Prince Sidhartha, on encountering an old man for the first time, was so intrigued by human existence that he renounced the world of human affairs. Eventually, he did resolve his problem philosophically but the mystery about old age persists till this day.

When does one become old, why, and how? These are questions that have been asked often. Each age has tried to explain the phenomenon of ageing in its own way — depending on its temper, its world-view, as well as on the level of its knowledge in respect of physiology, sociology, psychology, theology, etc. Needless to add, since the world has been changing with time, and since time is known to move cyclically, attitudes towards ageing and old age have not been making a linear progress, upward or downward.

If we go by myths, there were perhaps times when a man lived for hundreds of years. In India, if Gandhari mothered 100 sons, and was going strong at the time of the Mahabharata war, your guess about her life span may be as good as any one else’s. On the other hand, although Manu’s ashrams assumed 100 years as the average age of a man, his fixing the third stage of withdrawal from worldly affairs in the middle point of 50 sounds rather queer.

Did people start ageing that fast? Of course, in India, even in the 20th century, there was a time when people were declared superannuated at 50; but that was because the mortality rate then was high, and the average age was below 60. Interestingly enough, in India, where parents are supposed to be worshipped like gods, the gods are ever young, active, prankish, fond of music, dances, drinks and love-making. After all, having a monopoly of amrit, they enjoy the privilege of being immortal. In fact, even when they assume mortal frame, and descend on the earth as avatars, they retain their power to keep old age at bay. Who, indeed, ever thinks of Rama and Krishna as old men? For reasons unknown, only Brahma, the creator, is projected as an ancient being. In the collective consciousness of India, Vishnu, the preserver, and Mahesh, the destroyer, are ever young.

On the other hand, rishis always had long, shaggy beards — the symbol of their stigmatic status as mortals until they would undergo unending penance to attain parity with the gods. Of course, these were myths, and myths are there to be believed in implicitly, and not to be questioned or dissected analytically. In any case, encapsulating the world-view of an age, myths are the only source of information about pre-historic times. The problem in India is that Hindu thinkers rarely went beyond primordial myths to brood over the phenomenon of old age, and how one may overcome or transcend its problems.

In some other parts of the world, starting with myths, people went on to modify or reshape their perspectives on old age. For example, as a corollary of the myths that sanctified ancestor worship, old men came to be revered. They were supposed to have mastered the holy art of not dying; and having gained through experience such knowledge as enabled them to treat some ailments, they were credited with magic powers of healing. Even otherwise, on the verge of joining the hallowed group of ancestors, they were supposed to have a measure of supernatural power. Thus, it came to be believed that the greater the physical infirmity, the more was their spiritual strength.

In this condition, youngsters were even duty-bound to help them transcend their physical handicaps by carrying the old up to hill-tops where they might join the spirits of the ancestors. In this context, one might recall that in India, too, filial duty has always included taking old parents on pilgrimage to holy places where, if they die, they may earn moksha.

Of course, in most civilisations, the practice did not have spiritual motivation. The old were led to mountains or jungles only to be abandoned — just to save them from the misery of pitiable existence. Some cultural anthropologists have even suggested rationale of such traditions of mercy killing. For example, according to one theory, the tradition of ancestor worship could lose sanctity if grandchildren carried the memory of repulsive looks, ridiculous conduct, and perverse sexual tendencies of the senile grandparents. Again, since a king or feudal chief was expected to protect his country or tribe, and since his becoming weak in old age implied threat to the security of the community, he must be replaced by a youthful son who was supposed to have inherited the aged ruler’s divinity. Hence, the practice of the king killing himself, or being killed ceremoniously — a practice that was extended to heads of families and even other old people.

There are myths about people being buried alive amidst ceremonies in which they themselves took part. Of course, on the other hand, there are also myths that underline attempts to seek rejuvenation through animal glands or through fountains of youth. The fact of the matter is that ambivalence has always marked man’s attitude towards old age because an old man was, on the one hand, a repository of experience and tradition and, on the other, just an extra mouth to feed when totally unproductive.

Even in the history of biology, explanations of the phenomenon of old age have the touch of myths. According to Hippocrates, the father of medicine, life comprised four seasons, old age being its winter. Aristotle compared old age to the "loss of heat" and, therefore, recommended hot bath, wine, diet, etc. Claudius Galen, a Roman physician, in his treatise on old age titled Gerocomica, declared old age as a stage between illness and death. Eleventh century doctors likened life to a lamp, and just as a lamp needs a periodic supply of oil to keep it going, the flame of life needs regulated diet. While the 13^th century sought to transcend the limitations of old age through the magnifying glass, false teeth (from the bodies of animals), etc, 16^th century looked upon man as a chemical compound in which old age got caused by auto-intoxication.

The 18^th century treated old age as an incurable disease, but for the 19^th century, body was a machine, which got worn out in old age. Later, the Vitalists modified the concept by declaring that every organism is endowed with energy, which is exhausted in due course. That was the time that sowed the seeds of geriatrics. In the 20^th century, old age came to be attributed to the lowering of metabolismand, thus, the interest shifted from pathology to the process of ageing.