For lonely hearts of Kandivali village elders, ‘Main Hoon Na’

A dedicated pool of volunteers will respond to distress calls where they will listen, guide, counsel on various topics and help the senior citizens in any emergency situation like arranging ambulances, hospital admission, etc.

Mumbai: To fill the void, the residents of Thakur Village, Kandivali (East), have launched an initiative called ‘Main Hoon Na’ for more than 1,100 senior citizens whose children do not stay in the city or country.

Ravi Kalra, who is spearheading this initiative from Thakur Village, said, “Mostly, we have senior citizens whose kids are living abroad or outside Mumbai. There are more than 1,100 such couples in Thakur Village and Lokhandwala complex. We learnt that during late hours if a senior citizen was injured or ill there was nobody to take care of them. So, we have now formed an organised group to help each other. Seniors, whose kids are not with them, feel alone and they require some emotional help.” (HT PHOTO)

“Main Hoon Na is our attempt to tune in and listen to the lonely hearts of senior citizens and those in distress,” said Harsha Kumara Udupi, founder of Soch Sayani group in Kandivali. “In the prevailing society, work commitments take dear and near ones away from parents, making them sulk alone in their golden age. They need to be heard, talked and attended to. We just want to stretch our hand to those who are needy.”

A dedicated pool of volunteers will respond to distress calls where they will listen, guide, counsel on various topics and help the senior citizens in any emergency situation like arranging ambulances, hospital admission, etc.

Ravi Kalra, who is spearheading this initiative from Thakur Village, said, “Mostly, we have senior citizens whose kids are living abroad or outside Mumbai. There are more than 1,100 such couples in Thakur Village and Lokhandwala complex. We learnt that during late hours if a senior citizen was injured or ill there was nobody to take care of them. So, we have now formed an organised group to help each other. Seniors, whose kids are not with them, feel alone and they require some emotional help.”

He added that the group has 10 people who have volunteered based on their availability. They also have advocates for legal requirements and a medical team which will cater to the psychological and social needs.

“The group is established and functional,” said Kalra. “In the US, this concept is called time bank, where if I volunteer to help someone when I become old someone else will volunteer to help me.”

In collaboration with Vishwa Arpan Foundation, the group will provide medical equipment like wheelchairs, toilet chairs, backrests, walkers, sticks and crutches free of charge for eight months and after that, ₹100 will be charged every month.

“It becomes stressful when people meet with some unfortunate event where they need to buy some expensive medical equipment that too just for a few months,” Hemen Chauhan, founder of Vishwa Arpan Foundation, said. “This foundation provides free medical equipment temporarily with some security refundable deposit against any damage or loss to the equipment. For a longer period, we do charge some nominal fee after eight months.”