Never too old to explore

Inspiring lives

While her daughter goes to work, 70-year-old Sally McDonald takes care of her autistic grand daughter, a full-time job she has been handling diligently for the past 25 years. Amidst this, a woman of many talents, Sally engages in a multitude of activities to keep herself busy and financially independent.

She specialises in preparing ‘guava cheese’ (an Anglo-Indian speciality), makes a variety of delectable chocolates on order and churns out Easter eggs that she claims are one-of-its-kind in Bengaluru. She creates cakes for all celebrations and caters for small parties with assorted snacks. The enthusiastic cook posts some of her favourite recipes on her Facebook page. And that’s not all. Sally even makes elaborate bridal attires and accessories and stitches children’s dresses for different occasions. Single-handedly running the show, the energetic woman says, “I like the older generation to be agile and not give in to an idle lifestyle. In fact, it’s only the age that goes up; there are many things that one can do if they put their heart and soul into it.”

Like Sally, there are many youthful senior citizens in the City brimming with vitality, who perfectly embody the phrase ‘age is just a number’. While some are adding life to their years with active routines, many others are making it a glorious time of their lives pursuing varied hobbies and interests.

A chartered accountant, Yezdi Unvalla retired in 2004 and is in private practice since then. He says he missed out on a lot while he was young due to restricted finances and family responsibilities. However, the 67-year-old is making up for it now— he always had a passion for design and began nurturing it three years back, making beaded jewellery from silver and semi-precious stones under the label ‘Kiyan’. “I don’t want to make it into a big business. The idea is to enjoy doing it and each of the pieces is a unique design,” says Yezdi. He usually sells the jewellery by word-of-mouth and also showcases it at ‘silver bazaars’ (organised by The Silver Surfers Club that offers local senior citizens a marketing and social platform).

He is also fond of motorcycles and says that young couples often give a thumbs-up, seeing him riding the bike with his wife. Joyously embracing life, he expresses, “Work hard but don’t take life too seriously and keep some time for yourself each day. Exercise daily and look forward to old age as a blessing since this is the time you can catch up on things you missed out earlier.”

Taking life by the horns, septuagenarian Veena Baruah echoes similar sentiments. She feels regardless of age, it ultimately boils down to one’s perspective towards life. Retiring from the teaching profession 15 years back, she wanted to do something exciting and took to modelling. The charming 73-year-old still models occasionally for ad films and has featured in ads for Zivame, D’damas, Croma and many others. “I feel young and totally love facing the camera!” she exclaims.

She does yoga regularly and enjoys travelling with family and various travel groups. “Some of my most wonderful travels have been to Kashmir, Bhutan, Switzerland and Dubai. I recently went to Jungle Retreat near Mysuru and am looking forward to my Hampi trip,” she says.

Veena shares that she gets her spiritual nourishment from her practice of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, a life transforming philosophy that helps one recognise and bring forth their inner potential. “It gives me peace and happiness while also enabling me to guide others to strengthen themselves from within. She wants to continue learning and has been devoting time to picking up different skills every year like chocolate-making, gardening and candle-making. “As long as one keeps growing and doing things that make them happy, each phase of life will be vibrant.”

Shaila Panday, at 65, says she will never feel the age for she has lots on her plate. An optometrist, she visits her clinic sometimes but it is her fascination for knitting and crochet work that keeps her occupied. She has been making items like bed covers, cushion covers and table runners and recently started selling baby blankets and layette.
 A year back, she gave this talent an altruistic turn by joining a ‘knit-wit’ club which undertakes charitable projects.

The members have knitted scarves for nuns and caps for children with cancer and they are currently making slippers for residents of an old-age home.  Shaila is also gearing up to launch her clothing line in December comprising an exclusive collection of children’s day and party wear and ladies’ ethnic Indian wear. She takes orders for chocolates on festivals and being a travel addict, also organises customised tours for family and friends. “I live on my own but savour the time I spend with my children and grandchildren and socialising with friends. I am pretty optimistic about life and take each day as it comes,” she remarks.

Seems like anti-ageing creams are a redundant commodity for in the end, it’s the spirit that shines through!