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What does he do with his computer? "I love chatting on the Net. Since no one wants to chat with a 77-year-old, I change my identity and age and go cyber dating on Youdate.com." E-mailing his children overseas is not his sole objective of using a computer. "Of course, I am in touch with my children over e-mail, but I do that only when I am not playing Solitaire, chess or golf on the computer." Mr Sandhu has been a member of Rotary, Free Mason Hall, Gold Club, etc, but today he prefers his computer to everything else.
"Oracle, CAD, Outlook, Norton, MS Office, you name it and I have some reference on it," says Sehgal. In reply to a question about his motive to learn at this age, he says, "I am a strong believer in rebirth. All that I am learning now will come handy in my next birth," he quips with a smile. Mr Sehgal took up an assignment with the Punjab Human Rights Commission after retirement, but gave it up, as he did not find it fulfilling enough. But today he spends most of his time on his "custom-built, state-of-the-art machine," acquiring which would be any computer-savvy person’s dream.
"We have a group of friends, each very familiar with computers and we share our experiences regularly," he says, adding that "most of the people in the gang have children abroad, so e-mail is what put them on, but now quite a few explore other facets of computing." With information gathered from the Net, he has been able to set up a medical transcription centre, and improve his auto service business manifold. Recently, the Rotract Club held a seminar on computing for "over 40" at the Login cyber café. "The response was so over whelming, now we are thinking of making similar introductory courses a regular feature here," says Vishal Singla, who spends most of his spare time there, helping out his owner friend Amit Mahajan. About 5 per cent of the café’s clients are elderly and retired, he says. Says Cybercafé unit manager Aruna, "There are elderly coming in now, who mostly confine themselves to browsing the Net for matches for their children and grandchildren. Some send and receive e-mails. There are many who are content with a steaming cup of cappuccino accompanied with casual browsing."
Col Gill maintains all his accounts, records pertaining to family estate and contact addresses on his machine, which, he says, are available at the click of a mouse, making him very organised. Dr Ajit Singh, now 86 years old, who was formerly Milk Commissioner, Punjab, is all sold to the Internet. "Since his eyes don’t allow him to use the computer himself, he dictates letters that are e-mailed to his son in the USA on a daily basis," says Dr Singh’s son-in-law Pallav Mukherjee. The number of senior citizens joining the crowd is swelling and the adage, ‘its never too late,’ could not be more aptly applied to anyone other than the growing breed of computer-savvy sexagenarians. Unlike the days of yore, when the ‘oldies’ were content with their morning walks and unending discussion of the day’s news stories, they are now turning to PCs for recreation, reference and communication. These are septuagenarians and
octogenarians of the 21st century that believe nothing is impossible.
They are ready to take on any challenge and fight for their own niche
till their last day. |
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Mr Tejinder Singh Sandhu, 77 years old, says, "When my friends ask
me how you spend your time, I tell them I hardly have any spare
time." Mr Sandhu is so hooked to his computer that he uses the PC
for activities ranging from listening to Gurbani to Cyber dating.
"After I retired as Director, Horticulture, Punjab, 20 years ago, I
used to get very bored till I bought a computer to handle
accounting," he says, adding that ever since that day, he has not
had one single dull day in his life.
A retired Special
Secretary from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Om Prakash Sehgal,
aged 60, is on a different trip all together. He does not have a son or
daughter in the USA or Australia, neither does he have any family ties
overseas. E-mail is the last thing on his mind when he sits across his
electronic genie. Then what does he do? "I got hooked to the
Internet after retirement two years ago. Soon there was an urge to learn
more, but instead of donating thousands of rupees to any computer
institute, I decided to buy computer books from this money
instead," he says, displaying his library of computer books that
would put any bookstore to shame.
Petrol pump owner Arjan
Singh did not discover the Internet, he was all along aware of the cyber
medium, being an avid reader. About three years ago he decided to join
the bandwagon, using it as a mind-expanding tool. "I don’t go
looking for books anymore. The Net has such a wide resource base that I
almost research everything before taking any step, may it be related to
my business or the career of my children."
For a former defence
officer, Col A. J. S. Gill, who is past 70, golf and computers are
synonymous to breathing. With hands full in Rotary activity and
community development projects, he still manages to take out about two
hours each day for his computer. "I mainly use the computer for a
daily update of news with family and friends scattered all over the
globe," he says. "I prefer to play golf on ground rather than
on the terminal," he adds.