Book Review - Handbook for Elderly (A Ready Reference)

  Book Review - Handbook for Elderly (A Ready Reference)

Published by GUTS & Printed by HelpAge India. 2022, Hyderabad. pp96

This recent addition to the field of Reference books (Handbook) in Gerontology as applicable to India, with special emphasis on Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is well brought out – neat and short publication with varying fonts to avoid boredom.

The book contains ten chapters dealing with topics like: Legal Services Authority of India; Elder Laws - especially MWPSCA and Rules of AP & TS; NPOP; NCSC; Awards, Economic Security of seniors – NSAP, IGNOPS, AP Pension, Aasara Pension, Reverse Mortgage, New GOI Pension Scheme etc

Health security of senior citizens is dealt with in detail – NPOP 2011, NPHCE, Ayush, State level health schemes in AP and Telangana.

In my view, the chapter on Digital Literacy for Seniors is the most useful one as it solves many (nearly 20) “How to” problems, with ample illustrations. How to use Google Maps, how to use PayTM etc Emergency Contacts listing in Chapter 10 is a handy reference item per-se. “About HelpAge” tells how they are deeply committed to Elders welfare.

This is a timely publication that will be welcomed by SCAs, Elderly population, NGOs, govt departments and others. It can as well be a supplement to the course material in Gerontology Certificate 

 

Seven Tips to dispose of books

                                Seven Tips to dispose of books

 

We accumulate books through buying, borrowing, gifts and other routes. Hardly ever do we think of getting rid of books that are read or the ones we do not need any more. De-cluttering is an important activity to invite inspiring thoughts to make us better. Well, you have lots of books and how do you weed them out of your shelves? Here are some tip:

 1.     Sell them away to “Raddi walah” or the waste paper merchant. He will be ready to come home, weigh the stuff and cart it away after paying you. Some guys are greedy and might cheat you on weighing but the loss won’t be heavy if you decide to ‘rid’ yourself of the load! Pease take care to see that books do not contain any important papers / letters that   you might have carelessly kept as bookmarks. Inserts in a book

2. Donate them to a library. It could be ‘For-profit’ type circulating libraries or those belonging to senior citizens associations or school / college libraries. You may need to segregate the books according to the recipient. Big public libraries may not show any interest in personal collections.

3. One easy way is to exhibit them decently on large tables during regular meetings of professional associations. Meeting participants might pick up what they want. The institution might arrange to transport the books if you can persuade them.

4.  Donate / gift them to individuals by adding suitable remarks telling why / how they may like it. 

5. If you have the time, energy and inclination you may engage in bookcrossing in the case of important books. Bookcrossing involves leaving your books in public spaces like park benches, train seats, bank counters etc with a slip that the picker of the book may read and keep it with him or re-circulate the book in a similar way.

6. Destroy the books that you will never need or that are found unusable. Take special care in the case of religious texts like Quorn, Bible, Gita etc. There are special requirements in such cases. For example, a copy of Quorn may be burnt, left to float in a river or buried.

7. Another trick is to ‘lend’ a large number of books to friends and relatives asking them to take their own time to ‘return’. And never insist on their coming back! In fact, in the case of one library, they had decided to move. They planned a one-month special lending mela when the number of books per member was trebled and they were asked to return borrowed books in the new building. Patrons eased shifting job to an unbelievable extent. This idea may work for individuals too.  

 If you have any suggestions, please share them with others and of course, me!

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Pedestrians' right to walk

Pedestrians' right to walk

Pedestrians have a right to walk, safely and securely. For this proper footpaths must be available. In most cities footpaths are non-existent or are otherwise unusable. They are encroached upon by hawkers, vendors, beggars and others. Illegal constructions and structures appear from nowhere. Small temples are no exception. Corruption, apathy, Negligence, greed are some reasons for this scenario. On the footpaths one might see projections of metal poles / posts removed improperly. Badly laid stones, unwanted plants growing, rubbish and garbage may be seen. 

Municipal authorities are too busy looking the other way. Complaints are uncared for. NGOs fighting for pedestrians rights are too inactive and week. I hold my breath in anxiety and fear while walking on roads. The problem is acute if you are a senior citizen. Added disadvantages, other than gait stability, are deficiency in sight and hearing. Some biker might hit and escape. You are ruined for life. 

I live in Vikrampuri / Laksminagar area in Secunderabad Cantonment. My daily walk for about 45 minutes partly covers main roads as well. There are no footpaths. Where there is a semblance of a footpath, it will be covered with pebbles, uneven or otherwise occupied or unusable. Overtaking a parked vehicle is too risky. The driver might stupidly open the door and knock you down.  

When will civic sense among our public improve and we may walk on footpaths safely?

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