What's in life?
An eternal journey
No rest, no halt
A never ending pursuit
No intervals
An eternal script
No comma, no full stop
Work as worship
No breaks, no retirement

Retirement? What meaning comes to your mind? A new beginning, a new journey and a new pursuit. By the time a person retires he accumulates vast number of experiences, a huge reservoir of wisdom and a spiritual orientation towards life. These three characteristics are the building blocks for a great vision and direction. Our physical stamina and our memory keep reducing, but our wisdom keeps accumulating after certain age. It is our tragedy that most people are asked to sit at home after sixty, when they are actually at the right moment to impart guidance and support. It is disappointing that only a few people realise that the design of jobs should be changed after sixty rather than retirement. I once said to a person, "Asking a person to retire and go and sit at home is like giving him a slow poison." He argued that if people don't retire, how will new people get jobs? The fact is that our society needs huge work to be done. The work will not end; what we require are volunteers, professionals and mavericks in the form of committed and motivated people to start the work. If routine work is complete, we can prepare ourselves for some bigger purpose. The people who are retired can start a new innings of guiding and helping the society in its development. These are the people who can again start their fight for the dreams which they couldn't achieve during their working life.

Life is a beautiful gift for those who pursue some goals with excitement. Every difficulty becomes a pleasant challenge when there are teams with you. Sitting idle is the most burdensome and the most disappointing moment for any person, but working on the most burdensome challenges could be the most hilarious moments. When the society discards you as a retired person, you suffer depression. However, when you engage yourself to guide the society, it rejuvenates you again. I will share with you a few examples to illustrate the point.

This incident is about what Prof. PBL Chaurasia is doing after retirement. He worked in a national research centre before retirement. Now he guides students about how to do research. A few engineering students approached him for guidance and on how to make solar machines. Soon a new machine was ready to prepare animal feed through solar energy. Another group of students approached him with an idea to prepare a Solar Car. Prof. Chaurasia guided them. They worked on it and now it is ready. The car doesn't require any other fuel and can drive up to 60 km per hour and has a back up for 60 minutes (it can drive for 60 minutes when there is no sun ray). There is no air pollution, no noise and no maintenance (except for annual maintenance of batteries). When you drive the car you wonder why such innovations are not implemented to help our planet. Any innovation requires four things:
1. a problem
2. A drive to experiment
3. Insight based on experience and wisdom
4. Exposure to varied situations.
The experienced (so called retired people) have the rich treasure of wisdom and exposure. The energy and enthusiasm of the youth can do wonders if it is guided by the right experienced people. Prof. Chaurasia is happy in guiding students on how to prepare innovative products. The students are happy to receive his guidance and they are doing wonders.

Shri S.S. Bissa has taken over more projects after retirement. He helps a hospital by providing guidance. He also gives lectures in a training academy for training government officers and inspiring them for working sincerely as a government servant. He has also started a discussion centre in that training academy to discuss about ideas of Gandhi ji which he has christened as "Bapu Vichaar Manch". He is actively promoting fair governance through Transparency International. He also works as an advisor with many NGOs to guide them about what to do for the development of the society. He regularly contributes articles for a magazine "Legal Career Digest" and guides youngsters. His guidance has enabled people to reinvent Gandhian thoughts in the present day context.
After retirement everyone wants to contribute something for the society and give back to the society. With rich experience, these people can guide, inspire and motivate others. Instead of routine jobs, they have to design jobs, which involve providing guidance, sharing experiences and insights and nurturing younger ones. They should be given jobs which require less physical and mental strain, but where the incumbent can guide and tell the juniors about what to do and how. They wish to give back to the society and with their rich experience they are the right people to help the society now. The HR managers have the challenge of redesigning jobs for the experienced people.

They need you,
They seek you,
They approach you,
They ask from you,
Just raise your helping hand,
Relax, not retire,
It's just a new beginning
When to stop?
Never
What to do now?
Bless others and push them
For the gigantic goals of society
Replenish your dreams
Nourish kids with your stories
It's the time to build
The civilisation of tomorrow
It's the time to design systems
Re-try for crafting new hopes
No time for rest
Just keep giving ...