I feel blessed when ....

I feel blessed when  ....

1. When the servant maid comes late when I have given up hopes
2. When I see the morning paper thrown by the vendor has not landed in wet front yard
3. When a friend visits me unexpectedly, says just for a minute and really leaves quickly!
4. When a friend gives me a new year calendar or diary
5. When I get a Greeting card by post (snail mail)
6. When I trace out whereabouts of a long lost friend
7. When I visit my school after  a gap of several decades
8. When I am setting out, drizzle ceases and does not turn into downpour
9. When electricity comes back while I am watching an interesting TV serial
10. When my enumerating ability lasts long enough to pat myself on my back

Which one did you like best and why? Tallied with your experience?

My Visit to Chennai Age Care Centre

My Visit to Chennai Age Care Centre

During my recent trip to Chennai, along with my brother Sri Ramachandran, I took the opportunity to visit the Chennai Age Care Centre (aka SHEL – Smart & Happy Elders Lounge) in Royapetta. It was inaugurated by the Governor of Tamil Nadu in October 2018. The founder is my schoolmate, Sri S Sathyamoorthy, whom I have known for about 60 years.  Sri Sathyamoorthy, taking care of nonagenarian mother, witnessed firsthand, the plight of loneliness among senior citizens. That paved the way for setting up SHEL.

It is in ground floor, some 1800 sq ft of air-conditioned facility, fully equipped with board games  like chess, Carom and cards,  TV, newspapers and magazines, full fledged music systems with head phones, comfortable sofa etc. You won’t believe, there is a small kitchenette also if anyone wants to cook his own quick bite. Situated strategically with easy access to shops, hospitals, medicines and colleges it is easily reachable by Uber, Ola, Auto bus etc

There is no initial registration fee. Users may pay daily, weekly, monthly or annually.  Longer usage (rather commitment) entitles lower pricing. Members will be helped to visit doctors, hospitals or elsewhere escorted by trained caregivers.

The place is truly an activity centre promoting active ageing. Talks, Bajans, training classes (example: smart phone usage), music sessions, celebration of festivals etc are all there. They are planning to add visits, picnics, physiotherapy etc.

The centre is a boon to senior citizens who are left all to themselves by busy children or those living alone. The atmosphere in SHEL is cozy, comfortable & congenial, the facility is affordable and the experience is enjoyable.  

If you wish to know more about the centre, see:

http://digitalpresense.com/articles/a-unique-day-care-centre-for-elders-at-chennai-526744

Want to know what the Governor said during the inaugural?  It covers Scenario of Senior Citizens in India nicely. Read it here:

http://www.tnrajbhavan.gov.in/Speeches/2018/Sp011018-2.pdf

Want to listen about it from the founder himself? Watch this interview, that is, if you know Tamil !!

 https://youtu.be/c2ImFTNjy98

My only desire is that there must be many more such facilities supporting active ageing in the city.

Where do senior citizens congregate?

Where do Senior Citizens Congregate?

As a person working for the welfare of senior citizens I am always interested in meeting several of them in one place. Therefore I used to go to places where they are normally seen in good numbers. I took the help of a web group called sss-global and found out places where I can further explore looking for old people. Here is a gist of my findings. They are given no specific order, because categorization freezes free thinking!

·         Senior Citizen Associations when they conduct regular meetings

·         Day Care Centers attached to such SCAs

·         In the west, McDonald outfits offer discounts to seniors in the morning hours and for early elderly lunchers:  therefore, McDonald outfits.

·         Alzheimer's Day Care Centers

·         Retirement Community Activity Rooms

·         Banks on first few days of the month to collect pension

·         Parks in the evenings to while away time

·         Temples to bribe Gods and to gossip and perhaps worship too!

·         Typical clubs and pubs to meet friends; play cards; relax with a drink

·         Lectures planned for senior citizens

·         Libraries to borrow / return or read books

·         Hospital out patient geriatric wards for obvious reasons

·         Old Age Homes and retirement facilities (senior homes)

·         Post Offices to deposit or collect pension or interest income

·         On boulevards, parks, gardens, walking or jogging paths - walkers

·         Locations where laughter club sessions are held

·         Near schools waiting to collect grand children

·         Any bus or train bogie carrying travelers on pilgrimage

·         Railway booking counters meant especially for senior citizens

·         Any marriage function – not necessarily reception – is full of oldies

·         Any Bhajan sessions, religious discourses, temples, churches, mosques

The listing will be useful to product or service providers for this age group. Banks offering special FD schemes, Health Insurance companies, suppliers of assistive devices etc to mention a few. If you can extend my listing I shall be happy. If you reflect deeply upon the question: "What do senior citizens do?" and try to answer "where" they do it in good numbers, I am getting you!

Dobara - Second Innings

DOBARA – Second Innings

 

Mr Manish Rai of Dobara (Second Innings) gave a talk in SCF on 2nd December 2019. Dobara is an NGO working to improve mental and social well being of senior citizens. Financial and health, medical or food related issues are not their main focus. They work with about twenty volunteers and many of them are themselves senior citizens. They conduct regular programs in old age homes, engaging the residents in a variety of activities – singing, games, art work, crafts, coloring, puzzles, games, etc. I was surprised to learn about a long list 40 activities which can be tailored to suit the needs of individuals and groups. NEAT (Neighborhood Action Team) visits OAH, assess their needs, provide meaningful engagement on regular basis. Bridging intergenerational gap by sensitizing youngsters about needs of the aged is an important activity of Dobara.

 

Active and mobile seniors can assemble in specified location for engagements. Volunteers can be sent to OAH to entertain residents. They cater to women's groups via social gatherings also. Activities are well planned, highly structured, tailor made for each recipient group. It was pleasing to know of one volunteer who spends time engaging people over phone – getting nearly 100 friends!  Dobara is associated with Pass It On Network in Paris and another global Human Rights Network of older adults.

 

Contact: DOBARA. Mr Manish Rai Co-founder 7406131819

 

 

 

Dr P Vyasamoorthy
30 Gruhalakshmi colony Secunderabad 500015
040-29552016 / 09490804278 / 

Apart from language, caste, nation etc, Gurujis and Godmen are also strong binding factors

Heritage Tour to Kolunupaka Jain Temple

Heritage Tour to Kolunupaka Jain Temple

Some twenty of us from SCF went on a heritage tour on 21st November 2019 to Jain temple in Kolanupaka in Aler City in Yadadri District. It is 80 Km from our Day Care Center, it took us two hours by bus. Started at 9:30 am from DCC and reached by 11:30 am. Though we were asked to have breakfast and come, we were treated to tasty pulihora on our way. It was so delicious that many noted down the caterer's address and details. Malleswari conducted cine songs quiz where we were asked to come up with Hindi or Telugu equivalent song. Anthakshari of course was there. Malleswari, Chepuri Shankar Rao, Indira Narayan and others excelled in recollecting many songs.

Upon reaching the Jain temple we moved into two rooms for freshening up. Visited the temple which is some 2000 years old. Separate note - see video link - on temple proper is attached. The temple and surroundings were peaceful, quiet, clean,serene, scenic and soulful. We had lunch in their bhojanalaya. Lunch was free. It was a simple but satiating fare of Rotis, Dhal, Sabjis, Gud, Sweet, vadiyalu etc.  After lunch we played a round of Tambola and other games.  Some even took a power nap. We gave a donation of Rs 2000 to Jain Temple.

Thereafter we visited a thousand year old ancient Shivalayam. There is an archaeological museum too. The structures, statues and rock inscriptions were awe inspiring. We returned by 5.00 pm as scheduled.

The trip was meticulously planned by our the leader Mrs Indira Narayan and executed by Sri Narayan, Sri Mallesh, Smt Pratima Mehta, Malleswari and others. The trip was thoroughly comfortable, nothing lacking. I observed that arrangements were made even to get the toilets to be cleaned and opened in DCC, prior to our departure!. Some photos taken during the trip have been circulated in WhatsApp.  

https://youtu.be/TzPCKJaY_cQ

UNMUKT Conference on: Technology – Driving Growth in Senior Care

UNMUKT Conference on “Technology – Driving Growth in Senior Care”

at IIIT, Hyderabad 15^th Nov 2019

Some Notable Points

·         Time management was excellent. Started on time. Ended on time

·         Almost (23/24) all resource persons came and delivered their part, minding time allotted.

·         Jayesh Ranjan mentioned about Selfie based app for TS pensioners for life-certificate

·         Jayesh: Suicide among elderly is a concern

·         Jayesh: Appreciated OBF launched less than a year ago

·         Ravi Narayan stressed that Social organizations should come together & work together

·         Senior care industry is nascent, interdisciplinary

·         Mohit Nirula: Technology brings seniors and children closing distance gap

·         Columbia Pacific community eager to provide testing ground for Apps and solutions

·         Telemedicine services across several centers of covai care started many years ago

·         Sleep apnea can be monitored via wearable device

·         Rajeshwar of HelpAge: Technology should compensate our absence from the scene

·         HelpAge SOS App is doing exceeding well

·         Technology is not just IT – but other technologies also are important

·         Adarsh Narahari: Wearables won’t work! Explained why! (I agree with him)

·         Aarti: AI Robots – our digital twin – can predict our mood swings

·         Ramu Muthangi of ApnaCare: Gave a demo of Alexa. Spoke of kits for AD, Parkinsons Stroke

·         Aparna: Empowerji App gives short video based training for dozens of elder related items

·         Rajit Das od Evexius: Healthcare Integrator. Human touch is most important

·         Lakshminarayana GoldCoast: Fall detection alerts wearable & emergency alert  device

·         Aparna: Making elders adopt and use after training is a great challenge

·         Sailesh MIshra explained ‘all about Alexa’ even how to write Apps for its execution!

·         Mahesh Joshi of Apollo: Enabling accessibility & affordability in healthcare is most important

·         People are not interested in preventive care, while doctors have lost personal touch

·         Getting seniors to come to DCC is a great problem

·         Primary care family physicians should come back – including home visits

·         GOI is coming up with regulations / guidelines for retirement communities

·         Caregiver and geriatric training facilities are inadequate

·         We have not heard of rating of geriatric care giving outfits

·         Several start ups had a chance to introduce themselves briefly

·         There was not much time for questions / interactions

·         Audio was poor – back benchers  could not hear properly

·         Distribution of directory of participants would facilitate  interactions

·         Folder of all pamphlets / brochures of all participants would prove useful – B2B?

·         Many people I knew were there: KRG, Monimita, Smitha, HelpAge, OBF, Life Circle, Aparna and others

·         As a professional Info gatherer I gained a lot; purpose served; worth the time & distance!

Senior Citizen Beggars

I am giving below an article from my colleague Sri M Chaidambara Rao. It deplores the current societal apathy and nonchalant attitude towards beggars and asks for better understanding of the issue especially among senior citizen beggars and seek solutions.

===========

SENIOR BEGGAR CITIZENS

Author: M Chidambara Rao, President, AOSC, HYderabad

Deepavali is a celebration of light dispelling darkness. The darkness in our minds and hearts, the evil in our emotions is to be dispelled by light of clarity, empathy, divine love.

Are we aware of the actual spirit and purpose of Deepavali celebration. One aspect of the darkness in our lives is lack of empathy towards the unfortunate beings, be it human or other. Whenever we see a beggar, whether driven by a genuine need or not, whether due to inability to do any productive work due to physical disability or old age, whether due to lack of mental ability, stability or lack of skill, whether due to innocent childhood, do we recognize that there is something not correct in our social system.

(a)    We ignore the reality that is noticed.

(b)   We consider it is someone else’s responsibility to bother about it.

(c)    We take courage is the escapist thought that it is their fate and nothing can be done.

(d)   We take defeatist attitude and run away from the problem, considering it too big to be dealt or remedied.

WHY,  SO.

On 12^th and 13^th of October, 2019, a conference was held at Haridwar, to highlight the collective responsibility of the nation to care for the welfare of senior citizens. The conference was held in a posh hotel and attended by members, none of whom need any support for welfare or care. Their recognition of the need for care by the nation of the utterly poor among senior citizens, suffering both in urban and rural settings shows concern for the poor, neglected, abused, lonely and ill senior citizens all over the country. And the concern shown is laudable.

Haridwar is a holy city, visited by several thousands of pilgrims every day.  Haridwar is also a place where a few thousands of beggars are present in its streets and the bathing ghats of holy Ganga. The strange fact is that no one bothers about taking care of them in contrast to the objectives of the conference about care of senior citizens all over the country who were not present there. Their presence and suffering are taken for granted. Our conscience is relieved of the pain of noticing such unfortunate scene by tossing a few coins into their dented bowls. The local administration might not have any troubled conceiver about presence of such heavy concentration of beggars in their city, degrading the image of Holiness of the place. The Government of Uttarakhand does not seem to have considered it necessary to provide succor to them and avoid their need for begging.

This situation is not special or specific only to Haridwar or Uttarakhad. The same is the scene in any pilgrim place in all states in the country. Go to any temple, in the north or in the South, there will be hoards of beggars, both driven by destitution and by a desire for easy money. It is a national problem. Neither the society in general nor the political fraternity bestow any thought or attention to the basic causes involved in generating such large number of beggars, and measures for remedying them.

WHY. SO. Why is it that we turn away our faces and pretend as if there is no problem at all.

It is a matter of disgrace to beg. It is a much deeper disgrace for the society wherein the need to beg exists for several lakhs of people. Reasons may be several. Have we tried enough to analyse the same in depth and the approaches needed to avoid existence of beggary either due to need or as a profession. It is to be noted that a considerable part of the beggars are seniors. When we are seiged with the problem of welfare of poor senior citizens these begging seniors also are to be taken into consideration.

A cursory analysis shows reasons for begging are due to:

1.       Utmost depredation due to destitution. The causes could be many like, orphaned childhood,  physical or mental disability, or seniors driven out by their own kith and kin or lack of family support.

2.       Professional begging:

a)      Begging adopted as an easy way of livelihood

b)      Begging after exhibiting some street entertainment due to lack of skills required forother economic activities

c)       Begging by exploiting religious sentiment or cheating by exploiting psychological weaknesses

d)      Begging with pressure tactics as by the third gender people.

3.       Begging for votes, begging for more prosperity from God – these are not relevant for our purpose.

Measures and practices required to address the undesirable situation are many needing political will, religious reforms, legal and institutional set ups etc. which need elaborate discussion.

Mention of this situation here is to highlight that senior population among beggars also should be taken into consideration in deliberations covering poor senior citizens.

==========

On Mangoes and Mosquitoes

On Mangoes and Mosquitoes

On Mangoes and Mosquitoes

(Dr P Vyasamoorthy)

(Originally published in July 2018)

Mangoes have gone but mosquitoes are in. This year the market was full of a variety of the king of fruits. But the quality was not up to the mark. Price varied from Rs 30 to about 150 per kg. I tried many varieties, not very satisfied, though.

Mosquitoes have arrived. I don’t like mosquitoes but they like me. I have lamented earlier at length about repellants, coils, skin creams, patches, incense sticks, liquid dispensers, mats and what not. Of all the anti-mosquito items I found citronella Agarbattis best. Each stick lasts for about 15-20 minutes but you can see these insects coming in swarms and dying like rain. It is effective if you use it in early hours of invasion. Even plain camphor pills kept on electric mats is fine. Plus you get pleasant aroma. A 2% mixture of camphor in coconut oil serves as pain reliever for humans and a repellent for mosquitoes.

There is a strong myth in Kenya and other countries that mangoes and mosquitoes are related. That if you eat mangoes mosquitoes will be attracted and their byte will lead to malaria. This is not true. I have seen flies coming out mango but not mosquito.

Body odor, sweat, body movement, body heat are all invitations to mosquito: they will come dancing from far off distances. Carbon dioxide is a good attractant; place a source of carbon dioxide in a place where you want these pests go to.  Placing clover stuck in lemon in corners of the room is a traditional solution, though cost wise it is not a wise choice.

I understand from my friend Dr Surendra Varma that male mosquitoes do not bite and only female ones prick us to suck blood. So, if you brought your palms together fast enough to catch them and succeeded in killing a mosquito, if your palms are stained with blood, it is a female one and if it died dry then you have harmed a harmless insect.  

I thought a poet is no poet if he has not written about moon. It appears to be true in the case of ubiquitous mosquito too. https://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/mosquito gives several hundreds of poems.  From the poems I gather that while in India we face mosquito menace during rainy season, westerners seem to suffer it in summer. Just a sample before I leave, a short one from Char Ron Smith:

I've been single too long

Obviously

That a mosquito is the only female

that wants to take a bite of me

Teachers in aosc

https://www.publishthis.email/teachers-in-aosc-BkEEMJ6SS

Economic Times – Booby trap hyperlinks in Web pages

Economic Times – Booby trap hyperlinks in Web pages

When you visit websites for news, you are forced to see a large number of advertisements, each competing with the other trying to lure you away to some useless stuff. If you are genuinely interested in what is advertised and click the link voluntarily that is fine. Nowadays you see videos playing automatically, right inside text or content, eating away bandwidth, wasting your time and slowing your connections.

I have observed another atrocity: Implanting irrelevant hyperlink to common words serving no purpose at all except to lead you away to some idiotic external site.  For example, the following page (as of today – 30^th Sep 2019)

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/effectiveness-of-existing-law-against-abuse-of-elderly-parents-to-be-reviewed-on-direction-from-pmo/articleshow/71360736.cms

Contains link to the word ‘Care’ as shown in the image below

Hyperlinked to:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/excel-crop-care-ltd/stocks/companyid-731.cms

Indian Express is the worst offender as many web pages therein are covered by advertisements to 90% of space! True, try and verify this yourself

Why should prestigious newspapers stoop so low to cheat their readers? Google might be the real offender! Who knows.

Crossing the road – Difficulties of Disabled and Senior Citizens - suggested solutions

Crossing the road – Difficulties of Disabled and Senior Citizens

Nowadays traffic has increased so much that crossing a road from one side to the other has become hazardous for the disabled and senior citizens. There are no traffic signals, traffic police or volunteers or zebra crossings at many busy junctions to control traffic. As a result of dividers and medians sometimes one has to walk a long distance and take a u turn to go to opposite side. One has to cross at his own risk, if he chooses to climb over median separator. One friend used to hire an auto just to get to the other side or to avoid walking long distances forcing him to take u turn. Dividers are too high and risky to use.

What should be done to mitigate these problems? Here is a quick enumeration of ten suggestions:

1. Install zebra crossings at reasonable distances. Paint them bright. Provide proper illumination during night time.

2. Repair road clearing potholes pits etc

3. Provide where possible audible announcements to interpret change of signal lights

4. Provide signal lights in plenty wherever feasible.

5. Keep police men or volunteers at road crossings. Volunteers are available from Aasara, Scouts, NCC and even in corporate companies. Senior Citizens associations are also ready to send volunteers who are healthy and willing.

6. Sensitize students and youth in colleges about caring for elders. Let helping the needy to cross roads be one of the many things they can do

7. Sensitize senior citizens in pedestrian safety by organizing training programs by police

8. Book and punish those who are guilty of traffic offenses, especially harming vulnerable pedestrians.

9. Wheever feasible provide overhead pathway crossovers with lifts.

10.Underground subways to reach other side where sufficient space is available should be constructed

============

Micromastery - an experiential learning method

Here is an interesting learning method based on experience, doing or practice. Reproduced in full without image. Original source:
https://elemental.medium.com/why-you-should-try-micromastery-90b080b3befa

Please read my comments below after reading the article!

I can narrate my micromastery experiences as examples:

1. I had lot of problems in making butter out of cream. Earlier it was a very messy affair involving lot of time, unsatisfactory results, cleaning up etc. Now things are smooth and I can finish the job in minimum time neatly.
2. Because of poor eyesight (I am 77 now) I found it difficult to thread a needle and had to wait till someone (my daughter or servant) could help me. I learnt how to focus my sight to gain (near) perfection to thread a needle! Just enough attention is all that is needed! 

Apart from this I was also happy to learn that micromatery would help prevent Alzhiemer's Disease. This is valuable input as I am advocating Lifelong Learning among the elderly.

===

Why You Should Try Micromastery

 Kelsey Osgood

the summer of 2016 I was very unhappy. I was coming up on my year anniversary of living in London, where we had moved from Brooklyn for my husband’s job, but I still felt pitifully lonely and poorly adjusted to the culture. I reentered therapy, tried to socialize often, started volunteering, and focused on doing things for pleasure rather than out of obligation.

But there was one thing that alleviated my sadness more than others: I learned to drive a stick shift.

In Europe, automatics were more expensive to rent, so it was in my best interest to try to overcome any manual driving anxiety head-on. My husband and I decided to spend two weeks in France, and I spent much of that vacation stalling out on country roads, navigating dreaded traffic circles, and ultimately speeding down the highways. When I returned to London I told people about the beaches and baguettes in France, but I mostly wanted to talk about how I could now officially drive stick.

I had discovered the beauty of “micromastery”: working to develop competence in a single, concrete skill. The term was coined by the writers Tahir Shah and Robert Twigger; Twigger later published his 2017 book, Micromastery: Learn Small, Learn Fast, and Unlock Your Potential to Achieve Anything, which contains instructions for laying a brick wall, making sushi, and brewing beer. In the introduction, Twigger writes that he was stymied by the idea that he had to work for years to acquire any truly valuable skill, but that he still wanted to learn and create, so he decided to focus on making the perfect omelet: his first micromastery.

A micromastery isn’t about spending 10,000 hours becoming an expert at something. It typically requires a much smaller commitment (though can vary based on the skill). A micromastery can be learning to fold fitted sheets, for example. You also don’t have to choose something banal and useful: You could learn to read hieroglyphics or dance the tango, rather than change a flat tire or fix a leaky faucet. Because the skills tackled in a micromastery are often simple and always repeatable, it almost always guarantees a payoff.

Recently I started a micromastery club with a fellow writer and friend, Angela Chen. You definitely don’t need another person to do a micromastery, but Angela and I had similar gripes about our lives. Like many millennials, we were burned out from doing too much, but simultaneously embarrassed by our lack of practical skills, so it felt natural to join forces. Plus, doing micromastery with a friend alleviated some of the isolation I felt as the primary caregiver to two very small children.

Our first micromastery was basic sewing. It had long frustrated me that I had to outsource something as simple as replacing a button. We relied on YouTube tutorials for everything from threading a needle to tying off a knot. To learn how to stitch up a hole, we watched and rewatched a video of a high schooler mending a sweater.

After 90 minutes we could confidently sew a button and fix minor rips and tears (I used my newfound skill to repair a beloved tote). Knowing my household was now a little more sustainable made me feel accomplished, and being so absorbed in a project gave me a sense of calm. It was like self-care, without the pesky guilt of spending money on a massage (unless you count the $4.99 for travel sewing kits, it was free).

Micromastery can have health benefits as well.

As you become more engrossed in your endeavor to learn a new skill, you can enter what Czech psychologist Mihaly Csikszmentmihalyi famously called a “flow state”: a mode “in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.” Flow is the way many of us played as children: effortlessly mindful and engaged. In our era of endless distraction, taking attention away from the to-do list and redirecting it to a concrete activity can be a significant salve for the mind. A “flow” experience is analogous to meditating, which has been shown to improve focus and decrease anxiety.

Doing a successful micromastery also boosts confidence. “You will develop skills that are transferable between micromasteries — rapid learning, structural information about knowledge acquisition, performance skills, memory improvement — which is an empowering thing,” writes Twigger.

It might also keep your brain healthy. While there are many factors that contribute to cognitive decline, such as genetics and poor diet, research suggests that challenging yourself intellectually might help to stave off symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s. A 2013 study published in the Journal of Aging and Health, which provided over 2,000 seniors with different types of brain training and followed up with them periodically over the course of ten years, concluded that “results support the effectiveness of cognitive intervention in maintaining cognitive health over the long-term.”

Weeks after our initial micromastery, I’m still reflecting on the benefits. After eight months of poor sleep — thanks to my eight-month-old — I often worry that I am not as sharp as I once was, and it’s nice to be reminded that I’m capable of learning things at all. As a writer, my profession involves a lot of thinking, and it is gratifying to work with my hands and actually touch the product of my labor.

Angela and I are keeping a running document of micromastery ideas. We’re going to learn to play pool next, followed by how to make pie crust, and how to cut our own hair. Twigger suggests finding experts to help with initial instruction, so if you know how to do any of those things, be in touch. In the meantime, I’ll get to work fixing every frayed seam in my closet.

https://elemental.medium.com/why-you-should-try-micromastery-90b080b3befa

Author's website: http://www.kelseyosgood.com/

Let not your left hand know What Your Right Hand is Doing: BSNL should know

Let not your left hand know What Your Right Hand is Doing

“Let not your left hand know what your Right hand is doing” is a famous proverb. It means when you are doing a good deed to someone, say some significant donation for a worthwhile cause, do not go bragging or publicizing it.  Go about is discretely. Do not embarrass the recipient. Let not others who cannot donate liberally like you feel uncomfortable or inferior. You might be flooded with lots of requests for such help and you may not be able to handle all of them. Let not Income Tax guys keep an eye on you.  There are lots of similar reasons for the sane advice.

But BSNL guys have misunderstood the proverb. They think it means: Let not what one department is doing be known to other connected departments. Or even within the same department no one should know what others are doing. For instance, I get SMS reminder to pay up monthly bills, receipt / ackd info of payment made , several of these in  quick succession without bothering to verify if a bill has been paid or not.

Take July 2019 for instance. Following are Four SMS received with dates:

Received on 13/7 Dear Customer, Your Landline bill payment of Rs. 1115/- for account No. 9000174785 is due by 22-JUL-19. To view & pay bill, click Here: https://mybillview.bsnl.co.in/DL_SZ/webresources/app/htmlformat?ke=0407201916280745933511343680772e992b7751b544689523 Please ignore if already paid. Received on 19/7 Dear Customer, payment of Rs. 1115/- on 18-JUL-19 for your BSNL Landline bill against A/C No. 9000174785 against Telephone No. 4027846631 has been received from All India Portal. Thank You. Received on 20 / 7 Dear Customer, Your Landline bill payment of Rs. 1115/- for account No. 9000174785 is due by 22-JUL-19. To view & pay bill, click Here: https://mybillview.bsnl.co.in/DL_SZ/webresources/app/htmlformat?ke=0407201916280745933511343680772e992b7751b544689523 Please ignore if already paid. Received on 21 / 7 Dear Customer, Your Landline Bill for Rs.1115/- against BSNL Account Number 9000174785 & Phone No 04027846631 has been generated on 06-Jul-2019. Pay by Date is 22-Jul-2019. To View Bill, Click: https://mybillview.bsnl.co.in/DL_SZ/webresources/app/htmlformat?ke=0407201916280745933511343680772e992b7751b544689523

DO YOU KNOW NOW WHY BSNL IS RUNNING INTO LOSSES? Who will tell them that they have misunderstood the proverb. What I have stated has been happening every month for years. In BSNL who cares?