Renowned actor, psychiatrist and social activist, Dr Mohan Agashe delivered an insightful talk about old age during a convention in Goa recently.The programme featured a special film screening and discussion, where Agashe shared his expertise on dementia, ageing, and the mental health challenges faced by the elderly. The engaging session ensured that participants gained valuable insights into early detection, care giving strategies, and the need for community support for individuals with dementia and other mental health conditions. He made his point with the aid of short films on healthy ageing and the changing concept of family. He was in Goa after being invited by the Directorate of Social Welfare and the Humsaath Trust Goa.
He jolted everyone in the hall by urging them to forget whatever they had heard about him. He said, “ Dementia is a blessing. It's a gift of God that you forget.” He said it was important to keep in touch with young people because they were the connection with the present. It was not important to talk about how it was in the old days but to keep track of what was going on these days.
Speaking about cinema, he said, “Cinema is much beyond popcorn. You also have to be aware of healthy entertainment, and junk entertainment. And that is called cinematic diet for health.”
He said when he looked at young people in 2016 when he made a film called ‘Castle’ which was about depression and suicide in young people, he knew what the problem was. That is when he started a programme to help young people sort out their emotions, since they are never taught about emotions. He said, “ We have never talked about emotions, actually that is left entirely to our experience. And what we are taught helps us only to analyse. It doesn't help us to understand. Because our formal education is entirely based on cognitive development and cognitive thinking.”
Dr Agashe said he was always in search of people who read a lot and understood what they read. He said allow someone to read for an hour and ask him and they would recount the story in ten minutes.
The film he showed was about a son taking care of his father at home. He decided to stay and take care of him despite calls from work. He asked the participants how often they would like to be admitted to the intensive care unit. He laughed and said, “ If you visit hospitals, particularly corporate hospitals, their critical care and intensive care unit are full of more than 90 percent or old people, who have a history of frequent admissions and discharges.”
It seems these days you are not allowed to be dead, according to Agashe. He said technology will develop further and you could get technological aids but it does not give you humanity. He said he was aware of the problems in Goa. When the people get old,if one of them goes early then how they manage is difficult and it was important for the family to step in.