Keen Agers covers topics like Old Age, where Senior Living, Aging Gracefully, Life in the Fourth Quarter, Retirement Blues. Penned by Supriya Rane, a travel and tourism entrepreneur, the book focusses on topics which few to choose to speak on or write about.
Supriya is a professional with an experience in different fields – legal, finance, customer service and hospitality. She has worked in Australia and India. Supriya possesses a strong business acumen, interpersonal skills, creative problem solving ideas and leadership skills. A law graduate, her career took a backseat after marriage. She migrated to Australia, with her family in 1996. The shift exposed her to the corporate world of banking, which polished her customer service and communication skills and brought her in touch with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Having accomplished her mission to educate her daughters, Supriya returned to Goa. Life was hectic initially learning the ropes of the hospitality business started by her husband, understanding different work cultures, and attending to her aging parents. Although she was loved and celebrated in all her roles, she felt she had lost herself. She is a certified transformation coach with a mission to transform lives and help women and children achieve their goals and dreams
In her ongoing journey as a coach, she came across an untapped area of life – senior citizens, people in the third quarter of their life – and felt that it was time to change people’s beliefs, notions and perceptions about aging. As she speaks on her inspiration to write a book, Supriya says, “The lockdown phase during the pandemic gave me time to get creative. I enrolled myself in self-development courses and soon found myself writing a book. It allowed me to express myself, connect with real life problems, explore and research on topics less ventured like old age. The idea of leaving a legacy behind, as well as fulfilling my dream of becoming an author was an added bonus.” She elaborates on her reason for choosing a topic few would touch. “All of us want to live a long life, but the idea of growing old does not appeal to anyone. Senior citizens fear loneliness, look for companionship and new friends. Children pursue their careers and move overseas leaving old parents to fend for themselves. Most of the parents struggle to live by themselves with health, and sometimes financial constraints. I wrote this book to create awareness in our society to provide insight into the lives that seniors face; so that we, as a community, can engage in providing an environment for seniors to live a happy and healthy life.
Instead of age old stereotype thinking where one feels like a victim, a burden on family and society, it’s time to shift our focus on people, do something new, progressive and empowering.”
Keen Agers was born out of the desire to understand the journey that seniors experience in their twilight years. The concept of retirement is changing as life spans are increasing. The main idea of the book is to reinvent oneself and change one’s mindset and discover ways to live an emotionally fulfilled, simple and a healthy life. It’s not how old you are, but how you are old” a quote by Jules Renard says it all. The book covers some insightful topics like 1) Loneliness in old age, how to overcome it.
2) Importance of decluttering your home, mind and inner self; How to downsize your life.
3) Future and importance of old age homes in our society.
4) As you age you become slow but not invalid.
5) Never too late to make the turn.
6) Ageing is a blessing.
7) Old age and Longevity.
8) Financial Literacy for Women.
9) Retirement Planning.
10) Power of a Will.
Supriya’ parents and the problems faced by them were the main source of information. “I did a case study on eight seniors who I fondly call ‘Merry Makers’ to understand their life experiences. Extensive research on topics related to seniors helped me find my information.” Supriya plans on reaching out to different people with her book. “Adults who have aging parents can better understand the challenges that seniors face. It is also for young adults who are still a long way from being a senior, so that they have time to plan and prepare their future years of life.” Supriya recommends it especially for seniors who can get tips on improving their life and / or also change their perceptions. Supriya’s future plans include launching a ‘Mastermind Group’ for seniors, where likeminded and similar age groups meet twice a month. “It will be 60 plus online club where seniors work together, inspire, motivate connect, support, bond and learn from one another’s experiences.
Mastermind will be a platform to meet for a common purpose and have a specific outcome. Having guest speakers from time to time – to talk about health and fitness, technology, safety measures, easy to cook meals would definitely add value to the seniors and keep them updated”
