The occasion when an employee retires from service on reaching superannuation is an extraordinary event in his life. It completes an era of growth, and achievement of continuous progress in a memorable career with social prominence all through his life. A long voyage has ended, but now at the end he is dropped to an uneasy and unexplored future with the immediate question hanging " What Next?" To bid farewell to & a parting salutation to the Institution of which he remained an integral part all along is indeed an arduous experience in his life. It was a busy career all through, every day starting immediately on getting up, when he used to think of the day's job to be attended and mentally scheduled a programme of activities according to priority. He is now at the threshold of a transformation in the journey of his life after the fulfillment of a momentous trek. There is in turn a lurking fear and feeling of emptiness in the content of his future and a spirit of forced loneliness in this world, loneliness not due to lack of kinsmen or friendly community, but due to lack of a justifying purpose or programmed activity to provide self-esteem and importance. The thought of the future daunts him.

"So important was I all along, and now how I am to fill up the 24 hours of the day with a productive schedule of activities? Is the transition from a busy working life to retirement going to be traumatic with wilderness of empty days to gaze? At home the housewife is ever busy with her daily routine. The children go away to school. On return they have their studies to fill up their time gainfully. Everyone in this world is busy and has a job to attend. But how am I to make myself fruitfully occupied and make life worthwhile and my existence justifying?" This question haunts his feeling.

This follows an assessment or self-actualization. He had spent the active part of thirty to forty years of his prime life representing his dynamic years with this organization in company of several colleagues and has secured a distinct identity, a unique personality as a working Banker and as a member of the MYBANK family. Now has he to relinquish all this with the end of his career with this organization once for all? Or is it only with reference to the contractual obligation inherent in his employment? Will any more positive relationship linger retaining his bonds and linking him to a new phase of affinity with the organization? Has he still a role to play in relation to MYBANK as a deeply interested well wisher and ardent supporter of the bank? In return can he look back at MYBANK as equally interested in his welfare and social security in his retired life? Will the Bank to which he sacrificed the entire resources of his prime energetic life find a way to remember and recognise him? Or he has been discarded on becoming old and infirm and rejected as a scrap no longer of any value?

But what should be his own attitude to life and vision of his future? In the domestic front the younger generation has come of age, with grand children assuming a formative role and his own children accepting elderly responsibility. He has to adjust to the new realities at Home and accustom himself to a limited role and secondary responsibility. What attitude he must bear to his life in such a context? Here is an answer.

"Life after 60 should not be looked as an end of a lifetime's work. It should be seen as the beginning of a new chapter. It should not be seen like climbing down a hill after having worked hard to climb up the steep slope of life. It should be viewed as another climb, gentler this time with more time for living, loving and caring. You are a treasure house of experience. You can impart that experience to the youngsters around you. View your life with an up-beat positive attitude.

All over the world people over 60, are being regarded in a new and positive light, and rightfully so. The quality of health care has increased and with it the quality of life itself has become better. Life after 60 should not be taken as just a time to sit back and watch flash backs, or pretend to be a 20-year-old. There is nothing wrong in sitting back but it should be done so in satisfaction and comfort. You can now look at your children and appreciate the efforts they make to stand on their own.

In Australia, Germany and US, retired people have formed organisations, which are sending representatives as political parties to represent them in Parliament and take an active role in the governance of the country. It is high time Indians followed suit." (Source - web site -http://www.seniorindian.com)

Knowledge and experience matured as wisdom and tenacity are his principal assets now. Retirement represents the end of contractual relationships with the former employer. But it does not terminate the emotional or psychological link or loyalty to the Organization. Physically the resources of the employee may have started slowing down, but intellectually his talents are not lost. He is a knowledge worker and not a physical toiler. The organization still remains a part of his life. Certain benefits still continue to be accessible to the retired employee from the erstwhile organization he served. He should now make common cause with the like of employees who have also retired after serving the Bank for a life-term and forge a new phase in their relationship with the organization. It is ideal that all these former employees of the Bank explore and find a forum for the convergence of their talents and planning the course of future activity of life at least in part with the goals and objectives of the organization in a new standard of relationship linked by their knowledge resource of special significance to the Bank and instinct loyalty resulting from long term association, as senior citizens of the Organization as well as that of the nation. The Organization of retired employees should serve as the ideal forum to link and foster such an identity. While in service, as he was an employee bound by rigid conduct regulations, he could not on any policy matter express anything, but the directed official brief. Now he is a professional to the full core. He can freely express his independent, but positive and constructive views on any matter of interest to the institution, the industry and the country backed by the maturity and authority of his wide experience and wisdom.