashrams here on numerous occasions before buying a riverside apartment
in 1999, the year that Nirmala retired from her Delhi Electricity Supply
Undertaking (DESU) job. It wasn't cheap considering the Seths' salaries
-Rs 8 lakhs for a one-bedroom flat-but it was furnished and within splashing
distance of the Ganga, and this made up their minds for them.
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S.D. Ganguly and wife Sipra, who own a unit in Ansals' Anand
Dham Apartments (Hardwar), carefully planned their post-retirement
living. Says Ganguly: "Varanasi and
Allahabad were too crowded but Hardwar can still offer peace."
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By the time Nirmala retired both were fed up
of the life in Delhi. The presence of their two children and numerous
family members could not obliterate the harsh facts of old age in an unforgivingly
fast-paced metropolis. As Arjun Singh says, "Who has time for anyone
nowadays? It's a busy and terrible life that even we were caught up in
before we came here." Concurs Nirmala: "It was so difficult
to reflect, meditate or get time for prayer in Delhi but here the entire
culture is geared towards it." Early in the morning the Seths can
hear the sadhus chanting mantras and singing bhajans in the ashrams around.
Gangasthal's back lawn faces the river and in the evening the seniors
often sit together with their tea to exchange news and watch the evening
artis being performed across the bank. Says Arjun Singh: "We had
even considered a hill-station like Nainital but there is simply no comparison
to a flat near the Ganga. This place is so placid and I think it will
remain that way at least in my lifetime."
Retired government engineer S.D. Ganguly, 66,
and wife Sipra, 60, chose a one-bedroom apartment in Ansals' Anand Dham
in Hardwar after having lived in many cities. From their balcony you can
see the wooded expanse of the Rajaji National Park while the Ganga flows
close by. An active, religious couple who enjoy good literature, the Gangulys
had planned their post-retirement living meticulously. Says the veteran
engineer: "Most people our age start thinking of moving to a holy
place because they are discontented with family life and feel that their
children neglect them. But everyone needs space and if you accept that,
plan properly and take up a place of your own in good time, everybody's
happy." Part of the planning included surveying other holy towns
on the Ganga but "Varanasi and Allahabad have become so terribly
crowded-it would have been like getting right back into the human melting
pot of a metropolis. Hardwar has begun expanding only recently and can
still offer peace."
The Gangulys have a busy schedule that begins
at the crack of dawn. Morning walks together, watching religious films,
reading religious literature and visiting the ghats for pujas take up
large chunks of their time. Visiting neighbours takes care of the rest.
Says Ganguly: "We are enjoying life. If you learn to not expect too
much from people around you, you can find happiness."
While those who have spent a lifetime in the
country teach themselves to compromise on emotional needs, NRI retirees
who have dropped anchor near the Ganga have to learn compromising on a
totally different front. Pramod Dosaj, 65, a retired engineer, has returned
with wife Adarsh, 59, after 20 years in the US to set up house in Naturoville,
a mini town 18 km from Hardwar in response to the advertised invitation
"Own a bungalow near the Ganga". Their family is in Delhi, a
city where they "never felt secure" and were "always hurrying
somewhere, always tense". While some of their NRI-retiree neighbours
in Naturoville are disappointed with the sheer lack of infrastructure
and facilities in the area (proper roads, streetlights, hospitals, water
supply), the Dosajs are clear in their viewpoint. "We're happy we've
come here. You miss some basic amenities but despite being alone, we don't
feel lonely here. After you retire, it's difficult to keep pace with the
rest of the world-even your children are perennially busy. We've found
serenity and like-minded people here, so it's been worth it," says
Adarsh.
The sentiment is echoed by most who have chosen
the area to retire to. At Aradhana Sthal Apartments, a five-minute walk
from the Ganga in Rishikesh a host of elders sit together in the courtyard
enjoying each others' company between morning prayers, afternoon satsang
and evening artis. As a group they include members from places as diverse
as Bikaner, Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Gangtok and Amritsar. And so life
goes on by the Ganga-uneventful by city standards yet just what the doctor
ordered for tired souls. As the Seth couple say, "Everyone speaks
the same language here and there is a place for people like us. For the
first time in our lives, we are at peace."
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