By Bimala Gaurangi I have been a caregiver or a companion to the elderly for over a decade now. During this period, I have worked with almost a dozen ageing women in different homes, women with different social backgrounds, lifestyles, health and family problems. Each experience has been different. However, one thing is common. The…
By Viaan Shaurya My Dad was a very cheerful person as long as my Mom was alive. We had built a two-room independent set for them on the first floor while we lived on the ground floor. Things changed, when my Mom passed away. My Dad went into a state of denial. He refused to…
There can be no bigger boon for the elderly than the Digital Life Certificate (DLC) scheme introduced by the Indian government. The scheme, popularly known by its Hindi name, Jeevan Pramaan, is literally a life saver for Central Government or State Government pensioners and their spouses. Before its introduction, all pensioners had to provide life…
By Dimitri Adrian When parents grow older, we tend to discuss a lot of things with them. However, ageing is not frequently discussed. The children are normally hesitant to talk about ageing with their elderly parents since all their lives, they have had conversations on subjects which normally their parents have picked out, and not…
By Manav Rituraj Our lives changed the day my father died. The change was sudden and now involved looking after my elderly mother who was in her late 70s. In the beginning, my mother insisted that she would continue to live alone in her Kolkata house where she had moved in after marrying my father….
By Arin Ahaan My father died on May 30, 2015 after suffering from stage IV pancreatic cancer, leaving behind my mother and my brother. His death shook me up. In fact, I can never forget that day when I got a frantic call from my mother, saying that my father was unresponsive. I rushed home…
Do you know that the Uttar Pradesh government provides a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to senior citizens under the Vradhawatha Pension Yojana? The pension is given to senior citizens who fall in the economically weaker category or are below the poverty line. It is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. The…
By Venkat Subramanian During the Covid pandemic days, I noticed the first signs that something was wrong with my mother. There were small indications – like forgetting where the car keys had been kept, forgetting to lock the main door, forgetting to take medicine, forgetting the names of family and friends. I am a single…
There are times when the elderly no longer want to live and they would rather die. The will to live may go away due to a variety of reasons, including the loss of a partner, financial reasons, health issues and family trouble. This happened to an acquaintance of mine whose mother gave up on life,…