Why my ex-boss moved to WhatsApp after retirement

By Aditya Mukherjee

My boss hated WhatsApp. He considered the WhatsApp groups too informal, and never joined the office WhatsApp group.

Result: He missed out on all the juicy gossip. But he didn’t mind. To him, email was the correct channel for all office communication. “Email,” he said “created an electronic record. One can refer to mails whenever required. WhatsApp messages are lost.”

I was surprised when post-retirement I received a WhatsApp message from my former boss. Of all the things, it was a Good Morning greeting. I was not the only one who received the greeting.

My ex-boss had created a WhatsApp group of four ex-colleagues.  All of us were mystified at this unexpected development.

We decided to ask him what made him change his mind. The story he told us left us stunned.

His neighbour was close to eighty and lived alone. He had a nodding acquaintance with him since they lived on the same floor. He was quite lonely and did not have friends or relatives.

The only time that his door opened was to take a delivery. There were no callers, and his door always remained firmly shut.

One day my ex-boss overheard an exchange between him and the milk delivery boy.

Evidently, the company had assigned a new delivery boy. The boy had knocked at his neighbour’s door to introduce himself.

This is how the conversation went.

Delivery boy: “Sir, I am your new milk delivery boy. My name is Chotu.”

Neighbour: “Chotu, do not leave the milk packet on the door. Please make it a point to ring the bell and hand over the milk personally to me.”

Delivery boy: “Sir, I have several deliveries to make every morning. This will delay me.”

Neighbour: “I understand, Chotu. But please do as I tell you.”

The neighbour did not stop there. He had a slip in his hand. He handed the slip to Chotu, and told him: “The day I do not open the door please call this number. It is my son’s phone number. Tell him that I had told him to do so.”

“My son will understand. He will realise that either I am bedridden and can’t move or I have passed away. Either way, he will take necessary steps.”

When Chotu seemed hesitant, the neighbour told him that he will give him a Rs 500 tip every month for this service.

My ex-boss was shocked. He could sense what was going through the mind of his neighbour.

His situation was no different. His wife had passed away, and his only son lived in Qatar.  With every passing day, his body movements were slowing down. He therefore decided to set up a WhatsApp group of his ex-colleagues – people he could trust.

Now, we wait in dread. There may be a day when the WhatsApp message may not arrive. What will be do then?

This is an extreme arrangement to make. But, it seems, more and more senior citizens are living alone and have no one to take care of them.

Read: When my son told the doctor to pull the plug, and my husband died