Mumbai, August 14, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Actor Anupam Kher has spoken out against the tendency to label elderly people as “irrelevant” or “redundant”, arguing that age does not diminish a person’s abilities, value or contribution to society.
In a video shared on Instagram, the 71-year-old actor questioned the notion that people automatically become less useful as they grow older. He asked whether a person’s “software” becomes outdated with age or whether there is some notification after the age of 70 declaring that their services are no longer required.
Kher also challenged those who dismiss older people as irrelevant, asking whether they would consider their own parents and grandparents redundant.
He emphasised that youth and experience bring different strengths. While young people possess energy, speed, enthusiasm and fresh ideas, older people offer wisdom and a deeper understanding gained through years of experience.
“Experience, in itself, is a powerhouse,” Kher said in the accompanying message, citing N.R. Narayana Murthy, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Nandan Nilekani, Anand Mahindra, Meryl Streep and James Cameron as examples of people who have continued to create and contribute meaningfully after turning 70.
Kher argued that making young people feel relevant should not require declaring the elderly irrelevant. He compared youth to having the speed to find a new path, while experience provides knowledge of the road and awareness of what lies ahead.
He also described elderly people as a society’s “memory bank”, “moving history” and “living library”, stressing that their knowledge and perspective are acquired through lived experience and cannot simply be obtained from books or technology.
“The youth have dreams. The elderly have the experience of reaching those dreams,” he said, while acknowledging that both generations have an important role to play.
Kher concluded by cautioning against treating age as an expiry date, noting that anyone fortunate enough to live long enough may eventually find themselves in the same position.
“Age is not an expiry date. And experience never retires,” he said.
FOLLOW NOW
