Rethink Ageing

Nidhi Chawla (Author)
Nidhi Chawla is the co-founder and Business & Strategy Head of Silver Talkies. She has several years of experience in the financial services sector, having worked with SREI International Securities as well as McKinsey & Company. Nidhi has received several leadership awards for her work in the eldercare space and is currently a member of the CII Seniorcare committee. When she isn't busy dreaming about the next big idea for enriching the lives of seniors, you will find her working out or flipping through three different books that are always on her table. This is her first book.

Reshmi Chakraborty (Author)
Reshmi Chakraborty is the co-founder and Editor of Silver Talkies, a social enterprise focused on active ageing since 2014. She has worked as a journalist for over two decades and continues to write for various publications. She believes in highlighting skill and initiative in older adults, many of whom are discovering new avenues at a later age. Reshmi loves to travel, attempts to read everything she can find and is trying in vain to get over her Netflix and Twitter addiction. This is her first book.

Veena Iyer, aged sixty-six, got a degree in dance movement therapy. She is training to upgrade her skill and now runs various workshops.
B.R. Janardan, aged eighty-seven, started running after sixty and has sixteen full marathons under his belt.

These important stories illustrate the shifting narrative for ageing in India. They battle the ageism that is deep-rooted in Indian culture with fixed notions of 'approved' behaviour. Grandchildren? Yes. Pilgrimage? Yes. But companionship? Gasp! A second career? Why the need?

India will have over 300 million senior citizens by 2050. 'Active ageing' has become a popular topic of conversation in urban India and is the process of developing and maintaining functional activities as one gets older. Therefore, it is no longer uncommon to meet people like Janardan or Iyer in our fast-evolving society. We have an ageing society that is living longer and adapting to nuclear families, faraway kids and amorphous social support. Urban Indians are navigating health challenges, isolation and shifting social barometers to practise active ageing, the best form of preventive healthcare. This book takes a deep dive into understanding ageing, its impact on society, and how to overcome certain 'hurdles'. Biological age no longer defines and limits us. After all, why should age prevent us from living the lives we want to?

Getting older doesn't have to mean your life stops! Rethink Ageing brilliantly explores finding new meaning, passion and excitement at an older age.It is heartening that a book on ageing is being written which does not treat it as an affliction or disability. There is much that one can do irrespective of age and among those things is work to help improve one's immediate surroundings and provide such help as one is qualified to give. More importantly, one can lead a full life meeting people in different groups - literary groups or bridge, chess or other groups. Not of the old, but of those who share the same interests. My warmest congratulations to those who thought of this book. I'm sure it will be of interest to all those interested in the subjects covered and not just in old people.As someone who has always embraced change with enthusiasm (much like my mother), I feel vindicated that finally, the discussion around growing old has opened up. Fear and ignorance is being replaced by curiosity and possibilities. This book goes a long way in helping that process along-it puts the spotlight on the issues we try to ignore, from sex to senility and in doing so, helps us all-old and young-to discover the potential of the "sunset" years. I'm surprised to find that my life has become so much more interesting to me as I've aged, and I hope many more will be thus surprised!Ageing is commonly associated with disease and episodes of medical care. However, Reshmi and Nidhi have offered helpful advice through Rethink Ageing to ease into active and healthy ageing. Interspersed with inspiring stories and pragmatic possibilities, the book is a handy guide peeking into the future of elderly care.