When I watched “The Intern” starring Robert De Niro, it felt awfully resonant, not to what I’ve lived but to what I’ve seen.
My grandfather post retirement, wakes up early in the morning, goes for a walk, comes back home and gets dressed for work.
He got retired at 60 but works to this day simply because the concept of “rest” is far beyond his comprehension.
I wouldn’t bring up statistics unless it’s extremely important which it is in this case. 57% of retirees desire to continue working in some capacity. That number speaks in volumes.
Generally this stems from the fact that the cost of living frequently surpasses the pension, thereby engendering financial quandaries for retirees.
There are other benefits to getting back to work such as health insurance and medical expenses which gets covered under the company expenses.
While this might be the case for many, the others get back to work for the sake of engagement with peers.
“The honeymoon phase experienced during the initial days of retirement slowly gets overshadowed by boredom and restlessness” – an anonymous source.
All of us are testament to this because we’ve been through something similar during the lockdown days.
Despite working for long haul years, I see my grandfather invested in his work with the same fervour today as he did many years ago.
Other than a few additional candles on his birthday cake, not a lot has changed.
He is the sort of person who can’t sit without shaking his legs. So, he spends his after hours in a place which is synonymous with a club.
“Hiriya nagarikara vedike” a place where senior citizens get together every so often and indulge in games such as carrom and other activities. They also have annual functions and other entertainment programs.
For closing statements I’d like to say that returning to work can serve a potent avenue of forging connections and discovering purpose.
Ms. Quirkytales 
This is a prominent problem faced by senior citizens these days , India in that generation particularly had seen a phase where financial problems had affected most of them. They sacrificed so much of thier life towards thier job that post retirement the validation goed missing. The feeling of insecurity , not beinh relevant hits them , and too much to comprehand. Its great to see that youngsters like you are being observant of all generations , this is a remarkable quality to have , keep it up !!
Amazing write up as always and I love the way how you percieve life at this age !! Keep going and you will reach a different high ❤️❤️
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Yes, Good one Dhrithi. Keep writing.
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Written with a lot of flair and good insight. Awesome.
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Kudos dear Dhriti for understanding and delving into the evolving work life patterns of senior citizens.
Guess, Indian senior citizens have increasingly started doing what their global counterparts have been doing from a long time.
I’d like to add another perspective to this topic especially in the Indian set up. Earlier their time, energy and experience was actively utilized for bringing up grand children in a joint family set up. As nuclear families become the order of the day, our elders want to channelize their knowledge and skills towards financial independence and also to seek a social life outside the confines of home.
Keep writing such engaging pieces…
Best of luck!!
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Thankyou so much for sharing this!
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