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Journalism of Courage
Prabhakar Deshpande, 80, still works on the business he established 42 years ago. “There is no retirement for me. I have been working for the last 60 years”, he said. Though Deshpande strives to be fit and self-sufficient, he acknowledges that the biggest problem plaguing the elderly today is loneliness. “Most of us live alone, so if something goes wrong, there is no way to know. Even neighbours stay clueless for a while,” said Deshpande. He highlights that one-to-one communication dies down with age.
To tackle this, Deshpande has become part of a ‘buddy group’ started by Snehdham, a senior citizen’s club for the 60-plus in the city. “We have made groups of 5 to 6 people. We call each other everyday, greet each other good morning and check in on each other. We also build new friendships, as one loses a lot of their friends at this age”.
Deshpande who lives with his family states that children of most of his friends have moved abroad. “They find some way to get through their mornings and nights, but evenings are tough. I am a social animal. I have a holiday every Thursday. So I take my car, visit their houses and take them for an outing”, said Deshpande.
Deshpande moved to Pune from Solapur at a young age to study engineering at Wadia College of Engineering. After 18 years working and still running a business, he finds fulfilment in reaching out to people his age to help them socialise. Apart from the buddy group, with 140 elderly at Snehdham, he also keeps himself engaged everyday through activities like dance, meditation, watching movies, playing carrom, etc.
Preeti Damle, co-founder of ‘Aashwast’ a service for the elderly , highlights that the two primary problems of senior citizens that need to be addressed are physical weakness and loneliness. To work towards making the elderly less lonely, the organisation is working towards establishing matrimony and day care services for senior citizens coming year.
“Marriage can be complicated at that age, but we want to encourage them to be happy and find some sort of companionship, as friend groups may not always meet emotional needs”, said Damle. Damle wishes to encourage younger residents of Pune to spend some time with the elderly they know through family or friend circles. “They have a lot to tell and there is no one to listen. Being acknowledged and feeling associated and being engaged with will also help them stay healthy”, she said.
