To the founder of The Silver Surfers Club – Dipti

Behind the Scenes – A little less than a year ago, I approached Dipti with a cause dear to my heart. Of course, it entailed Silvers – a reason why she responded in a jiffy. We connected in an instant the day we met cause we were both driven by the strong women in our family and a lot of that drive came from our Grandmothers. October 9 is the date the founder of The Silver Surfers Club was born – Dipti Varma Narain. We could not help but dedicate the post to her and her enormous efforts in bringing such a positive twist to age.

Presenting our Inspiration for the day – Dipti Varma Narain

Dipti is a true Bangalorean by heart, mind and soul whose strongest weakness is the elderly. She loves the English language as much as she loves her puns. It was while working in her corporate job that she decided to take on the challenge of setting up The Silver Surfers Club (TSSC) – a club for empowering the Retired. The aim of the club is “to keep the Silver community (55+) at their active best so that they remain emotionally content and physically buoyant.”

Dipti started TSSC as a club where Silvers were encouraged to live their dreams. It started with her mother in law, Shobha Narain, who is in her 60s and is an amazing cook. Dipti being the amazing marketer that she is convinced her mother in law to sell a couple of her sauces and dips online, after showing her pictures of other people selling homemade products online. Shobha’s sauces and sips came under the brand name Naani’s and sold like hotcakes the first time it went online. This is when Dipti realized that “there would be folks who were equally talented and only needed some help to get their products marketed.” Thus giving her further impetus to start and grow TSSC. “We know that many ‘Silvers’ in our community are very talented and we want them to be recognised and appreciated. We assist them in bringing their skills and products to an online marketplace. This not only helps keep them engaged but also changes youngsters’ perceptions about that age group. There is a great need to reduce the cultural gap between the young and the old – only then can we make for an ‘empathetic society’ that is comfortable in its own skin.”

With time fun initiatives got added under the scope of the club, “While we started predominantly to showcase and market home businesses run by senior entrepreneurs, we have now grown to customise them. We curate Silver Getaways for members of the club keeping their wish list destinations in mind — in India and around the world, organise monthly networking meets and workshops to ensure that our members continue to stay socially active and networked, and our popular Silver Bazaars, where they interact in real time. I want to change the face of ageing and bridge the generation gap by offering the members an active and engaging platform to age in a dignified manner,” shares the young lady (with the Deccan Chronicle) who loves to spend quality time with her silver-haired friends.

What started off as a small venture has inspired so many people around the world. Her husband, Manish Narain (her strongest supporter) tells us how Dipti has inspired him and still keeps doing that in ways known and unknown to her and he knows for a fact that she has done the same to a lot of people around.