Sr Citizens Living Second-Innings To The Fullest
Human’s real journey starts after he finishes off with achieving whatever he wanted from his life. And hence the retirement period is both a chance to re-start life and to live for themselves this time.
Numerous initiatives have been taken by individuals, groups, institutions, and trusts to help them enjoy life most in the face where they’re overwhelmed with increased insecurities. They organise morning walks, laughing clubs, reading clubs, etc., to promote a sense of togetherness and maintain their fitness levels.
Further, they often indulge in activities like playing cards, golfs, carrom, etc., and finds the inner peace by visiting/organising Satsangs, Kirtans and other religious or spiritual events.
Retired from the Indian Navy in 2008 after 35 years of service and settled in Noida, Commodore Ashok Sawhney daily schedule starts with a 30 minutes session of Laughter Yoga. “About 60 of us, mainly senior citizens, gather daily at 6.30 AM in our community centre and laugh our guts out together”, he further added.
Ashok also believes that since the inception of these sessions there is increased social bonding and togetherness among us is an additional bonus.
Apart from enjoying the laughter sessions, Sawhney founds his passion for playing golf. He exclaimed “The 3 hours spent on most afternoons/evenings in lush green surroundings with fresh air and the sun and in the company of golfing friends, are out of this world, and even the notorious NCR pollution is forgotten.”
To accomplish the pursuit of happiness of Senior citizens, Golden Citizen Trust based out of Mumbai organises several activities for its members to participate in, wherever their interest and desire rest. With more than 800 senior citizen members, the trust is helping to build a specialised community to make their second innings the happiest.
“Activities are usually performed in small clubs like Poetry’s club, Dancer’s club, Singer’s club etc. We also have organised talent shows which had elderly people flaunting on the ramp walk”, Dr Anjali Chhabria, Founder and Chairperson of Golden Citizen Trust told us.
For the sake of their entertainment, star-studded events have also been organised in the past by the trust. “We have organised events for our members in which singers like Anoop Jalota, Alka Yagnik, have performed in the past”, Anjali said.
The trust also has lawyers, Charted Accountants, Doctors and other professionals on the panel which advise old age people free of cost and helping them in every way possible. Further, the trust also hosts clean-up drives in Juhu beaches which the members feel like a part of their giving back to nature.
Although a huge number of senior citizens have become a part of these groups and societies, a huge number of them still live within the shackles of their home and there’s a constant need of increasing the awareness to encourage more and more number of senior citizens to join and become a part of such groups. This will not only help in shooing away their loneliness but will also help them to end their journey with peace.
