Senior citizen groups - engaging the elderly!

My mother is the member of "Association of senior citizens", in her area, for past 7 years now.  She had retired from government job at the time and recently moved to Pune to help with the caretaking of her grandchildren alongwith my father. Though she had joined this group while my father was still around, she is benefiting most since he passed away (4 years ago). Loneliness and depression are the bane of old age, and losing a spouse, hence this has been a godsend for her.

She has been regaling me with some of the events that keep happening through this association off late. I am so impressed by what this is doing for the senior citizens of our society that I felt impelled to put pen to paper.

1. Monthly talk by External speakers; below topics were covered so far-

• Audio/video talk on Antartica expedition,
• Birdwatching as a hobby
• Lecture about celebrated Marathi authors
• How to create comedy
• Dialects of different regions of Maharashtra
• Info about how to use smartphones
• Lectures by doctors/alternate therapy practitioners on various topics
• Info about insurance policies etc.
• Talks by retired army officers 

2. Activities-

• Yoga
• Navaratri garba
• Sangeet sangha – sings songs as per occasion / festival
• Saahitya premi mandal – discussion on literature
• Monthly booklet published with contributions from members (sponsored by local merchants, sponsorship solicitation is another activity that generates the required budget for outings etc.)
• Affiliation with some local schools – teach shlok, spiritual lessons, monetary help to deserving students etc.
• Conduct programs where members’ grandchildren get to showcase their talent!
• Felicitation of milestone birthday or anniversaries of members. (felicitating with flowers, small gift like a book etc.)
• Outing – day trip as well as overnight
• Plays and musical events at local theatres

3. Annual competitive games; generally conducted in Dec-

• Essay / poem writing
• Elocution contest
• General knowledge quiz
  Antakshari 
• Drawing and coloring
• Throw ball into a bucket
• Carrom
• Chess
• Playing cards – bridge
• Speed walking
• Surya-namaskar
  
  All the above is in the local language - marathi. My mother has definitely improved in her confidence and social skills due to this. She used to be a highly introverted person, but am proud to see her taking decisions independently and lead a fulfilled life sans the unnecessary travel and shopping frenzy. The overall increase in general knowledge, awareness of new fields, and friendships created out of these, is something she loves. As you grow older, its harder to make friends, but these kind of associations do help find some companions, however temporary. She is able to converse knowledgeably with her children as well as grandchildren, work with gadgets, book a cab on phone etc. Of course, not all the credit goes to the organization only - some is due to my mother too for her gloriously curious nature and hunger for absorbing new concepts!
  
  Thank God for such institutions that keep our elderly engaged, and active, post retirement and/or completion of family duties! Let us do all we can to help them in whatever way we can.