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.
“I’ve often described my life as a bit like Forrest Gump. Not because I had a grand plan, but because opportunities kept appearing and I kept responding to them.
Growing up, I wasn’t extraordinary. I moved around the country, had three sisters, and an entirely unremarkable school record. If anything, I’d probably have been voted “most likely to fail.” Like many of my generation, I followed instructions well. My father said, “Do your B.Com.” Then CA. Then an MBA. I did it all without much questioning.
Things shifted when I was at Chicago-Booth. I wasn’t planning to return to India, but Citibank offered me a role back home. The pay was poor (relative to what I was getting offered in the United States), but rich in learning. It was a sales role in foreign exchange, far removed from my accounting background. I took it, not knowing what I was getting into.
That decision brought me back to India in 1989 and into the world of banking. After Citibank and HSBC, I made what was then considered a “crazy” move, leaving a foreign bank to join HDFC Bank in 1994, a startup in those days. I didn’t realise it then, but that experience introduced me to building institutions from the ground up.
The next decade took me into investing, first with ChrysCapital, and then starting and building IDFC Private Equity. For the first time, I carried full responsibility for creating something. Infrastructure investing wasn’t fashionable in the early 2000s, but it proved deeply enriching, both professionally and financially.
At 48, I decided I had enough. Enough money, enough certainty. I quit full-time work in 2010 to spend time with my children, who were then teenagers. I needed to be free when they were free. That phase of “doing nothing” didn’t last very long after they headed out to college.
Since then, everything I’ve done continued to be because someone else suggested it. Advisory roles. Nonprofits. Education. In 2018, we started the Indian School of Public Policy, a nonprofit education initiative focused on creating the next generation of policy leaders for India. It has become our largest philanthropic commitment so far.
People ask if social impact is a calling. I don’t think it is. I’ve simply always felt the need to do work that has impact, whether that was building a bank that middle-class India could trust or strengthening institutions that serve society. In fact, the first two organisations I got onto the boards of – Akanksha and SNEHA – were organisations where my wife, Fiona, was a volunteer, and that’s how I got to know about those organisations.
One of the biggest lessons of this phase has been learning to advise, not manage. When you’ve spent years running things, stepping back isn’t easy. But advice only works when you accept that the final decision isn’t yours.
If there’s one thing I’d tell seasoned professionals, it’s this: don’t be impatient. Set your ego aside. Listen more than you speak. Keep learning, not to stay relevant, but to stay curious. I’ve taken history courses online, learned from people half my age, and discovered that curiosity doesn’t retire.
People worry they’ll have nothing to do after retirement. That’s rarely the problem. The real challenge is learning to say no. There is no shortage of meaningful work. Skills transfer in ways you don’t expect, and impact often shows up where you least plan for it. You don’t have to change the world—just leave it a little better than you found it.
Sometimes, the most interesting journeys begin when you stop planning and start paying attention.”
Interviewed by Nehal Naik for WisdomCircle
Explore more inspiring journeys—read more Wisdom Stories here.
