15 Inspiring Silvers We Came Across in 2018

2018 has been a year of inspiring highs for us at Silver Talkies. We met, spoke and interacted with several super silvers this year. Here are 15 Inspiring Silvers We Came Across in 2018:

Sarla Minni is the Kahaniwali Naani who brings back the joy of storytelling by recording her stories for children through a subscription service. An innovative idea that Minni caught on to because of her love for storytelling and the availability of technology to reach out to a large number of kids.

Sarla Minni

Read more about her here: https://silvertalkies.com/how-sarla-minni-kahaniwali-nani/

VG Narendra, 70, is the brain behind India’s first and only cartoon gallery, the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, Bangalore. He credits his success in the field of political cartooning to his sheer passion for the art, a little help from his brother and being influenced by the cartoons of the great Shankar since his school days.Read more about him here: https://silvertalkies.com/tickling-funny-bone-veteran-cartoonist-vg-narendra/

Author John B Monteiro, 80, set up the Johnlyn Toy Exchange & Book Bank in memory of his late wife and to provide the joy of books and toys to needy children. Here is a silver who used a simple idea (asking people to gift gently used and pre loved books and toys) and the time available to him to bring a smile on many faces. Here’s more on his initiative: https://silvertalkies.com/johnlyn-toy-exchange-many-children-mangalore/

Storyteller Geeta Ramanujam, 61, has been synonymous with the revival of storytelling and its application in education and other areas. The Kathalaya Trust, started by her in 1998, runs the Kathalaya Academy of Storytelling, the only internationally recognised academy for storytelling worldwide. Read more about her here: https://silvertalkies.com/how-geeta-ramanujam-revived-the-art-of-storytelling-in-a-modern-context/

73-year-old Lalringthara of Mizoram went back to school on April 3, 2018 to finish his education at a ripe old age. This Grade 5 student, the oldest of all teaching and non-teaching staff in his school, is fulfilling a childhood dream to finish his schooling that was interrupted due to lack of family support at an early age. Today, he sits in a classroom with children who are at least 60 years younger than him. Here’s to dreams that do not fade. No matter how old you are. More on him here: https://silvertalkies.com/this-73-year-old-mizo-man-has-gone-back-to-school-to-learn-english/

And here’s a senior whose passion for learning didn’t diminish even at 98! The Limca Book of Records recognized 98-year-old Raj Kumar Vaishya, born in 1920 in Bareilly, as the oldest person to enroll in a Master’s degree programme in the country. Vaishya recently finished his MA in Economics from Patna’s Nalanda Open University, fulfilling a life-long dream to become a postgraduate. Why Economics? Vaishya says he wanted to study why India has failed to solve the problem of poverty even after so many years of independence. Here’s more on him: https://silvertalkies.com/98-year-old-grandfather-becomes-indias-oldest-postgraduate/

Appala Chari

In the uncertain times we are living in, this silver deserves full credit for trying to bridge the communal divide in his own way. Appala Chari, a 90-year-old cancer survivor, has never allowed age to stop him from taking on scholarly challenges. His latest effort will help bridge a religious divide. Currently based in Kenya, he has discovered a new passion in life at this advanced age – he is reading the Quran in Urdu to understand its essence and find a commonality between its teachings and those of the Bhagavad Gita. Read more here: https://silvertalkies.com/90-cancer-survivor-bridging-religious-divide-scholarly-work/

Meet the silvers who haven’t let age come in the way of adventure. Dilip Chauhan (61) and his wife Pooja (57) – residents of Ujjain, embarked on a bike journey across the length and breadth of the country on their Royal Enfield motorcycle. The middle class couple travelled on a modest budget and undertook the journey despite health hiccups. Here’s more about them: https://silvertalkies.com/these-road-tripper-seniors-are-giving-todays-millennials-some-serious-travel-goals/

The biking Chauhans

Retired IAS officer SN Shukla fought a 14 year battle to get former UP chief ministers to vacate their government bungalows. He finally won the fight in May 2018. In the 15 years that he has been retired, Shukla has been a busy man, fighting a battle over a decade to get former UP chief ministers out of government bungalows, among other petitions. More on this honest crusader here: https://silvertalkies.com/retired-ias-officer-sn-shukla-challenged-former-cms-refusing-vacate-govt-bungalows-won/

Meet Sarojini Agarwal, 81, mother to 800 abandoned and destitute girls. Forty years ago, Sarojini Agarwal was driving a two-wheeler with her 8-year-old daughter Manisha riding pillion when she met with an accident in Lucknow. Sarojini survived but Manisha lost her life in the tragic incident. The heartbroken mother grieved for a long time before finding the answer she was looking for: there were so many more Manishas in the world who needed the care and affection of a loving mother. Sarojini Agarwal set up Manisha Mandir in three rooms in her home in 1985. A PhD in Hindi Literature and author of several books, she poured her savings into this labour of love – of adopting abandoned and destitute girls to give them an education and home. More on her here: https://silvertalkies.com/this-mothers-day-meet-sarojini-agarwal-maa-to-over-800-girls-2/

Sarojini with her girls

Meet the silver who proves it’s never too late to start your own venture. Latika Chakrabarty has always worked with leftover fabric, turning them into bags and finally launched her own venture at 89. She loves collecting old saris, kurtas, and clothes from all over India and upcycles them into handbags and pouches on her 64-year-old sewing machine. More on her here: https://silvertalkies.com/latika-chakrabarty-turned-entrepreneur-89/

Latika Chakrabarty

65-year-old Parimal Gandhi should be an example for anyone with health issues, senior or not. He has battled three episodes of cancer; been blind twice, had five corneal transplants, two surgeries for glaucoma and is battling diabetes and hypertension. Yet he continues to work and has even written a book. Here’s more of his inpsiring story: https://silvertalkies.com/he-fought-a-battle-against-all-odds-to-overcome-cancer-and-blindness/

Parimal Gandhi

Meet Hari Baskaran. The 69 year young-at-heart former corporate leader, mentor and executive coach is celebrating his entry into the 70s doing what he loves — a cross-country cyclothon of 4000 km that will start at Marina Beach, Chennai and end at India Gate, New Delhi. More on him here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/silvertalkies/pushing-the-pedal-why-hari-baskaran-is-planning-a-4000-km-cyclothon-on-his-70th-/1973151569440498/

Meet Savitri Rao who is probably the oldest female Yakshagana performer in the country. Mangalore based Rao completed her 100th Yakshagana performance as Duryodhana in the mythological story ‘Narakasura Vadhe’ on May 2018. She was a young at heart 73! Don’t miss reading more about her:

https://silvertalkies.com/meet-savitri-rao-yakshagana-performer-who-never-gave-up-on-her-dream/

Savitri Rao performing Yakshagana

Sunalini Menon, who is in her 70s and is Asia’s first woman coffee taster. She is also the founder of Coffeelab Limited, an organisation based in Bengaluru which evaluates the quality of coffee in India. Menon has broken through the glass ceiling in her field and created a name for herself in a male dominated area. Find out more here: https://silvertalkies.com/meet-sunalini-menon-woman/