My father retired almost a year ago. For the first few months, he seemed genuinely happy. He would wake up late, read the newspaper properly, go for evening walks and keep saying how nice it felt to finally have no office pressure. But over time, I noticed that most of his old colleagues stopped calling regularly. Everyone went back to their own lives, and his days slowly became very repetitive.
Yesterday, while we were having tea, he casually asked me, "Tum log naye dost kaise banate ho?" I laughed at first because I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. He said most of his friendships came from work and now he doesn't know where a man in his 60s is supposed to meet new people. That question has stayed with me because I had been worrying about his health and finances after retirement, but never really thought about his loneliness.
For those with retired parents, did they manage to build a new social circle? What actually helped?