Don`t Retire, Rewire.

Don’t Retire, Rewire. M.V.Ruparelia.

Due to unprecedented progress in Medical Science, especially in respect of Stem Cells & Gene replacements etc, Life Span of human beings is expected to be 200/600 years! According to Dr Deepak Chopra, Body is Ageless!! With the present scenario in our Country, the present generation of Senior Citizens is not going to die soon! Whatever the Span, the Death, though certain, can not be predicted and as such each Senior Citizen has to accept that he has to live long and should therefore plan out his own life style and career for good quality of his long innings of life.

Career is defined as (1): A way some one makes his living over a significant period of his life and (2): The progress and development of a person.

To-day, many of the elite & middle-class Senior Citizens enjoy (!) their own (!) life playing cards or golf, gardening, chit-chatting with their neighbors in a park or just spending longer hours on the couch (in front of the TV) and reading newspapers, with attitude of `` Why bother about others? Others are like this or that! `` Retirement doesn't have to mean aimless walks and endless hours in a rocking chair. They forget or even do not bother or even need to know that they are given the Status of Senior Citizen with several privileges and some expectations from the Society & government. Their retired life has no direction, no goal, and no necessity to progress or to develop the Self or Others! They must awake and find out fields of their choice to serve the community with or without honorarium and give benefit to the Society of their experience of their first innings. All educated Senior Citizens and Associations of Senior Citizens must try their best to bring all Senior Citizens out of inertia of remaining aloof & idle and encourage them to do some thing useful. There are lots of NGOs doing good work towards Society and those interested can join as active workers of such NGOs and give back to the Society, which they have taken sofar. There are so many local social issues, which can be tackled by Senior Citizens. If one looks around with an open mind to do some thing useful, he will find lots of things to do. Now that each Association of Senior Citizens can get a classroom in Municipal Schools, at least in Maharashtra, it should be possible to meet often and discuss and find out fields of activities useful to the Society as well as avenues of employment in near about places.

Whether you call it economic compulsion or their keenness to keep themselves busy and use their expertise, these days a lot of senior citizens in India are looking out for a second career post-retirement. The corporate world is known for utilizing the services of healthy retired personnel to not only cut costs, but also benefit from their expertise and experience. They provide various facilities to Senior Citizens in respect of Work-environment as well as short working hours etc. Senior Citizens and their Associations must remain in contact with prospective corporate sector and take advantage of the present trend of Corporate Social Responsibility. This will be mutually advantageous to Corporate Sector as well as Senior Citizens. Each Senior Citizen must think of the long remaining life span and plan out self-utilization fields for progress and development of Self & Society!