RWA sets up care group to address seniors’ concerns

When 64-year-old Padmini Ravi heard about the lockdown, she didn’t know what to do. Her husband had just undergone angioplasty, her son was in Canada, her daughter-in-law was stranded in Chennai, while she was in Bengaluru.

“We were all so apprehensive even about day-to-day things like getting vegetables, papers, medicines,” she says. At the Gopalan Aristocrat apartment complex in Kasturi Nagar, where Padmini lives, senior citizens occupy a fifth of the 144 units.

Her anxiety soon subsided. The residents’ welfare association, led by Anjali Menon and Sukanya Kuppuswamy, created a WhatsApp group to ensure senior citizens faced no problems. Its name, Caremongers, was a gentle jibe at scaremongers. “Our first priority was to reach out to seniors,” Anjali says.

Like Padmini, many seniors live away from their children. The ‘task force’ formed by the welfare association ensured that young volunteers checked on senior citizens every day, asking them if they required anything.

The WhatsApp group came in handy to connect the seniors with volunteers. Households where seniors live alone were given a list of volunteers available on each floor, with their contact numbers.

The ‘care mongers’ also helped set up digital payment accounts, and familiarised the less tech-savvy to start using messaging apps. “They have done a great job,” Padmini says.

By their own estimation, the Krishnaswamys are the “oldest couple living alone” in the apartment complex.

Krishnaswamy, 90, and his wife, Lalitha (82) are academics, and continue to work online. “One gentleman religiously calls us at 11-11.30 to see if we require anything,” says Krishnaswamy.

Like others in the complex, the Krishnaswamys, whose three children live elsewhere in Bengaluru and in cities abroad, have given their cook and maid paid leave. “It is also for their safety,” Krishnaswamy says.

The professor attributes the arrangements to women being in charge of the welfare association. “They are looking after everyone here,” he says.

He also has a light-hearted take, drawing comparison to the Ramayana. “We follow the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ principle,” he says.

The ‘care mongers’ also keep seniors engaged and entertained with quizzes and games on a virtual platform. The highlight of the evening is singing on the balcony: one of the residents rolls out a karaoke machine and serenades the entire residential complex.

The lockdown has brought the apartment complex together. “There is more unity; you feel the oneness,” Anjali says.

Krishnaswamy describes it best: “Our apartment seems to be an island in this depressing ocean.”

Prajwal Suvarna

If you have a story to share, contact us at

spreadkindness@deccanherald. co.in