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About us
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We're one the largest NGOs in India
working for Older Adults. • We fight to end his/her abuse
• We give companionship to the lonely
• We offer counsel/advice when asked for
• We provide venues for daily getting together
• We provide discounts on many relevant products/services
• We provide special housing care (thru a sister trust)
• We train you as volunteer to help others in need
• We give food grains to those who are poor
• We conduct in 6 slums regular workshops for
knowledge enhancement
• We hold health camps in 6 slums once in 6 months
• We publish a special magazine for Older Adults
What we do.• We do all these for Rs. 1500 annual membership which is
Rs. 125 per month or Rs. 6 per day for the
middle income group Older Adult.
• We charge Rs. 1.91per day for the magazine
• We do not charge anything for our offers to the
poor or low or no income Older Adults.
• As a special offer to poor old people, we have introduced a
low cost Rs. 200 category membership to economically weaker
sections which will entitle them to discounts for a period of
five years. And even the Rs. 200 is arranged through a donor.
Who we areWhat we do
How we're working for Older Adults
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35 Dignitarians visit President Kalam in Rashtrapathi Bhavan 2002
Chai Masti Moment
Dignity Literary Festival 2015
About us
Membership Entitlements for 'Dignity Enrichment’
12 issues of magazine Dignity Dialogue
Attend any chai masti centre five days a week
Enjoy discounts in 1400 outlets in Mumbai,
lesser number in chapters
Attend customised quarterly events
Volunteer to help the needy old people
Helpline Counseling and Crisis Intervention
In each of the 7 cities we operate we provide free help
and assistance to OAs in difficult circumstances
Legal help is also given free of cost
Dementia Care in Day Care Centres
Day Care Centre in Mumbai
Day Care Centre in Chennai
Dementia Residential Facility
At Neral operated by sister Trust Dignity Lifestyle Trust
(We also have housing memberships for
regular healthy OAs at Neral)
Initiatives for Poorer Older Adults
Govt of Maharashtra ID Card for Senior citizens and Govt
of Karnataka ID Card for Senior Citizens
Ration supplies
Knowledge Promoting Campaigns, Health Camps and Skill
Development Workshops for personal and community
care among slum dwellers in Mumbai and Chennai
Initiatives for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Two month Certificate Course in Bed Side Assistance
and Care of the Elderly
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History and MilestonesNIIT - Dignity hold the first “Convocation”
of Senior Citizen “students” 1999
First Walk for Dignity1995
Launch of Govt. of Maharashtra I.D. Card 2001
Dignity Foundation organises Australia - India Council Volunteer Management Programme Nov 14, 2004.
Dignitarians in the midst of rubble after the 2001 Gujrat Earthquake.
9.9.2000 Visit of Governor of OrissaShri M. M. Rajendra to Dignity Foundation
Fulbright Fellow Dr Jim Kvale and S S Thakur at the inauguration of Dignity Lifestyle Trust
Chief Election Commissioner T. N. Seshan chairs inaugurationof magazine Dignity Dialogue April 29, 1995
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What is known as D.F. today really started in 1995 as a magazine by name Dignity
Dialogue. “In 1994 I came across a magazine then called Modern Maturity, published
by the American retirees association AARP. I was inspired to start a similar magazine
in India for the 60+. At TISS where I was working, the then professor of Mahalaxmi
Chair, Prof Mukunda Rao encouraged me to start one such magazine” says
Dr. Sheilu Sreenivasan
“In 1995 I quit the job at TISS to start the magazine Dignity Dialogue published by
my private enterprise. R Sridhar, formerly President Ogilvy Direct, and a good friend,
collaborated with me and together we came upon the name ‘DIGNITY’ for the
magazine, which for copyright reasons became Dignity Dialogue. Driving from
Deonar to Churchgate one day in February 1995, the contents page came to be
visualised by me in that one hour, and to this day it pretty much remains the same. A
private limited company by name Senior Citizens Life Enrichment Services Pvt Ltd
was incorporated, with my savings and that of my husband got invested in it. That
company is closed now.”
“Dignity Dialogue was first published on April 29, 1995, excitedly announced by
journalists in some 39 newspapers and magazines in India. By 1998 in order to allow
public funds to flow into the venture, we gave up the private limited company
structure to start a charitable foundation admitted by the Charity Commissioner in
1998. I have not looked back since; the Foundation has been steadily growing from
strength to strength. The concept of a magazine grew into a services organisation
responding to the felt needs of senior citizens.”
Today that growth looks like historical milestones:
1995 - Publication of magazine Dignity Dialogue started in April: Designed for
ushering in productive living with information, motivation, and inspiration for
senior citizens.
1996 - Dignity Companionship: Formation of a volunteer force from amongst the
subscribers of the magazine, primarily to visit senior citizens who are lonely
1997 - Dignity HELPLINE: As volunteers started visiting older persons at home,
the phenomenon of Elder Abuse was discovered. As a response to help such abused
elders a telephonic complaints registering system was set up, and our services came to
be designed as per the principles of social case work. To this day the system remains
pretty much the same.
1997 - Dignity Second Careers: Job counseling and placement services were
initiated to facilitate retirees who wanted to continue working in newer jobs using
their skills and talents.
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1998 - Dignity Civic Services: In response to
volunteering interests of senior citizens, we
negotiated a collaboration project with
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
whereby 663 “Dignitarians “were enrolled in a
project titled Cleaning Mumbai with Dignity --a
project that continues to this day in newer
avatars in some 17 municipal wards of Mumbai.
Ten months after its launch the corporators
opposed such a civic movement by elders as they
were a threat to the very existence of elected
representatives. However, undeterred by the
stoppage of honorariums by BMC, 663 Dignitarians took a vow to continue to work
for their Amchi Mumbai.
In 1998 a massive campaign among school children for ‘Cleaning Mumbai with
Dignity’ was organised with BMC in the forefront. We received entries totaling 4
lakhs from school children in all municipal schools who participated in the
Campaign. An elaborate selection process was headed by the Mayor in the central hall
of the BMC headquarters in Mumbai and winners selected and awarded.
1998 - Chennai Chapter was set up in response to Chennai subscribers’ popular
demand for similar services as Mumbai retirees are enjoying. Starting Helpline as one
of the first services, the chapter registered an accumulation of some 500 like-minded
people in a period of 3 years. The chapter was bestowed with a team of fulltime staff
in 2010 and has been growing ever since setting up its own milestones.
1999 - Dignity Computer Skills: To promote computer literacy among senior
citizens, the first collaboration with NIIT was set up in 4 kiosks in Mumbai, resulting
in the first convocation of computer literate senior citizens presided over by the Chief
Secretary of Govt of Maharashtra, Shri V Ranganathan and the then Director of Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, Shri Mukherjee. To this day various classes are held in
five cities helping senior citizen learn computers.
1999 - Dignity-HSBC Investment Club: Regular Talks were given to senior
citizens in the premises of HSBC Mumbai discussing investment options, and
financial knowledge among senior citizens. For some three years the project
functioned successfully.
1999 - Security with Dignity:
Mumbai Police sought the help of
volunteers of D.F. in the face of
murder of senior citizen in Mumbai.
663 Dignitarians of Dignity Civic Service 1998-2006
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A project similar to that of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai was drawn up
with Mumbai Police whereby our volunteers helped organise meetings of senior
citizen with police functionaries. This initiative has taken various forms over the
years, sometimes very active, sometimes dormant only to get revived in subsequent
years. In 2013 in a landmark collaboration with Mumbai Police saw a joint
publication Handbook for Senior Citizens with relevant legal and other information
included in the contents.
2000 - The first Dignity Enrichment Centre was established on November 29th with
a massive assistance from the Lions Club of Juhu, prominently led by Trustee Ashok
Modi of D.F. Smt Jayawantiben Mehta then Minister, inaugurated the first centre.
2000 - Bengaluru Chapter: Emulating the people of Chennai, retirees living in
Bengaluru also wanted a chapter of Dignity set up in B’lore. Formed as a Regional
Council, presided over by a group of eminent senior citizens, the council functioned
to facilitate gatherings for discussing relevant issues of retired life. In 2008 the
chapter found its solid basis with the appointment of staff and a managerial head.
2000 - Kolkata Chapter: On exactly the same pattern as the Chennai and
Bengaluru chapters, a third chapter was opened in 2000, due to enthusiastic
subscribers of the magazine. To this day the chapter serves the city’s senior citizen
population with various services.
2001 - January 26th India woke up to hear of the deadly earthquake that shook
Gujarat. Dignity volunteers in an instinctive move rushed to Gujarat within a week to
undertake rescue and rehabilitation work, supported by financial assistance received
from well wishers of D.F..
2001 - Govt of Maharashtra Identity Card: A very expansive project got accepted
by the state govt. and inaugurated by the then Chief Minister Shri Vilasrao
Deshmukh. The project has helped expand the
volunteer base of D.F. By 2015 October we had
set up 159 centres in Mumbai and other cities in
the state, manned solely by volunteers who
together have issued 12 lakh cards to date.
2002 - Dignity Rations to Poor: To indigent
poor old instead of handing over cash we came
up with distribution of rice, wheat and food
grains out of funds raised through donations. In
Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune this project is
active.C. M. Vilasrao Deshmukh inaugrates Senior Citizens Counselling Centre
at Topiwala Lane - May, 2000
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2002 - Dignity Chapter at Jamshedpur: A
retired executive of the famed Tata Iron and Steel
Company, approached our Head Office in 2001 to
take Dignity to Jamshedpur. It worked
successfully for eight years it would up for want of
capable leader to manage activities. The distance
from Mumbai matter much and HO agreed to
wind up activities. Subscribers of the magazine
are active to this day.
2003 - Dance & Movement Project: Started as
a pastime activity for senior citizens, the activity gave rise to D.F. setting up full-
fledged centres for Loneliness Mitigation, not only in Mumbai, but in four other
cities as well.
2003 - Line Walking Patrol for Mahanagar Gas Ltd: The lead established by
Dignity volunteers of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation project gave rise to several
other volunteer mobilization for various public works in the city of Mumbai.
One such emulation as by Mahanagar Gas Company which deployed for a very decent
honorarium, the energies of Dignitarians for patrolling its pipelines of 600 meters, to
prevent accidents while digging. Dignitarians played an active role in helping digging
work. For a two year period the project registered international mentions of the company.
2004 - Dignity Dementia Day care centre: To serve people afflicted by dementia
(Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s) a day care centre was inaugurated on September
21 (widely celebrated as Alzheimer’s Day the world over) 2004 by the renowned
neurologist Dr Noshir Wadia. Following the success of the day care centre its
residential facility was integrated when Dignity Homes was set up in Neral in 2006.
Today we have day care centres in Chennai and Mumbai.
2004 - Establishment of the Australia India Council rooted in Volunteerism which
is highly prevalent in Australia. Special delegation visits D.F. and on November 14th
a big reception was held in their honour at Seva Sadhan Hall, Gamdevi, Mumbai
2004 - In July Fulbright Professor, Dr. James Kvale MD, was invited to whet our
plans and designs of care of senior citizens at Dignity Lifestyle. Professor of Geriatry
and Gerontology, from the Medical School at Texas University, Dr Kvale's
interaction provided the basis of
care practices to be set up in
Dignity Lifestyle Retirement
Township to be opened to residents
in 2006.
Dementia Members out on a picnic in 2006
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2005 - Voice of Dignity: A decade of D.F. saw the inauguration of the monthly
tabloid newspaper the Voice of Dignity – the commencement of advocacy activities
vis-a-vis the Govt, business and allied enterprises. A year after its publication due to
financial paucity it was wound up.
2005 - D.F.’s ‘Grandeur’ Page in DNA newspaper: The expertise of Dignity
Dialogue for media content generation was utilised for the first year publication of
the newly launched newspaper in Mumbai, Daily News and Analysis, in 2005. Every
Saturday saw a full page of its content produced in a highly design specific format,
earning the Foundation precious funds and substantial publicity.
2005 - To help lonely elders mitigate their loneliness, bus trips plied every
fortnight in Mumbai – an ongoing project set up by D.F. in September 2004. Lonely
elders who are susceptible to depression and dementia are particularly reached out.
In memory of his loving parents, Prof.Harish Sujan, Professor of Marketing, Tulane
University, New Orleans, USA, donated a Fund of Rs.10 lakhs for the exclusive use of
services that will help relieve loneliness among the elderly.
2005 - In collaboration with Helen Keller’s School for the Blind, and printed by
them in their Press, D.F released India’s first Calendar in Brail, in full treatment of
the subject of Productive Ageing in the 12 pages it had conceived for 12 months of the
year. It was also a fund collection drive for the Foundation.
2006 - Dignity Lifestyle Retirement Township, Neral: In response to needs of senior
citizens for an independent living facility of their own, the township was conceived and
implemented along with the developer Shri Anil Pandhe. The township has earned the
Foundation a good reputation as a service provider in this space. With 62 cottages and
other common facilities its activities came to be enshrined in a separate Public Trust of its
own incorporated in 2004. As a trailblazing concept it has stood the test of time and has
inspired the mushrooming commercial growth of similar homes.
2006 - Dignity on Wheels: In collaboration
with Lions Club of Bombay Host, in honour of its
50th year celebrations a landmark project of D.F.
found approval. In April 2006 we launched
Dignity on Wheels as a reach-out programme to
senior citizens living in all corners of Mumbai,
specially the poor who cannot come to the
Foundation office to avail of services. Inspector
General Javed Ahmed flagged off the first trip of
the Bus that visits all 24 wards for a week each April 29, 2005: A decade of Dignity celebrations see the launch of Voice of Dignity
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before moving onto the next ward. The bus is able
to visit poorer localities thrice in a year offering
services of D.F. The Dignity volunteer group
undertook all publicity and awareness building
activity when the Bus visits their locality. After
the RTO permission to ply the bus in the city
expired after 8 years the project came to an end.
2006 - In Delhi D.F sets up a chapter only to
wind up in 2008 due to lack of office space and
poor human resources to conduct services to
senior citizens in Delhi. The aborted attempt to run services in Delhi has never seen
the light of the day.
2006 - Collaboration as a Member of AARP Global Network. As a constituent
member of this mega corporation of senior citizens of USA, D.F. got introduced to the
global community in ageing. Over a successive period of 3 years, we got thoroughly
integrated into the global practices that were successful. Based upon which D.F.
developed its own annual membership scheme that was launched in 2010.
2007 - Vishakhapatinam Chapter: Inspired by other cities, a group of senior citizen with
very modest means came forward to start a chapter that could find its feet beyond three years.
2007 - Chai Masti Centre. Started as Hiravanti Mansukhlal Desai Lions Juhu
Dignity Enrichment centre, Trustee of D.F., Shri Ashok Modi made generous
donations to fund its activities. Its popularity gave rise to 15 other centres all-India,
and meant for Loneliness Mitigation, the centres are referred to as Chai Masti by
senior citizen members.
2009 - On World Elders Day October 1, 2009 the ICICI Prudential and D.F tie up
was formalised with agreement to give emphasis to second career efforts of retirees.
Shikha Sharma, M.D. of ICICIC Prudential had invited Shri Wagul, Chairman of
ICICI Group to deliver the Chief Guest Address.
Security Meet with Police Senior Citizen of F/N 2001
Inaugurating ICICI Prudential partnership
with DF Oct 2009. Chairman N.Wagul,
M.D. Shikha SHarma and V Shantaram
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2010 - Dignity Donor Privilege Programme : Annual Membership scheme launched
as Dignity Donor Privilege Programme in a grand collaboration project with ICICI
Foundation.
2011, 2013 - Dignity Retirement Expo: A five-city event to showcase Products,
services and related information relevant to the commercial market called “senior
citizens” in India. This is the first time the market identification and the business
potential in Ageing were done by anybody in India. Some 45 companies took part in
showcasing their products and services customised to people 60+ and a record turnout
of 50,000 senior citizens participated in the three days event.
2014, 2015 - Two Day Event
Frontiers in Medicine: This took place
in all the 7 cities in which we have
chapters and conducted Talks by
health specialists in Allopathic
Medicine and Alternative Medicine.
Members asked doubts about aspects
of health issues they were coping
with.
2014 - Campaign for Dignity: In
collaboration with Campaign India, a print and digital media of the advertising world
in India, D.F. launched a Contest among the young professionals of advertising
agencies for giving expression to their views about elders and the respect elders should
be getting in our country. About 286 entries were received out of which 9 Awards were
given to the best and most expressive creative contents. With the winning Exhibits we
went to colleges to display them as a poster exhibition event, and involved young
students to speak about their emotions on the elderly.
Service Dignity Companionship was started in 1996
Dignity Sujan Loneliness Mitigation Trips 2005
Sudha Narayanmurthy inaugurates the Bengaluru Chapter May 14, 2008
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Founder President's Note It gives me great pleasure to present this
annual report on the completion of the
Vigentennial year ( 20th year ) of the
functioning of Dignity Foundation (D.F. from
now on) – a special opportunity for me to
relate on how we have been investing our
time, energy and resources for the benefit of
older adults* (OA) in the country. Actually, in
three words I can sum up everything I have
learned about running this organisation, D.F:
it goes on. Period. Exactly like how Robert
Frost the poet, said of life, it goes on!
It is normal for people to make a mention of
major milestones on the completion of say a
centennial. But I think even the smallest of
anniversaries, say this, our Vigentennial , is an
occasion for recounting programmes, product
launches, leadership, directional changes,
donor relationships and such like. They offer
unique opportunities to celebrate, reinvigorate
and learn. Also, I know of no way of judging
the future but by the past.
Longevity is often associated with integrity. A
track record of 20 years of providing service
in the community demonstrates that we have
gained the trust and resources of our
constituencies and that we have got proven,
achievable results. Quantifiable results are
not easy sometimes in an NGO work, yet they
are important to donors and others who are
asked to support our mission. Taking
advantage of milestones that underscore our
consistent leadership in the field of Ageing,
we list our chronological accomplishments
over the 20 year period.
As organisations age, their institutional
memory can become diluted. Timelines of
innovative programmes, leadership, and
other milestone events can become lost with
turnover of staff, retirements, and address
change movements. Hence the need to list
the following.
Human Resource Insights
The year in reference was an exercise in
bringing about changes in Resource
Management – capital and human resource.
In fact it was an insight into the human
resources that unleashed a strategy of
financial management. Employees seeking to
overtly pursue a career in a not-for-profit
Trust are really not beyond the mercenary
instincts in job seeking, namely remuneration
and reimbursements. Even if the employee
believes she has arrived at a station in life
when money is no longer important, that it is
the purpose and meaning in daily work that
she wants, the reality is when funds are in
short supply, for a say a small period, these
people are not able to cope with the delay in
money receipts. What type of a ‘cause
dedication’ is it, I may ask. For such
employees to start with the annual turnover
of D.F does not look big at all, as they have
been used to dealing with much larger sums
of money. But the reality of funds
mobilisation hits them when they find it’s
not an easy task.
As Deepak Chopra observes: When resources
become skimpy, human beings don't suddenly
cooperate to conserve what's left (and get
going with life). They fight to the last scrap
*OA is the latest terminology that is considered politically correct to refer to senior citizens/ the aged/ the matured/ old people
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Sheilu Sreenivasan
Founder President
for possession of a diminishing resource.
Further, in our experience many recruits have
imagined that an NGO work setting will not
be a daily gruel like that of the exacting daily
grind at a company. They join an NGO in the
implicit, unarticulated expectation of a
diluted environment of work ethos, discipline
and culture. In addition to these insights
which we gained, the performance
assessments of most of this departing handful
of staff did not match with Management
expectations. On the other hand, in this
situational context, the departures came as a
boon to the Trust. It allowed us to let them
leave only to bounce back with a new strategy
of empowering an alternate human
resource—the rich tank of retired talent. D.F
Chapters in Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad and
Goa are examples of such operations.
Keeping this reality of human resources in
mind I welcome human talent from whichever
sector they have been trained in, to join the
big Team in all the seven cities working
assiduously for Older Adults in India.
Financial resource mobilisation in a not-for-
profit set up requires one or two fulltime
devotees at the higher echelons of
management. It requires a true dedication,
commitment and lot of hard work. The
corrective step was undertaken in the
Mumbai head office of D.F. towards the last
quarter of the financial year 2014-15. I sum
up our previous year to bear testimony to the
need based adage: Start by doing what is
necessary, then do what’s possible, and
suddenly you are doing the impossible. That is
how we feel today half way into the next year.
Running the organisation is not a problem to
be solved but a reality to be lived and
experienced. The best and the most beautiful
things in the world cannot be seen or touched
or converted into annual reports, they must
be felt within the heart. When we know we
cannot change the direction of the wind, we
can certainly adjust the sails to reach our
destination. That’s how I look upon life and
the various gifts it has for us in the passage of
years and years on end.
In the final analysis, I firmly believe the
measure of who we are is what we do with
what we have.
In the forthcoming pages we let people talk
about their perspectives, experiences and
what it means to be Trustee, Advisor, Staff,
Members, and of course simply being senior
citizen. Our new team player Asha Lal, in
charge of fund mobilisation, says: “I want to
work for making D.F. an organisation of over
Rs. 10 crore turnover by 2018. By then we
would have partnered with CSR wings of top
public and private sector undertakings for
implementing a basket of innovative services
for senior citizens in India – all built on the
edifice of D.F.’s knowledge, people, resources,
expertise and experience”.
Looking into the future, it is the commitment
we make as a group to enrich the contents of
what we provide to Older Adults in India. We
have already initiated steps in this direction
in such a comprehensive way that we will
directly address the needs of the older adults
in ways no one else in the country has done.
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Perspectives:
Trustees and other
longtime well wishers
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For the past 20 years eminent thinkers and directors of the corporate world have
given their time, energy and resources to bring D.F. to the status it is currently.
Their all time support is something we have greatly valued over the years. For
varying lengths of time the following eminences have served as Trustees of D.F.
Trust and we owe our grateful thanks for their contributions:
Arun Saha – Joint M.D.IL&FS
Ashok Modi – A B Modi Chartered Accountants
Booma Bashyam – Philanthropist
Gopal Srinivasan – Executive Director, GKW
M M Chitale –Mukund M Chitale & Co
M N Chaini – Reliance Ltd
Nagesh Alai – Chairman, Draft FCB Ulka
R. Sridhar – Formerly President Ogilvy & Mather Direct
T Ranganathan – Formerly M.D. Forbes Gokak and Co
Ujwal Thakkar – Banker and CEO Pratham Education Initiatives
Vinaya Mehrotra – Philanthropist
Arun SahaJoint M.D. IL&FS, Mumbai, Trustee, D.F.
and Dignity Lifestyle Trust
It is estimated that India has around 100
million elderly and by 2050, this number is
expected to rise to 315 million. The life
expectancy in India has increased from 42
years in 1960 to over 65 years at present.
Global Age Watch Index (GAWI), developed
with UN fund for population and
development, ranks India 73rd out of 91
countries in elderly care which includes
key areas across income security, healthcare,
employment, education and enabling
environment.
While the goal of longevity as an outcome of
development of healthcare has done well,
the elder care infrastructure falls way short
of requirements. D.F. is a positive step
forward in efforts to create an enlightened
society where the elderly can live with
dignity and feel valued. Over the last 20
years, the foundation has done serious work
towards its mission of enabling senior
citizens to lead active lives through easy
access to trusted information, opportunities
for productive ageing and social support
services. As social and economic
transformation changes the face of the
traditional Indian society where elders are
taken care of by extended families, Dignity
works tirelessly to provide care and touch
the lives of the elders in a positive manner
Gopal SrinivasanExecutive Director, GKW, Trustee, D.F.
and Dignity Lifestyle Trust
An Eventful Passage over the past Twenty
Years (1995-2015)
D.F was established in 1995 as an NGO
under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, with
the main objective of providing services to
the senior citizens of Mumbai. DF was a
pioneer in this field. The services included
a) publication of a monthly magazine titled
Dignity Dialogue, b) coordinating with
Mumbai police for ensuring security of
senior citizens living alone, c) loneliness
mitigation services for the elders by
providing companionship through its large
volunteer force d) providing second career
opportunities, e) family counseling and f)
providing free legal advice through a team
of eminent advocates and g) providing
State Government authorized ID cards.
Over time, DF has enlarged its membership
base and its activities as well and it
provides opportunities to its members to
lead a dignified life and help them to age
productively. A day-care centre was set up
in its Lamington Road office to provide
assistance to senior citizens in 2008 and a
Chai Masti Centre was started to help in
fostering fellowship among members in
2010. The Chai Masti Centre became an
instant hit and its members swear by the
fun, joy and excitement that they derive
from the goodwill and bonhomie which
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prevails during their daily three hours
interactions. This fellowship according to
many of them gave a new meaning to their
lives. DF after its initial success at Mumbai
decided to go pan-India and started
establishing Chapters in metropolitan cities.
Currently there are eight chapters spread
throughout the country. Each chapter has
two or more Chai Masti Centres.
DF has always been a champion for the
cause of senior citizens. It has advocated the
resolution of their problems at various
forums as well as at the highest levels in the
State Government and Central Government
with considerable success. Since 2014, DF
has started free distribution of essentials
like rice, pulses, sugar, cooking oil etc on a
monthly basis to those who are at the
bottom rung of the human pyramid in India.
In 2008, DF became an international
partner of AARP ( American Association of
Retired Persons), for the exemplary work
being done --a privilege and honour enjoyed
by no other NGO in the senior citizens work
in India.
Since 2014, DF partnered with Campaign
India for showcasing the work of advertising
companies who have used their talents and
expertise to come out with slogans and
stories for creating an awareness of the
problems of senior citizens amongst the
masses and how all should empathise with
the problems of elders and treat them with
respect and affection.
Realising the crying need for Homes for
senior citizens in today’s changing social
and cultural context, DF set up one more
Trust called Dignity Lifestyle Trust in 2004
to build and maintain homes for senior
citizens at Neral, Maharashtra. After having
built 62 cottages, it has now embarked on
Phase II to build another 200 units
including a fully equipped Dementia Centre.
It can be seen that achieving all this in two
decades has been no mean achievement. As
an NGO, DF has to manage its affairs with
donations and grants from individual
philanthropists and large organisations that
thankfully now have the statutory
requirement of undertaking Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. For
DF it has always remained a balancing act
between revenues and expenditure. DF has
set up an enviable brand equity and
infrastructure and platform for propelling
itself to reach a larger number of senior
citizens both in the urban and rural areas
and provide acceptable level of services to
them. There are two areas in which DF has
not achieved much success: 1)in the area of
increasing its membership base to higher
levels to improve the sustainability of its
various ongoing programmes and 2) in
building a strong corpus to fund its ongoing
and future activities. DF Trustees are seized
of these two problems and are working out
strategies to achieve success in these very
important areas.
DF is also in talks with experienced overseas
operators in the area of elder care to explore
the possibility of co-operation between the
two entities. Some European and American
organisations have built successful models
of improving the spiritual, physical,
intellectual and emotional attributes of
senior citizens thus enabling them to
successfully age. They are using state-of-the
art equipment and cutting edge technology
to bring about the desired results in terms
of extending longevity and enabling an
enriching and satisfying life for the seniors
till the very end. DF would like to use these
new and enabling technologies to work
towards that goal.
16
R. SridharFormerly Trustee, D.F ; Formerly
President Ogilvy & Mather Direct;
Brand Consultant, Director Ideas-R
"Sheilu imagined the future for the older
adults in this country long before it drew
media attention. Or before Senior Citizen
Communities became an attractive business
proposition. She has done path breaking
work in drawing people's attention to this
issue. She has gone further like an
evangelist to get more people involved and
done that effectively. With her admirable
spirit she has weathered a variety of
difficulties and has stayed on course.
Her challenge for the future is to create a
strong leadership team to carry the torch
forward. In doing so she must find someone
who is not her clone but someone who will
take D.F. to its next level of growth in
serving the seniors. Just as passionate, just
as determined but with a new vision.
Because D.F. is not a start up any more. “
Sumit RoyBrand Consultant, Univbrands
Twenty years!
I consider myself privileged to have been at
the right time and the right place (thank
you, R. Sridhar) to help Dr. Sheilu
Sreenivasan realise that she wasn't just
running a magazine but was heading a
movement for older adults who should have
"a positive attitude to ageing".
She then took that thought and inspired a
large number of products and services that
ensured that the Dignity Dialogue magazine
has never had to miss an issue since its
inception!
Twenty years!
And in that journey she's created such a
large tribe of Dignitarians.
You and I are part of that tribe.
Long will it prosper as we continue to spread
"a positive attitude to ageing".
17
20 tsurT fo srY ae
T. RanganathanFormerly Trustee of D.F , and formerly
M.D, Forbes Gokak Ltd.
Where do I start? I still recall the day when
my friends Raju and Mallika came home and
talked excitedly about the inauguration of
Dignity Dialogue by T.N. Seshan, then
Election Commissioner. I shortly thereafter
met Sheilu Sreenivasan -- dignity by
herself…. I recall the many strategy meetings
she had inducted me in. Flurried exchange of
emails to boost up circulation, and the early
trustee meetings which were not only
stimulating intellectually but also so
satisfying to the palette …served with such
affection by Sheilu’s companion Kamakshi,
the aurally challenged girl who literally grew
up in Sheilu’s family for 40 years.
When I met Geeta Doctor, journalist friend
in Chennai, she exclaimed to me what Sheilu
had started was not just a magazine but a
movement in full swing…. I realised through
all my years of close association with the
Trust how true that comment was.
I remember the involvement of the early
authors like Nalin Thakore, Revathy Gopal,
T.V. Sairam, the enthusiastic staff at the
Dadar office and the growth of the
movement. Where do we go from here? Like
the poet who said: There are miles and miles
to go before I sleep.There are countless
senior citizens who have after retirement
plunged in to improve the quality of life for
their society. They are all selfless and
anonymous. Must not D.F. introduce
their faces to the world ?
If only D.F. can take a major challenge
on the medical insurance front which is
in a pathetic mess. Not only does the
benefit stop at 70 but the premium is
expensive. The health care cost is
prohibitive especially for older people
like us, when you need a bypass surgery,
renal transplant, dialysis and various
other costly interventions.
There is plenty of scope for organisations
like D.F. to step in by mustering
corporate support and undertake health
initiatives that will change the face of
senior citizens lives in India.
Inderjit Bawa
Secretary General, InFA; Chairman,
Senior Citizens Association, Versova
I am very much delighted to know that
D.F is celebrating its glorious journey of
20 years in services to the senior citizens
on October 1st 2015.
At 85 I vividly recall the minute details of
its launch in 1995 by T N Seshan, the
then Election Commissioner of India. I
am well acquainted by subsequent
initiatives taken from time to time by its
dynamic President Dr Sheilu Sreenivasan
in multitasking operations in the services
of the elderly
I wish the Programme a grand success.
18
2014-15
Operational HighlightsApart from giving descriptions of activities we carry on under the banner of D.F.
I propose to let people speak about benefits, as they are important parameters of
assessment.
Table 1: Operational Highlights
Accomplishments 2014-15
Launch of social media presence
in partnership with Make
My Brand Social Pvt Ltd.
April 2014
1 Reaching out to younger
and older populations
taking advantage of
social media boom
More number of people
connect with D.F.
2 Opening of Ahmedabad Chapter
of D.F. June 2014
Coverage of benefits to
older adults of other
cities
Impacting the lives
of more older adults
3 Opening of Goa Chapter of
D.F. July 2014
Coverage of benefits to
older adults of other
cities
Impacting the lives
of more older adults
4 Mumbai Police invites
D.F. to celebrate
The Joy of Giving Week with
older adults. Special Publication
by D.F. of a Handbook for
Older Adults sponsored by
Mumbai Police. Sept 28, 2014
A crucial relationship
building with the Police
whose assistance to senior
citizen is of paramount
importance while
resolving elder abuse
and other conflicts
Empowered D.F. with a
direct bonding with
Mumbai Police to work
around more security
to older adults
5 Protection of Life and Property
of Older adults Programme of
Mumbai Police in association
with D.F. : A five-pronged action
programme was launched
November 2014. Registration
of older adults – a drive was
initiated by the Mumbai Police
Jeshta Nagrik Sunwayi
Direct benefits to
older adults who were
enabled to take the help
of Mumbai Police and
the Panel at a Sunwayi
programme
The Trust gained a
better foothold with
the police
What the activity
did or Resulted in
What we accomplished
as an organisation
Table continued... 19
Table 1: Operational Highlights - continued
Accomplishments 2014-15 What the activity
did or Resulted in
What we accomplished
as an organisation
6 Sensitisation Workshops for the
Police forceDecember 2014
Awareness building
among the police
personnel about
older adults
Strengthened the bonds
of the Trust with
Mumbai Police
7 Foray into raising funds and
awareness through Art Auction
in partnership with the Institute
for Contemporary Indian Art
November 2014
First attempt through
a partnership with an
art dealer
Did not fetch benefit
8 Frontiers in Medicine – a seven
-city Event for heightening
the awareness among OAs about
Health options available in
Allopathy as well as
Complimentary Medicine.
February 2015
Equipped members
with more knowledge
for better management
of their health
Assist Older Adults with
a better knowledge
about health
9 Opening of new Enrichment
CentresBengaluru,
Navi Mumbai, Kolkata
Three centres brought in
better coverage of Older
Adult populations in the
respective localities
Enhancement of the
impact on Older Adults
10 Reinvigorating Pune Chapter
with a new thrust putting
OAs on the driving seat
-an experiment that has become
the model for new city chapters
Empowerment of OAs
with management
responsibilities
Putting existing skills
among OAs into
productive use
11 Campaign for Dignity in
collaboration with Campaign India
- a print and online media
- a contest calling for Print Ads
on the respect for the OA
Reached out to the
entire advertising
industry through
the Contest
Impacting the
younger generation
12 Commencement in an expanded
mode of grass root interventions
amongst the very poor Older
Adults in six slums of Mumbai
and Chennai - National Stock
Exchange. March 2015
Substantial reach out
to poor old in slums
Spreading the impact to
cover poor old
13 Commencement of CSR
supported first project
in Dementia - Scientific
Publishing Services, April 2015
Invigoration of
day care centre
activities
CSR opens the doors
for D.F.
14 Expansion of the Ration
Programme to the Poor OAs in
partnership with an Online
Grocery Store called
Localbanya.com
Now in its 7th year the
Programme addresses
the basic need of
poor old
Impacting the lives
of the very poor
20
Impactful Performance
Table 1. depicts a snapshot of the year
gone by.
Despite the challenging environment of
paucity of funds, we have delivered another
year of strong impact-making performance
coupled with broad based growth . We
remained focused on strengthening the core
spirit of our organisation, which is service
delivery, through innovative management
methods.
When stringent measures were introduced in
tightening the performance of human capital,
it led to staff exits, which made us bounce
back with socially oriented team strength.
The last quarter of 2014 and the first quarter
of 2015 saw the infusion of academically
accomplished social workers, who I am happy
to record, have inhaled the cause organically
to become pillars of the Foundation in Pune,
Goa, Chennai and Mumbai.
Ahmedabad and Goa as the newer chapters,
and Pune and Chennai among older chapters,
have been endowed during the year with an
innovative model of management whereby,
the Older Adults management group is in
the steering position, with a small team of
paid professionals to accomplish the day to
day administrative matters in a cohesive
atmosphere.
From day one Ahmedabad came forward with
a committed group of Older Adults led by an
octogenarian enthusiast whose tireless work,
despite not too supportive a health, has been
at the forefront of a successful mobilisation
of human resources in the city. The search is
on for a senior administrator-humanist who,
given the goodwill the advisory management
committees command, can take Ahmedabad
to be the capital of gerontological movement
in India.
Goa has had two unfortunate situational
contexts which have been successfully
overcome by a dedicated Social Worker
slogging along with a small but dedicated
group of loyal older adults. Change of office
addresses has affected the efforts that were
applied for impact creation among the senior
population of Goa. The good news is: Goa
Chapter is on firm rails now.
Goa and Pune have emerged vibrant with
strong social workers in the lead, whose
administrative efficiency has enthused the
senior citizens group to steer the affairs of
the Chapter.
Chennai has seen the best combination of a
newly appointed committed group of senior
citizens and an energetic young management
team. The volunteer members have opted to
work in three essential committees: Steering
Committee, Events Committee and a
Helpline Committee. The young leader
demonstrated her creative energies to bring
forth stimulating events for the members.
With the Chief Dignitarian, assisted by a
Deputy Chief Dignitarian firmly in place, a
remarkable stability is in sight.
Kolkata has chugged along with the
wonderful leadership qualities of a
committed young professional, whose
congenial and matured manner of tacking all
issues has won her great friendship both
among senior citizens and the supportive
companies we have been relating to. The
West Bengal Government has also been
giving numerous opportunities for our
management group to demonstrate its
prowess in caring for the older adults. With
financial self sufficiency fast approaching not
including staff remuneration that will be
continued to be paid by the HO in Mumbai,
Kolkata chapter is slated to be in the
forefront of D.F. chapter landscape.
21
Bengaluru Chapter, with great potential for
growth and leadership, has registered a
modest presence in the community of Older
Adults in the city. Its ‘Coffee Chavadis’ are
leading the way in model-making by running
all the centres on love and fresh air. No
money spent on real estate. Next to
Mumbai, it is its Ration project that has
seen robust growth.
A Four Sided Focus
I can rightly indicate this year’s mission
accomplishment as a four-sided focus:
1. Through Loneliness Mitigation Centres
reaching out to more and more number
of middle income groups
2. Through Ration Supply and Knowledge
Workshops reaching out to the poorer
elderly
3. Through corporate calling reaching out to
sensitise companies – their management
and employees to the cause of ageing.
4. Through Events and social media activism
raising the awareness levels of the general
public about issues of older persons.
Please turn to page 48 for details of the
above listed services
20 tsurT fo srY ae
22
Gayathri Ananthakrishnan - Senior Manager and Head of the Chapter
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience
can never go back to its own dimensions…”
The year 2014-15 at D.F. Chennai, has
stretched my imagination, tried my strengths,
taught me new life lessons and above all
introduced me to people whose life,
experience and acquaintance has been my
greatest learning ever and which has molded
me as an individual with a new perspective
to life and work.
I am thankful to our Founder Dr. Sheilu
Sreenivasan and all whom I have been lucky
to meet and interact in this memorable year.
Every experience is an opportunity to learn
and grow, and every day this year has
opened up new experiences and
opportunities.
My tenure with D.F. so far has given me the
following lessons:
* The difference between good and
excellent is in the detail.’ During
organisation of events and activities fine
tuning and planning make a
great difference.
CHAPTER
CAPTAINS
CHENNAI
23
* ‘What you inspect and not what you
expect gets done.’ It is important to follow
up on work given to team members and
periodically do a quick check on procedures
and systems set up so as to prevent
slackening.
* ‘Importance of creating and holding
together a great team’ The Steering
Committee and the staff at office have
stepped up at different occasions to bring
great results.
* ‘Achieving more by careful delegation
of work’. By delegating authority,
responsibility and accountability we have
been able to achieve more. The free library,
the legal clinic, the different clubs at
Tehneer Arangam are great examples.
* ‘If it has not been documented it has
not been done’. Documentation of all
activities and events is a great source to
review, reflect and improve on our
performance. It also helps to track our
progress.
* ‘Networking sometimes gives you the
elevator ride up.’People give for the people
who ask.’ Sometimes inspite of good
proposals and a great cause , a phone call
from and to the right person can clinch the
deal.
* ‘Importance of Training and
Assessments ’ My one week at American
Express Leadership Academy where a 360
degree assessment was done, taught me to
reinvent myself. It was inspiring to listen to
masters on social entrepreneurship.
*’Those closest to the problem are best
suited to find the solution’. How much
ever we plan in the comfort of our office,
it is a totally different field when you start
working at the grass root level. People’s
needs are to be identified. The Knowledge
promotion project for the underprivileged
seniors at Kannagi Nagar and Saidapet has
taught me this truism.
*People need our services more than
ever before and we need to reach out to
them.’ Sensitivity towards senior citizen
issues is slowly on the rise and people
invariably come across it at different
junctures -- whether for self, parent or
grandparent -- so we need to step up.
24
Republic day and Kreeda game
Tamil New Years Day
My vision for the next year
To strive to make D.F. synonymous with
senior citizens in Chennai. It should
eventually become a people and need driven
organisation that is self sustaining.
And I present the viewpoints of our Team:
Sundera Gopalan - Chief Dignitarian
I was selected in a surprise move as Chief
Dignitarian of Chennai Chapter by Dr.
Sheilu Sreenivasan in July 2013 when she
visited Chennai. I take great pride in even
simply being a Dignitarian, needless to say
CD position elated me. . From day one I had
a very good understanding with our chapter
head Gayathri Ananthakrishnan.
All members give me their full support
and co-operation in running the chapter
smoothly. I am very grateful Dr. Sheilu
Sreenivasan for giving me this opportunity
of working with and for senior citizens. She
is a guide and mentor listing every detail
there is to do and achieve. AT the same time
there is much freedom to create through our
own initiative.
Our future plans Fund rising, Celebrations
in a big way that all Dignitarians enjoy, and
holding events are my priorities I would like
to implement. With the full co-operation
and support of our members and chapter’s
head of management who is a fulltime
Social Worker, I am sure we will take our
Chennai chapter to great heights
V. Balachander
-Deputy Chief Dignitarian
I joined the foundation as a member when
life membership was still in vogue and
activity levels were slowly and gradually
increasing. A lot has happened since then.
The vistas have widened, the activity level
has increased, and senior citizens have
become more curious and wanting to know
what it is all about. Finally I have seen it
happening that that members look to the
foundation for enriching their lives in more
ways than one. There are one or two puzzling
situations: notwithstanding the energising
of the content of Tehneer Arangam with
innovative ideas and programming skills,
there has not been an appreciable increase in
the turn out. We are seized of the solutions
to this situation.
It has been a very enriching experience for
me personally in meeting new ideas and new
way of doing things. The reformatting of
programmes in Tehneer Arangam and
entrusting responsibilities to people with a
passion to perform/ showcase their talents
was a milestone.”
“The past year has been very encouraging
and exciting. My assignment as the editor of
Tamil portion of the newsletter was
challenging and at the same time interesting.
Members now show great enthusiasm and
contribute and look forward to the issues.”
K. Sivagaminathan, editor, Tamil section,
Newsletter
25
“This year we have strived to increase the
membership of our organisation by
increasing the visibility, specially focused
drives and media coverage. We have helped a
lot of senior citizens through helpline. The
formation of steering committee has
increased the involvement of our members.”
Dhanapaul Arumgham
“I have learnt a lot on the job and now have
an extended family.”
S.Sasi Rekha
“I enjoy working for seniors. It is very
gratifying and I have learnt a lot of skills on
the job.”
K. Manoharan
“I have learnt to work as part of a team and
have been involved in the overall
management and not just accounts. This has
been a great learning experience.”
Naveen Kumar.
Gayathri Ananthakrishnan is an efficient
Chapter Head. Her innovative ideas,
enterprising, entrepreneurial attitude, her
fund raising skills and her managerial
effectiveness have transformed the Chennai
Chapter into a vibrant, active hub for the
local Dignitarians.
ADL Neurotech
Stepping Back to
Look Forward……
A year in the life of an individual is a great
period of time but a year in the life of an
organization is a greater period as it
touches, influences and makes a difference
to so many more lives. I am happy to share
with you the great period, the last one year
has been at D.F., Chennai!
We have had major events every month for
senior citizens apart from the regular
Tehneer Arangam. We have encouraged not
just Dignitarians but also other senior
citizens to attend and benefit from our
programme. The Tabulated sequence
under Chapter Programmes shows the
complete list.
20 tsurT fo srY ae
26
Walkathon
Summer Camp
KOLKATA
Suparna Mitra, Senior Manager
“This year offered numerous challenges and
opportunities. We could organise many
activities to enrich senior’s life in a
meaningful way. We opened the 4th
Loneliness Mitigation Centre in northern
part of Kolkata. Reached more number of
seniors in different parts of Kolkata focusing
on the emotional and health insecurity.
The ever increasing numbers of lonely senior
citizens and problems they are facing are
mind boggling. We need to scale up our
activities in a big way to confront the
challenges ahead.
This year’s achievement could be listed as:
Spreading the message of our activities
through media that helped reach more
number of seniors faster. We resolved several
senior abuse cases with the help of Police,
Counselors and lawyers. Involved eminent
personalities like renowned doctors, lawyers,
educationalists to address our meetings and
events. We tied up with more hospitals,
diagnostic centres, restaurants, tours and
travel agencies for discount. Briefly stated,
Senior Citizens proudly state that we gave
them much affection and care throughout
the year, and guided many of them to lead a
life vibrant and dignified.
Instead of myself speaking about my life at
Dignity I would like to quote just two
sample cases of:
Life transformation
After retirement Ashis Kumar Dasgupta
one day realised that he had nothing to do
throughout the day. For him days were
passing by idly with nothing to engage
him. He became worried and sad. He met a
cousin who told him about D.F, an
organisation near his home for senior
citizens, which might help him to
overcome his depression.
Dasgupta joined D.F in 2010. He was
relieved at last he found a place to go and
spend some time there. Then he met many
other members, felt refreshing talking to
them. As time passed, he gained many
friends, and started liking the activities. He
came close to the staff who he found caring
and respectful towards him. Now he loves
going to Chayar Addas and attend all
events. He joined yoga and computer
classes to keep himself busy throughout
week.Unfortunately last year he fell ill, and
had to be hospitalised for long. Dasgupta
fondly remembers how the staff and
members visited him or called on his
mobile during his stay in the hospital and
that had brought a new meaning to his life.
He was confined to home for months after
his return from the hospital. He used to sit
near the balcony to look forward to seeing
27
and waving at the members as they walked
past his home. He is now fit to come to D.F
all over again and attend all events. D.F, he
says fondly, is like a fresh breath of air to
him. Ashis Das Gupta is a very happy and
satisfied member.
Sheela Bhaduri was a happy and contented
mother and homemaker like many. Her life
revolved round her son and daughter. Sheela
was busy making sweets and savouries for
her children. Her days passe busily doing
something or the other for her children.
Sudden turn of events changed her life. Both
the children decided to go abroad for higher
studies. First her son left for higher studies
followed by daughter.
Suddenly, Sheela was doused in darkness of
loneliness. Life became colourless and
meaningless. She became depressed and all
was dull for her.
This was when Sheela came to know about
D.F. Sheela and her husband Dr. Gautam
Bhaduri joined in 2009. It was here that
Sheela found solace. She made friends to
whom she could open up and share her
views. She could speak out and express
herself to her heart’s content. It so happened
that the staff discovered in her a powerful
actor. This pulled her out of her misery, and
her sorrowful shell of depression she
experienced after her children left for the
US. Life was once again colourful, joyous
and lively. Sheela Bhaduri is now a regular,
popular and favourite member of Chhayar
Adda, who also likes to be involved in
different activities.
What our partners and well
wishers have to say
“I am happy to learn that D.F. is publishing
its Annual Report, and want me to state my
views. The Foundation is doing good work in
Kolkata to make it an inclusive society that
cares for its elders. I wish them the very best
in this journey” - Debashis Sen, IAS,
Chairman WBHIDCO
“Work is growing in D.F.. It is benefiting
many senior citizens and making their life
meaningful and fruitful” - Alokananda Roy,
Social Activist and Brand Ambassador of
D.F.
“D.F. is truly making a difference in the lives
of Senior Citizens. An organisation is
working selflessly towards engaging with
senior citizens through some meaningful
projects.”
“We are associated with the Kolkata chapter
of D.F. for more than 6 months now. The
warmth and support from each one of you
have made our experience truly wonderful,
right from the very beginning. We had the
opportunity to interact with your members
as well. Our entire team was amazed seeing
the dynamism of the group and the sense of
belonging of the members to D.F.. We wish
D.F. all the very best in its journey to
achieve its vision of building an enlightened
society in which senior citizens feels secure
confident and valued. “
28
PUNE “DF specialises in promoting the issues of the
elderly as well as finding solutions for them,
so that they can find new ways to live with
confidence, grace, dignity and independence.
Their services that they provide ensure that
the elderly receive complete emotional
support and they also utilise the many talents
to help the community. Suparna Mitra and
the entire team are providing a service that is
an absolute necessity in Kolkata and India.”
To leverage the diverse skill strength of
employees of Apeejay Surendra Group for the
benefit of DF members, the D.F management
Team joined hands with Individual Social
Responsibility™ (ISR™), the Group’s
employee volunteering programme, in July
2014. In the little over 12 months since,
Parama Dasgupta, Group’s Deputy General
Manager – Finance who was appointed as
Chief Mentor of the Dignity - ISR™ joint
initiative by Apeejay, has brought in many
volunteers from across Apeejay’s companies
to D.F’s various centres. Our members have
benefitted from the tax sessions taken by their
corporate finance expert, cooking sessions on
healthy foods taken by their hotel chefs and
session on types of tea and their health
benefits by their tea company expert. Further,
our members at Dhakuria, Salt Lake and
Behala centres have been touched and
delighted by the many hours spent by Apeejay
volunteers in organising cultural evenings and
film screenings as also celebrating the
Independence Day and the New Year with an
exceptional spirit of camaraderie and
companionship.
Sonali Patil, Manager Counsellor and Chapter Head
I joined in December 2014. From then to
now, the three months have been a learning
phase for me in regard to handling accounts,
planning sessions for Senior Citizens chai
masti centre and the forthcoming event. This
period was quite hectic as the routine
activities were supposed to be sustained
without losing member’s interest and the
concept of “by the member and for the
member” was taking shape during this phase.
Along with the regular programme Pune
Chapter conducted 2 special training
workshops for the Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment, New Delhi on Geriatric
Care for the underprivileged communities.
The Head Office came up with a new strategy
of empowering members to run the chapter
with the support of a strong Social Worker
with leadership qualities who will get some
assistance in terms of marketing and accounts.
In the words of Dignitarian Ramaprasad:
“Our Founder President visited Pune chapter
in July 2014. She came out with a novel idea
of managing the Foundation through a new
vision of “Dignity of the people, by the
people, for the people”. Within a short period
of time this concept took root. Subsequently
teams were formed and we got involved in
29
magazine; the danger of losing the social and
practical benefits we received from it made
many of us volunteer our services and time
to help run our Centre and its various
activities. We were amateurs with little
knowledge of how an organisation for
seniors functioned but we tried our best to
make both the events successful one.
G K Asthana: Though the concept of by the
members and for the member was an
exciting one, the decisions got influenced by
one or two dominating members which
resulted in members walking out of different
committees.
Col. Partho concludes: The new experiment
with members taking on as volunteers both
to cut down expenditure and tap resources
within the Dignity Members has been
picking up. Expanding its activities, getting
qualified speakers to speak on various topics,
mainly medical, touching on aspects of the
ageing community has been greatly
planning, organising and execution of events
with specific individual tasks. Thus we
conducted two major events at Pune.
As Dr. Sreenivasan says in her narrative in the
Report in the earlier pages the exit of old staff
only meant we bounce back with something
new! The new opportunity she saw was to
empower members, and willingly some 28
members instantly signed up for volunteering
in various capacities. When I joined there was
a good group of members whose skills were
available to me to put activities on ground.
As Dignitarian Dr Usha Sutaria says “The
year was quite eventful and we members came
closer to one another because of D.F. and in
delivery of services to members we too got
engaged, and that too voluntarily.” Shama
Vijayan adds: The creation of the Steering
Committee offered us two big challenges of
organising World Elders Day and Frontiers in
Medicine. I feel very happy that both the
events were a great success.
Abha Choudhuri : Membership of DF was
important to us apart from the monthly
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According to Abha Choudhuri “D.F. is an
organisation that is very important to all of us
and we are eternally grateful to
Dr. Sheilu Sreenivasan for having set it up.
Now that it is expanding to many cities we
want to ensure that it continues to function
smoothly and in fact to grow from strength to
strength till it becomes one of the main
associations for senior citizens.” “Age gracefully
and live happily” is my quote for all
Dignitarians, according to Geetha Subharam.
“Personally for me, the journey so far with D.F.
has been very enriching, enjoyable and
challenging. There is always something to look
forward to. I have gained a new sense of
fulfilment, achievement and confidence and it
is like a new lease of life for me. I can now
relate to the challenges of time management
better. The future seems bright and I feel there
are many more things I can do to achieve my
goal” concludes Shama Vijayan
Says Shama Vijayan: As a team, we were a
marvel and it was very encouraging to see the
cooperation, help and camaraderie within the
team. The important thing is to keep up the
momentum and not allow it to end up in a
stalemate.
appreciated. It has been at no cost to the
organisation at the same time opened up
interaction between the doctors and hospitals
and Dignity members making them eligible to
discounts on treatment and free examination.
My vision for 2015-16:
Says Sonali Patil, the Chapter Head, a very
simple enhancement of qualities of our service
delivery; work for more for mobilising funds
on a larger scale, expand the member
volunteer base; increase the number of chai
masti centres.
Added to my vision are those of my senior
citizen members whom I quote:
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32
I Dolly Irani, 64 yrs, joined DF Pune on 1st
May 2014. I am a retired central railway
employee. I shifted to Pune after my
marriage. After husband’s death I am living a
single women’s life. I have one daughter and
one son, happily settled in their lives.
Though my son stays at Pune we both are
staying separately. I love my granddaughter a
lot & spend quality time with her.
I had my own friend circle & they always
used to suggest me those things which I was
not very fond of. One day one of my relatives
in Mumbai suggested me to join D.F. in Pune.
Through Dignity I am getting good
companionship and it is also the prime
source of recreation for me…I am extremely
happy after joining Dignity. I love dancing
from very young days, but I didn’t have an
opportunity. Learning dance and
participating in Dance Movement Therapy
(DMT) has made me happy and helped to
overcome my nervousness. It is helping to
concentrate on matters which I usually could
not concentrate for long time. Things like
DMT, Yoga, Meditation have helped me in
my physical fitness and maintaining good
health. Most important of all, the friends
when they greet me at Dignity I feel
welcomed, wanted and I feel its worth living.
It gives me positive vibes. I love to be
member of Dignity Foundation. Thank you….
Gopal Krishna Asthana, 74 yrs, been a
member since 2011. I was a resident of Delhi,
but due to my business I stayed at Kolkata
for some 20 years. After retirement also I
kept myself busy with some work, but in
order to live closer to our daughter we shifted
to Pune. But I started feeling bored at home
and joined a group of Kashmiri group in the
Wanwadi area. Language was a barrier in
this group and hence again started feeling
bored with the group, till I joined Dignity.
Dignity has been helping me remain busy; it
has given me many opportunities and scope
to participate in various activities and thus is
able to keep myself happy. One needs to have
passion to survive old age. I am an active
member of almost all committees of Dignity
Pune. I have utilised the benefits of discount
for my monthly purchase of medicines. Out
of the need for counseling the helpline
clients, I restarted my psychological
counseling studies and visiting a client every
week. Now it’s a routine to visit DF daily
and we feel unhappy if missed on any
particular activity.
Thanks Dignity for keeping me active &
healthy…!
“Thanks for giving me opportunity to
present Needlework Art paintings to
members of D.F. It was nice experience to
come and meet you and other members-
Sujata Dhadphale , Artist, Needle Art
Paintings, Pune
Was delighted to have been invited as Chief
Guest for an event at D.F . I spoke on
citizens empowerment for senior citizens
through social media. I requested them to
turn their computer into war zone and fight
one’s consumer battles from there. DF
members are a sprightly and amazing lot.
Many of them read out their poems and
prose. They were insightful and reflected the
warmth and affection they look forward to.
Vinita Deshmukh, RTI activist, convener
of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyan and
consulting editor of Moneylife.
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33
Pune launches a unique
initiative Knitting for
a Cause It’s the simple pleasures in life that bring the
richest rewards; a baby’s smile, rain drops on
the face, surprise and joy on the person’s face
on receiving an unexpected gift. So it is also
with two very basic and humble stitches, the
knit and the purl - along with their
handmaidens the knitting needles and wool.
To know them and apply them is to be lead
by the hand and mind into a world of
delight, creativity and endless hours of
pleasurable solitude.
Just thinking of knitting is a throw-back to
the good old days for many Dignitarians. We
long for those days when family members
wore woolen garments lovingly made by
grand-mothers, mothers, sisters and wives.
Intricate patterns, painstakingly created with
love, care and precision, showcased the skill
and art of the knitter. Alas machines and
mass production have now rendered our deft
fingers useless and lifeless. But never mind
we are back in action now thanks to the
initiative taken by the Pune Chapter of the
Dignity Foundation which has gathered
together a group of kindred spirits to ‘knit
for a cause’.
So whom do we knit for now? The larger
family of course! The poor, the orphans, the
old, the infirm and the sick who long for
some cheer in their lives are now the
recipients if our efforts, busy minds and
fingers. We knit and gift to old age homes
for the poor, orphanages, poor cancer
patients in hospitals, our watchmen and
children of our domestic help. It’s a win-win
situation. The knitters keep fit in body, mind
and soul and the needy benefit from our
efforts. Here’s wishing all knitters ‘Happy
Knitting’.
The feedback on our frst donation of
Woolen caps:
St.John’s Home for Women and children,
Pune-The 28 women were very happy to be
gifted with the caps. They said, “How very
thoughtful of you all who brought us
comfort from these caps. No one has ever
thought of this before. Thank you and a big
God Bless to you all”.
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20th Dignity Dialogue Anniversary
Anthakshari - Trip
Trip - Khedda
Dancing to the music
Bridge - games at Chavadi
Health Camp
Inaugural of Frontiers in Medicine
Achievement and Challenges:
• Identifying new premises in the same
locality and working from a new office was
a challenge (changing the address and
letting all the senior citizens know about
the new place of Shifting )
• Raising resources for events so each one
becomes self sufficient
• All staff members have stayed.
My vision for year 15-16
• Work closely with the Govt. of Karnataka
for the benefit of the less privileged.
• Organise 4-5 mega health camps in
rural areas.
• Add two new Chavadis
• Wish to institute an endowment fund for
taking care of our routine activities
35
Sandhya S.N, Senior Manager
From its inception on 13th May 2008, the Bengaluru
Chapter has seen a paradigm shift in its programme, and
grown into a dynamic organisation. There were several
challenges but the committed and enthusiastic team rose to
the challenges and worked to live up to
the mission of D.F.
Helpline for elders: We handled on an average 50 cases
so far and resolved issues including cases of elders abuse,
general information, nursing care services,
old age and retirement home information
Counseling: About 5 cases on a daily basis asking for counseling services and our volunteers
resolve these cases within 24 hours.
Companionship: We get calls may be 5 to 6 in a month. And we connect them to the
Chavadis to interact with other members.
Loneliness Mitigation Centre: Presently, we have four Chavadis running on a free rental
basis with a variety of activities. One of the main attractions is the picnic that is organised
every quarter.
Ration Service to less privileged. As of now we have 25 beneficiaries, the senior most being
94 years. We are able to attract donations for this activity. There is satisfaction all round.
BENGALURU
36
Visit to Manthan
Picnic
Musical Event
Ahmedabad Chapter Inauguration
Frontiers in Medicine
World Elders Day
A Chai Masti Activity
Chai Masti Activity
Dignitarian M.S.Raghavendra Rao writes a verse!
D.F. : A foundation of Joy and happiness.
D.F. : An oasis in a desert.
D.F. : The one and the only solution for any aspiration.
Your aspiration for inspiration finds manifestation in D.F.
D.F. : A symbol of Dignity.
D.F. : A catalyst to promote active living.
D.F. : A not-for-profit highly service oriented organisation. Counseling or Companionship,
Entertainment or entrepreneurship D.F. provides the right solution. If you are on the
twilight of your life, D.F provides the beacon light to restart your life. We do not need
to advertise; our services speak for us.
D.F. means to a senior citizen what oasis is to a desert.
P.V.R.N Iyer- Chief Dignitarian
“This was the first year of operation, and
I am very happy that we were able to open
two Dignity Enrichment centres. In my
opinion a reasonable foundation has been
laid for the chapter. The best part I like is
most of the members who have enrolled
themselves render performances such as
vocal music and play musical instruments,
some even speaking on pre-assigned topics
for 30 to 45 minutes, narrating their
experiences of live events in their lives.
All this I am sure will go to boost their self
confidence.
AHMEDABAD “Personally speaking it is a tremendous
learning experience for me in managing a
disparate group of people. Advertising did
not yield the kind of response we expected.
We found spreading through word of
mouth brought us more members. Persons
already attending senior citizens
associations and clubs and localised in the
area where the centre is located are more
easily convinced
to join D.F.
“My vision for the year 2015-16 is opening
of new Chai Masti Centres through low
cost methods in different locations in
Ahmedabad. As we grow, we can consider
satellite chapters in nearby town of Gujarat
such as Baroda, Surat, and Rajkot.
Reactivating Dignity Helpline like how we
started at the very commencement of the
chapter working on transfer call facility
with advisory council sessions happening
every week – this is going to be my
personal goal for the forthcoming year.
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37
Preethi Pereira, Manager and Head of the Chapter
The Chapter in Goa was inaugurated most successfully
with Goa Police Commissioner in the chair in July 2014.
But clash of personalities had swept away all the benefits
of a grand launch. I took over in November and been very
sweetly assisted by a group of nonaligned senior citizens
who wanted to work for the welfare of Goa Chapter. The
last five months were the formative months for me in the
new chosen field working with the elderly people. Well
designed orientation training at the H.O in Mumbai
provided me insights in the modalities of the functioning
of the chapter activities.
Despite obstructive mechanisations of vested interests we held a number of memorable
events listed in Achievements of Chapters. Regular Chai Masti sessions commenced from
January 10, 2015
Looking back we feel that to make a mark of D.F. in Goa we have to increase our visibility
and reach out to the elderly by advocating for their rights and inducting more members into
the life enrichment programme that is mainstay of D.F
My vision for D.F Goa would be: Induct more members; Raise funds for various activities;
Undertake Advocacy for the rights of the elderly. I am extremely happy with the group of
senior citizens who work with me with a high sense of commitment and interest in giving
their time, money and other resources.
GOA
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38
Achievements and
Activities of Chapters
Ahmedabad
April 2014 Dr. Sheilu Sreenivasan met all subscribers of magazine
Dignity Dialogue to elicit their interest in forming a chapter. 16
members evinced keen interest. Successive meetings were held
with trained professionals from HO.
May 13, 2014 CEO and Social Worker held training in social counseling and held
talks with important functionaries for the Inaugural Programme
May 15, 2014 New Bank Account Opened
June 26, 2014 Press Conference held to announce opening of chapter
June 27, 2014 Inauguration of Ahmedabad Chapter. P.K.Lahiri IAS chaired the
celebrations and honoured eminent personalities of the city by
giving them a citation and a token gift. Dr Sheilu Sreenivasan
delivered the Welcome address and presented the mission and
vision of D.F. to the audience of Ahmedabad. Performers from
Mumbai chai masti centres travelled to Ahmedabad to
demonstrate their own happiness and enthusiasm.
August 9, 2014 A musical programme was held by Amrish Parikh and Group.
September 2014 Commencement of the drive for signing MOUs with retail outlets
for discounts to members in areas related to health. Some 400
MOUs signed.
October 10, 2014 World Elders Day celebrated with Bharat Desai, Senior Officer,
Social Welfare Department as chief Guest; and Hasya Skit
performed by students of Crescent School
December 8, 2014 Opening of the 1st Chai masti centre in Ahmedabad
January 31, 2015 Group visit to the Farm house of Deputy Chief Dignitarian
Siddharth Mankiwala
February 14 Frontiers in Medicine: a two day event of Talk series
and 15, 2015 by specialists in Allopathic Medicine and Alternative Medicine
March 15 2015 Visit to Manthan, an NGO working with physically and
mentally challenged children
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