America is more Hindu than present-day India

Part 2

Four Ashramas (Stages of working life, Age-wise):

First Ashrama is Bramhacharya, abstinence.

Both in America and in India, it continues: as a student, you abstain from so many parties, movies, yatras, melas, etc. There is one difference: in India, the parents continue paying the bramhachari’s bills until he gets a job. Whereas in America, after being major at 18, you are thrown out of your parents’ house. If you want to continue higher study, you have to take a part-time job and save to finance it. It is a greater abstinence. Poor Americans!

Second Ashrama Garhasthya, that is, the household and the earning stage, is fine.

Third Ashrama is Vanaprashtha, Active retirement, 50 to 75:

In India, it is seen as follows in farming families. The son does the ploughing, etc., but father decides what crop, when to sow, etc. Since most of the Indians are in jobs, Vanaprastha is not applicable to them.
How does it work in America? In the corporate world, you start as a manager. On seniority, you become a director, which means you groom your junior to be able to handle your post actively on a day-to-day basis, you deal only with policy matters and review monthly or quarterly.

India has forgotten the concept of active retirement, except for farming families and some business families.

Fourth ashrama Sanyasa, which is full retirement:

This is the same in both cases except for the fact that the Indian retires with his family, and the American retires in an old age home prepaid by him during his working days.