Source: The Scotsman. Sun 8 Feb 2004 at http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=152982004
Book Review. THESE FOOLISH THINGS By Deborah Moggach. Chatto & Windus, �12.99. Reviewed by: Jackie McGlone Excerpts: Should some wily entrepreneur find the time to read Deborah Moggach's poignantly funny new novel, he or she will discover a gift of an idea for a global, money-spinning franchise that could also salve the guilt of all those 50-somethings worrying about what's to become of their aged parents. In These Foolish Things, one of Moggach's colourful cast of characters has the inspired idea of setting up a retirement home in India so that families can ship their elderly, indigent relatives off to a bungalow in Bangalore to live out their sunset years in the sunshine in a land of cheap labour and polite young people. "We outsource everything else, so why not the elderly?" asks London-based Moggach, pointing to the proliferation of call centres and the relocation of hi-tech industries to India. "Only last week," she says, "there was a news item about people being flown out to India to be given new hips. It's going to cost �3,000, considerably less than it would cost here, in a state-of-the-art hospital." All she's done in her enjoyable and engaging book - her 17th - is to take 'out-sourcing' to its logical conclusion. Now, after thinking carefully about the issue, she's convinced there will eventually be a global trade in the elderly. "For the first time in this country there are more of us over 50 than under and it's going to get worse, with all of us getting older, having no one to look after us, and our pensions dwindling. Apparently, we're all going to need about �1m in the bank to see us through old age. One solution is to bring more young people from developing countries to look after us. "What I've done is take that and turn it on its head, because I think developing countries can look after us very well out there. Travel's so easy, medication is much cheaper, it's hot, and a city like Bangalore still retains relics of the Victorian Raj, with elements of Bournemouth in the 1950s, which is rather reassuring for people in their 70s for whom Britain is increasingly becoming a foreign country." Her luminous and exquisitely written novel Tulip Fever - the most literary of all her books, which was translated into 14 languages and became an international bestseller - is being filmed by Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks. Check out the hilarious account of Deborah Moggach's trip to Goa at: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0FQP/n4352_v126/20012795/p1/article.jhtml Cheers. Eddie Fernandes ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
