Cultural expectations surrounding the elderly are being challenged today and with good reason!
While it was the norm to slow down and retreat into a quieter life post-retirement, more men and women are finding purpose and joy in doing the opposite.
WisdomCircle honours such men and women by shining light on their journey through an inspiring series called “Wisdom Stories”. These people have successfully smashed stereotypes, and their stories remind us that life should be lived to the fullest, no matter what age or stage.
“My life is marked by the birth of my middle child. It was a life-altering event that compelled my husband and I to make serious decisions around values we would align with, our perspective of society and my future choice of profession. My daughter was born with Down Syndrome at a time when not much was known about it. I had to rise to the challenge and learn how to fulfil her needs along the way.
A well-meaning relative, who was a medical practitioner, told me early on that it was perhaps better to put my daughter in a facility that would allow her to “fade away”. This jolted me to action and made me doubly determined to carve a path for my daughter. Around the same time, a friend introduced me to Emily, an American lady who had a child with Down Syndrome and was a couple of years ahead in the journey. The timing couldn’t have been better, as she had answers to many of my questions. Dr Sinclair from AIIMS, who had evaluated my daughter, called me up one fine day to tell me that she was sending me a parent of a Down Syndrome child to be counselled. I wasn’t sure I was up to the task, but she convinced me otherwise and went on to send a steady stream of parents my way. These conversations helped me realize two things – there were many people in my situation, and many more worse off than I was.
My life is full of serendipity. At this juncture, I was introduced to the Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University, who wanted me to use my skills around puppetry for their nursery school. Here I met Jolly Rohatagi, with whom I founded Jan Madhyam, an organization that uses puppets, art and music to engage with children with disabilities. Jan Madhyam today is a not-for-profit with a legacy of 40 years of pioneering work around engaging and enriching the lives of children with disabilities.
Failures are solid pillars on which success is built. Sometimes we give words like failure to our frustrations, but time reveals the real context eventually. As a professional puppeteer, I felt that I had failed at practising the form of art that I had learned. However, I realized much later that I had adapted my skills to find a powerful way of using it to solve bigger problems.
Having a sense of humour is an underrated life skill. It helped me navigate many a stressful situation by bringing in a sense of fun and balance in everyday life. Also, it is important to take a leap of faith and figure things out on the go. If I had waited to know everything before jumping in, I may not have done a lot.
I remain passionate about puppetry and committed to children with disabilities. It is a lifelong commitment that I cannot retire from. I may not be physically as active on the platform, but I continue to think through, monitor, mentor and engage with the entire ecosystem.
I have been fortunate to see many positive changes in the system in the last four decades– starting from rights to attitudes and awareness. This keeps me motivated to keep fighting the good fight.“
Explore more inspiring journeys—read more Wisdom Stories here.
Photo and Interview credits – Saonli Bedi of WisdomCircle
in Bengaluru, India