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View Full Version : Need of the hour: Spending time with our ELDERS



chandra16
March 19th, 2009, 03:01 PM
Old age is often referred to as the 'second childhood'. During old age, most of the people tend to behave like a small child, becoming stubborn and not listening to what others say. This might be because of the fact that majority of the people incur the problem of brain shrinkage, as they grow older. Therefore, we need to give the senior citizens special care and attention and treat them just like our little ones. Keeping them busy in recreational activities is a good idea, to fill the void that comes along with retirement and old age. I believe that following ideas can be the best recreational activities for the elderly.

Enroll the person in a club that organizes activities involving the active participation of volunteers. If the club organizes rehab and health camps, hobby classes or competitions, it will be the best option for the elderly person, who wants to pass his free time in a productive way.
A fun way to keep a senior citizen busy for the maximum time is to arrange arts and crafts competitions. If your residential association organizes cultural activities and day trips, be sure to get the elderly person to take part in them. It will definitely rejuvenate his/her spirit.
Dedicated volunteering in schools, colleges and local community centers can help the senior citizens attain self-satisfaction that they have rendered service during the post-retirement period, without sitting idle.
To kill the boredom, arrange easy and fun games for the elderly person, when we are spending time with him/her. This could be as simple as the good old 'passing the parcel' game. Ask the little ones in your family, to play with their grandpa/grandma for sometime.
If an elderly person has inclination towards some kind of activity, be sure to address it. For instance, if he/she is interested in taking photographs, provide him/her with a camera. We can always take him/her to the places where he/she can click nice pictures.
Reading books is something that the majority of senior citizens like to do, after retirement. Purchase some books for them. We can present a library membership to them as well, so that they get the supply of their favorite books all through the year.
Fishing is a great stress buster. Accompany your elderly family members for fishing. It will be a nice way to spend a laid-back holiday, having fun with them.
Give food to their brain - organize mental exercises, like puzzles, for the senior citizens. We can also get some printed brain teasers, like sudoku and crossword puzzles.

vijay
March 19th, 2009, 10:51 PM
Appreciable thoughts, Chandraprabha.

Second childhood need much more care and affection then the first one as in first childhood they learn and grow up to face the world while in second childhood they faced the world and learnt everything. So, we should reap benefit from their experiances as well as should tell them how good they were for us to provide such a nice life, the values and the wisdom.

anilsinghd
March 20th, 2009, 12:35 AM
Wanted to get to this one a bit earlier but anyways , evenings are always a good time!

Indeed a good thread by Chandraprabha! :)

Again I would say it is a validation of some of the crude thoughts of mine, I also believe people after 50-ish are like children with all the "jidd" and all!The only difference is the kind of goodies they desire. Love , care , affection and attention are their preferred candies now!

I myself have faced situations in which I have been the culprit of categorising this behaviour of them as irrational ( By the way , thats not totally wrong if you follow logical methods of deduction ! ) ! But only to realise that I should have done better ! :)

I only said these words to "someone" a couple of months back : " Parents or people after 50 are irrational at times but then they only desire a bit of our love and fulfillment of their desires , they have done so much for us which we even dont know , so here's a way to give back some! ". Much to my dismay the person did not follow the words , but anyways thats a different story alltogether! :)

The author of thread did mention some very important and practical points but I would like to invite more people to also mention ome more points and ways , specially for people who can't or do not want to read , go for fishing , activities etc. Also appreciable would be ways to make them develop interests! :)

navingulia
March 20th, 2009, 09:44 AM
1. yes, elders deserve the appreciation we need to give them. its our duty to give it to them.
2. brain shrinkage? i dont know if that is a medical terminology. i have seen lot of elders having better picking ability with increasing age. Another thing, is the focus, wisdom and channelised energy that i see at times is so admirable. youngsters need to learn it from them. My nanaji is an avid learner at 85. He is my role model in more ways than one. Zohra sehgal at 98, is again one of my role models, the fun and energy she carries. some one praised her looks at 98 and she said "you are seeing me now when i am old and ugly. you should have seen me when i was young and ugly"
Whether old or young the kind of energy we carry is a matter of personal choice and determination.
we should not stereotype elders in a negative way shrinking brain/irritable/attention seeking. No. One can pick negatives/positives any time be it young age or old age.

chandra16
March 20th, 2009, 10:16 AM
1. yes, elders deserve the appreciation we need to give them. its our duty to give it to them.
2. brain shrinkage? i dont know if that is a medical terminology. i have seen lot of elders having better picking ability with increasing age. Another thing, is the focus, wisdom and channelised energy that i see at times is so admirable. youngsters need to learn it from them. My nanaji is an avid learner at 85. He is my role model in more ways than one. Zohra sehgal at 98, is again one of my role models, the fun and energy she carries. some one praised her looks at 98 and she said "you are seeing me now when i am old and ugly. you should have seen me when i was young and ugly"
Whether old or young the kind of energy we carry is a matter of personal choice and determination.
we should not stereotype elders in a negative way shrinking brain/irritable/attention seeking. No. One can pick negatives/positives any time be it young age or old age.

Thanks a lot for the appreciation & sharing your thoughts. But the article is not written by me. Its a forwarded message sent to me by one of my colleagues. I liked the same and shared it with all of you...:)

navingulia
March 20th, 2009, 03:07 PM
yes chandraprabha, that you brought this topic is great because it is an important topic. past few days this thing was their in my mind.
We should appreciate our elders and be thankful.
We should avoid getting into areas of ideological conflict with them or our youngsters. every generation is bound to be different, language and culture will always change.
1. elders are wonderful at supervisory work, be it home or workplace. you can leave the supervisory work to them anytime and ffocus on creative/promotional areas.
2. i think 'wisdom' is something which elders can handover to people one or two generation below them. while youngsters are obsessed with IQ, they miss out on wisdom and focus.
wisdom i picked up
a) krodh vinaash ka rasta hai
b) avoid arguing
c) dont respond, work
d) be nice and have good relations with everyone. a wise person will never have enemies
e) you may have fun but you cannot really be happy if you arent good inside.
and so many more

satyenderdeswal
March 20th, 2009, 04:04 PM
Very True Navin sir,

Along with that what i think is that u should steal some time for them from ur busy schedule of modern materialistic life...
U should understand there needs at this point of time, should cheer up them...thats enough for them and they don't expect much more then that from you...
yes chandraprabha, that you brought this topic is great because it is an important topic. past few days this thing was their in my mind.
We should appreciate our elders and be thankful.
We should avoid getting into areas of ideological conflict with them or our youngsters. every generation is bound to be different, language and culture will always change.
1. elders are wonderful at supervisory work, be it home or workplace. you can leave the supervisory work to them anytime and ffocus on creative/promotional areas.
2. i think 'wisdom' is something which elders can handover to people one or two generation below them. while youngsters are obsessed with IQ, they miss out on wisdom and focus.
wisdom i picked up
a) krodh vinaash ka rasta hai
b) avoid arguing
c) dont respond, work
d) be nice and have good relations with everyone. a wise person will never have enemies
e) you may have fun but you cannot really be happy if you arent good inside.
and so many more

Dharampalkaswan
March 21st, 2009, 06:48 PM
Very good topic...
I believe it is the teaching of 'Shashtras' that we should have elders, and I believe we are robbing ourselves of great blessing if we do not recognize those elders whom God has given us to guide us. They have great experience of life. We can take benefit of it. On the other hand it is our duty to serve elders.......Hindi film 'Santan' has enunciates this issue properly.

satyenderdeswal
March 23rd, 2009, 01:27 PM
Dear Dharampaal ji,

You are absolutely rit but aaj kal to shashtra padhney ka time hi nahi raha logon ke pass....Saara khel hi "TIME" ka hai...
agar wo hota to aapney aap hi elders ki care kar saktey...
This is the time only which is a main hurdle for elder's respect and care...:)


Very good topic...
I believe it is the teaching of 'Shashtras' that we should have elders, and I believe we are robbing ourselves of great blessing if we do not recognize those elders whom God has given us to guide us. They have great experience of life. We can take benefit of it. On the other hand it is our duty to serve elders.......Hindi film 'Santan' has enunciates this issue properly.