Till the other day, nobody had heard the name of Dr C R Rao. Today, this centenarian is a household name and an inspiration for several new senior citizens like the author of this blog, who hitherto treated their retirement from job as end of the road! US Government’s decision to bestow upon this statistician/mathematician an award that’s considered at par with Nobel prize for his contribution to mathematics at his ripe age of 102 years, reads like a story straight out of the pages of a racy fiction thriller.
After superannuating from his job, Mr Rao decided to emigrate to US, acquired citizenship at the age of 75 years and is now felicitated by US Government for his contribution to mathematics.
Many of us, with children abroad, tend to think of relocating ourselves as loneliness sometimes can be excruciating. However, the objective of migrating to the country where our children are working is to continue with sedate life that’s being led in India and help our children with household jobs and babysitting our grandchildren. Seldom one does and achieve what Mr Rao has accomplished!
At least, I, who almost one year into retirement was almost reconciled to living a life of idleness and rest, feel immensely inspired by Mr Rao’s fairy tale achievement and am ready to wear my boots that I thought I had hung for good!
Mr Rao’s feat is a testimony to the fact that it’s never too late to pursue a dream or an objective and the life needs to be lived to the fullest by generously interspersing passions, hobbies, interests with active participation in societal and community development activities. This could also be a key to living a longer, healthier and more satisfying life.
Thank you Mr Rao for inspiring millions of new senior citizens like me, reconciled to living a life that’s sedentary, staid, unexciting and basking in the past glory and achievements. You have shown the way and it’s up to us now to walk this path. May you live longer and healthier and continue to inspire a whole generation of those who think life is just to be dragged along after a certain age!
Arvind Arya blog 
Marvellous my friend.
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Your generosity has spoiled me. Even as a boss, you were appreciative of my ordinary efforts and initiatives.
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Sir, This is something inspirational. KFC founder also started after his retirement and the rest is history. There are many examples of such efforts when people are completing their PHD after 60.
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The feat of Mr Rao is truly an inspiration for all, irrespective of age. It is all the more encouraging that he continued to exercise and use the ‘grey cells’ when others wallow in memories of ‘those days when….’ while just passing each day counting the time based on quantum of daylight to represent morning, afternoon, evening and night !!!
I am simply astounded by the ‘go for it’ attitude of a 75+ “youngster” matching many enterprising youngsters. This is what makes Mr Rao the right choice for laurels that are at par with the Nobel.
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