For Malti Jaswal, retirement was not simply a question of what comes next. It was a question she believed millions of Indians would eventually have to confront: What happens when a person stops working, but still has decades of knowledge, energy and experience to give?
After more than three decades in the health insurance and healthcare sector, including work as a Senior Consultant with the World Bank and as an Advisor to the National Health Authority, Jaswal had spent much of her career thinking about health and public systems. She also went on to co-chair the FICCI Task Force on Active & Healthy Ageing.
But her own transition into being a “young senior” made the question personal. Jaswal recalls wondering how she could continue to live with purpose after a demanding professional career. She realised that many seniors were asking the same question. Their careers had ended, but their knowledge had not.
That realisation led to the Inspiring Seniors Foundation (ISF). Founded by Jaswal, the Delhi-based organisation is built around a simple idea: ageing should not mean becoming invisible or dependent. It can be another chapter of contribution. ISF creates opportunities for seniors to learn, connect, mentor and give back, while also addressing health, wellbeing and social isolation.
One of its strongest initiatives is its Inspiring Tutors and Mentors programme, where seniors use their professional and life experience to teach and guide younger people, particularly children from underserved communities. The foundation says it has engaged more than 700 seniors, and its work has now expanded through a partnership with the Ministry of Education’s Vidyanjali platform.
The impact works both ways. Children gain a teacher and mentor; seniors regain something equally valuable, a sense that they are still needed. One senior volunteer told Jaswal that after retirement, something constructive had been missing from his life; through ISF, he felt “refreshed, active, and purposeful” again.
Jaswal’s vision is perhaps best summed up by the foundation’s philosophy: retirement can be the beginning of a new chapter, not the end of contribution. And ISF is trying to make that chapter count.
