Two of the most thrilling moments in my life were the flagging off of my cyclothon from Elliot’s Beach in Chennai in January 2019 and, fifty-eight days later, the triumphant entry into the India International Centre in Delhi. While the start was filled with anticipation and excitement, the finish was marked by quiet satisfaction and a deep sense of achievement. On both occasions, nearly fifty senior citizens, along with Mr. Mathew Cherian and members of the HelpAge India team, joined me in celebration. HelpAge was the ideal partner for this daring adventure. Their support ensured that the 3,000 km cyclothon became not just memorable, but transformative.
I had chosen this challenge to mark my seventieth birthday — a personal celebration of active ageing and an effort to sensitise people to the critical needs of elder care in our society. When I approached HelpAge with the idea, they responded with warmth and enthusiasm. It was also their fortieth year of service in India, dedicated to celebrating active ageing. It was a perfect alignment of intention.
Along the route, HelpAge thoughtfully arranged overnight stays at senior citizen homes, visits to shelters and palliative care facilities, residential schools for underprivileged children, institutions for the visually impaired, among others. At many points, I was welcomed by senior citizen groups and had the opportunity to interact with them. On long and lonely stretches of the road, I often slipped into contemplation. Much of what I saw and experienced, left an indelible mark within me. Without fully realising it at the time, I was changing deep within. It was not just a cycling endeavour; it was equally a journey of discovery within.
That journey eventually found expression in my writing, beginning with Celebrating Active Ageing and later Vibrancy@80. But it was in my mid-seventies that a deeper shift began.
The Inflection in the Mid-Seventies
In my mid-seventies, I began to sense the ground beneath me shifting almost imperceptibly. My seventy-fifth birthday itself was uneventful, but soon afterwards I began facing health concerns and the loss of dear friends and family members. Even minor health concerns now seemed to grow in worrying ways, and the quiet but insistent awareness of mortality, made its presence felt more strongly. I was no longer dealing with external problems to be solved. Instead, I found myself living with internal questions.
The triggers were different now: a decline in physical strength, the loss of peers and friends, and the soft but persistent whisper of mortality.
A new season had begun.
This phase found expression in my more recent book, Battling On to Vibrancy@80 — a deeply personal and reflective exploration of life beyond seventy-five.
Until then, I had spent much of my sixties and early seventies defying many clichés associated with age. I cycled long distances, trekked at high altitudes, and even ran half marathons despite living with a congenital heart condition. Those years felt like triumphs over limitation. But seventy-five changed the conversation. Recovery took longer, fatigue became more persuasive, and I began to sense that the body — once an eager ally — now wanted to negotiate. What had once been simple, now required strategy, and what had once been routine now demanded humility.
The most important change was this:
I had to transform my relationship with my body from command to conversation.
I learnt to listen — to respect fatigue, pace recovery, and vary intensity. When I treated my body as a partner, it responded with resilience. When I ignored it, it often responded with weeks of enforced rest. The old benchmarks — times, distances, and numbers — no longer defined success. What mattered now was sustainability and joy. I was still in the game, but I was playing by wiser rules.
Winning was no longer about returning to who I had once been.
It was about becoming who I could still be.
From Performance to Participation
This stage of life demands a delicate balance between challenge and acceptance. Too much challenge risks fatigue and injury; too much acceptance risks stagnation. Like riding a cycle, balance comes through movement — through constant, responsive adjustment. This realisation changed my approach to ageing. I no longer sought to prove; I sought to participate.
The shift from performance to participation, has perhaps been one of the most important lessons of my later years.
In that participation — however modest — lies vibrancy.
Understanding Resistance in Elders
Younger people often express frustration that many elders do not seem to make enough effort to stay engaged or active. But what may appear as reluctance, is often rooted in deeper shifts — loss of confidence, subtle fear, and an evolving sense of identity. When familiar roles and routines begin to change, many elders quietly begin to question who they now are.
This is where organisations like HelpAge India play such an important role. Engagement is rarely sustained through instruction alone. It grows through connection — friendships, shared activities, community spaces, spiritual groups, and meaningful conversations.
I have increasingly come to realise that vibrancy in later life is not an individual pursuit.
It is a shared symphony.
We sustain each other’s vitality.
One lesson that has stayed with me from recent interactions with senior groups is this:
Dignity must come before support.
When elders are constantly approached through the lens of frailty, it can quietly erode confidence. Encouragement, on the other hand, strengthens self-reliance and rekindles participation.
The Power of Spiritual Practice
For much of my life, spiritual practice has been both a shield and a sword. It has served as a compass through life’s twists and turns and has given me resilience in difficult times. Faith has been my most enduring companion — through illness, through loss, and through the subtle anxieties of ageing. It has not removed hardship, but it has taught me how to transform hardship into strength.
After retirement, the familiar yardsticks of success gradually fade — no promotions, no targets, no applause. Without care, this absence of external validation can create a void. I have found that faith fills this space with purpose. It replaces ambition with contribution, and competition with connection. Faith has also helped me develop a deeper acceptance of mortality, and in doing so, it has brought with it a profound sense of gratitude.
Active Ageing Beyond Seventy
Active ageing, I have come to realise, is not merely about remaining physically active. It is about remaining engaged — with life, with others, and with oneself. The body may ask for gentler terms, but purpose need not diminish.
The zest remains.
It simply finds new forms of expression.
And in that continuing engagement, lies the true meaning of vibrancy beyond seventy.
This blog has been written by:
Mr. Hari Baskaran
Active Ageing Ambassador & Author
