Category: Deal with it

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Deal with it

Apni Shala: Where children see life

A city-based start-up works with children of BMC schools to impart important, essential life skills through games, stories and drama.
by Nidhi Qazi

That life skills are important, we all know. We can proudly look back at our schooling and say, yes, we did have a platform to show our potential. But wait – do all of us get a chance to see our life skills at work in school? Did all of us get a chance to really know ourselves? If these questions disturb you, read on.

Eleven-year-old Nilesh studies in a BMC school. His classmates stay away from him. There was a time when he didn’t talk in class, was withdrawn and showed physical aggression towards his classmates. His father is an alcoholic, while his mother passed away. Being the eldest child, he has to take care of the rest of his siblings. Then ‘Apni Shala’ happened to him.

A start-up, ‘Apni Shala’ started working with Nilesh’s school since January 2013. Since then, Nilesh is a changed boy. He participates in class, his self-esteem has improved and his classmates are much closer to him.

More such stories of children and their problems, is what Apni Shala aims to address. A team of three – Amrita Nair, Anukriti Goyal and Swetha Ranganathan, all passionate about education and all three being alumni of TISS, Mumbai – came together and formed Apni Shala in 2011. Initially, the team started with the idea of setting up a library and building skills through stories, when they realised the potential of other potent media such as games and drama. “Our project was to set up libraries and we did that. But once we did the need assessment, schools expressed a need for Life Skills Education (LSE). And thus, we have now started providing the same to the schools we work with,” says Anukriti, who looks after finances and fund-raising for the start-up.

Apni Shala’s LSE programme has modules based on various life-skills prescribed by the WHO, such as making responsible decisions, teamwork and co-operation, solving problems, understanding emotions etc. These modules are facilitated by all three team members; even while each of them looks at separate aspects of the programme like design, content, fund-raising, strategy, communications etc.With the LSE programme running in three BMC schools and three community centres, Apni Shala works in Sion, Chembur, Oshiwara, Colaba, Worli and Reay Road. Their team also consists of an advisory board of curriculum consultants, psychologists and experts. They get funded through various grants.

Why Apni Shala?

Why do we need life-skills building in the first place? “In theory, life skills help build positive attitude. And thus, when we take it to practice, the skills learnt can be used in behaviour. So, we are aiming to provide an environment where a child can get better skills to face situations. Thus, LSE becomes important as more skills in a child’s environment can have a better and positive impact on his or her life,” says Swetha, who looks after communications, monitoring and evaluation of the programme.The need for LSE also stems from the fact that mainstream education overlooks the need for children to express and enjoy learning. Take the story of Sunita, who studies in a BMC school and who lives in a hostel, away from her parents. “Sunita was always disinterested in our programme, she was also shy and would not participate. But now she has become so expressive and enjoys drama,” says Swetha.

She adds, “Yes, some of the schools do give a platform, but kids from many schools do not gain enough experience and exposure. These schools do not teach much about these life-skills. And thus, we want LSE to be incorporated well in pedagogy. Even though there are separate books now on life-skills, how much of it being used in schools really?” 

The challenges

As a start-up, they are looking for more manpower, on all three fronts – administration, front-end and organisation.

Also, one session in a week for one school is a frequency that worries the team. “Although something is better than nothing, we still have to make our programme spread over a week rather than just a weekly one,” says Swetha. This becomes a challenge as “many of the schools do not consider the programme as ‘academic’ and thus it becomes a challenge to convince them.”

The team also feels that it becomes challenging to quantify the impact made by the programme, in front of funders. “To what extent can we quantify? Moreover, our assessment is based on observations. We try being as objective in our observations as we can, “ says Swetha.

In the pipeline…

Though the LSE programme is their core offering, Apni Shala plans to get into training teachers for facilitating life-skills and delivering the same through the existing modules.

They have also launched merchandise comprising bags, mugs and diaries which have quotes on life skills printed on them, and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kits for children. “Besides fund-raising, these products are aimed at creating awareness among the general public about life skills and their relevance in the lives of children,” says Anukriti.

While they are based in Mumbai, Apni Shala is also looking for collaboration in remote areas. It recently conducted a life skills workshop in Anandwan School, Chandrapur district in Maharashtra.

To understand the impact of their work better, Apni Shala is also thinking of ways to engage with the parents of the kids, to get a better sense of their work.

Apni Shala will conduct a workshop on ‘Interactive theatre’ for children at the Kala Ghoda Festival on February 7 from 5.30 to 7 pm at The Museum Gardens. To volunteer, share ideas or give expertise on building the start-up, visithttp://www.apnishala.org or call them at +91 8454822690.

(Pictures courtesy Apni Shala)

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Deal with it

How I was sexually harassed at the school where I worked

A Goregaon resident and teacher describes her ordeal when a male colleague started harassing her after she turned him down.
by Bhakti Sankhe-Varde

I think I first realised that something called ‘sexual harassment’ exists when I was in school. We had a Sports teacher, a Mr Joseph, who I had heard often made girls uncomfortable. I had always found him to be an affable, nice man, and a very good singer with a great sense of humour.

We were in Class 8 when I first realised that beneath that genial exterior lurked a dirty old man. He must have been over 50 years old then. Slowly, we began to put his antics in perspective. He would insist on the girls not letting their braids fall over their shoulders and over their chests. “Pin up your hair!” he would order, and stare at the students’s breasts as they tightly rolled up their braids. Even the songs he would sing were often of a vulgar nature, and he would stare at some girl in the class as he sang. He would often place his hands on the girls’s shoulders when he spoke to them, tell the girls not to let down the hem of their sports shorts to make them longer.

The worst was when he once called a girl to the staff room after recess to discuss her participation in an upcoming sports meet. She said later that when she got there, he was seated alone with his pants undone. When he saw her approach, he casually smiled and redid his zipper. In tears, she later told the class teacher and her parents.

When he was sacked from work a month later, several students came forward with similar stories. We found it all a little shocking and confusing.

I am a teacher, too. I take tuitions at home and volunteer to teach underprivileged children in a local slum. Five years ago, I taught Math at a boys’ primary school in Mumbai, and I found that most of my colleagues were men. Which was quite okay – I have two brothers and a lot of male friends, so being around men was never a problem for me.

I loved the school and my colleagues were fun to be with. We would often hang out together and there were some movie and dinner plans made as well. However, I soon realised that one of my male colleagues had totally misunderstood my friendly banter for flirting. It seems he had gone around telling people that I had proposed to him. Infuriated, I confronted him, but he just denied it all. Another teacher said that that colleague was actually interested in me, and was probably spreading the rumours to boost his ego. To prove that I was totally disinterested, I once made it a point to get my fiancé to school. This man’s face fell when he saw my fiancé and I thought that he would back off.

The situation worsened

I suppose it was inevitable that he would find out that I was engaged to be married. At first, he was friendly, even congratulating me on my engagement and saying he must throw a party for me. Then a week later, somebody called my fiancé at his workplace and said that I was cheating on him – that I was having several affairs at school. Luckily, my fiancé and I were childhood friends so he trusted me. Imagine if he had gotten angry and broken off the engagement!

I also realised that something had changed at school. Some of the older boys had started giving me funny looks, whispering to each other as I walked the corridors to classes. Then one day, a male colleague took me aside and said that the school principal had taken down a disturbing photograph of me in one of the students’ toilets – it seems my head had been pasted onto a naked woman’s body.

Mortified, I wondered what to do. For the time being, I decided, I would do nothing, the prank would soon be forgotten.

Then one morning, I was horrified to find a pair of men’s underpants nside my locker. When I yelled in shock and disgust, the staff room only laughed. Everyone told me to ignore the mischief. There was nothing I could do, so fuming, I remained silent and decided to lock my cupboard from that moment.

Other disturbing things happened. Somebody spread a rumour that I was actually a eunuch. Once I came to the staff room for lunch and discovered that somebody had placed a packet of condoms in my handbag. The school’s vice principal once summoned me to her office and told me off for having an affair with a colleague. She refused to say which colleague and who had made the complaint. I began to realise that my name was being vilified – I was being branded as a ‘loose’ woman who had multiple partners, a woman who was more interested in flirting than teaching.

As my confidence dipped, I began to notice that I was being shadowed after I left for home. I would often walk home, but I always had the feeling that I was watched. One day, I suddenly turned around and saw, at a distance, that same colleague who had been telling people that I was interested in him. I was sure that all of these things happening to him could be traced back to him, but there was no way to prove it. The only thing that kept me going was my fiance’s steady support. I got married to him a few days later.

And then…

One morning, that colleague didn’t report to work. He wasn’t there the next day as well, but by noon, I was summoned to the principal’s office. When I got there, I was stunned to see the principal and a policeman. The policeman was very polite, he said that my colleague had tried to commit suicide and named me in his ‘complaint’. Shocked, I asked him how I could possibly be responsible when I didn’t even know him that well.

Luckily for me, the principal supported me and had already explained that I was a married woman and that I had never been seen in the company of that colleague. It turned out that in his suicide note, the man had written that I had led him on for a year, promising to marry him, but that I had recently married someone else. I didn’t know what to do.

My husband and his family stood by me in the situation. I had to do the rounds of the police station, give my statement and there was a time when I thought I would be jailed. But the police were sympathetic towards me and had understood that I was probably at the receiving end of a false case. Even more fortunately, the colleague had survived his suicide attempt and later confessed in hospital that the story had been cooked up. However, he never owned up to the things that had been done to me, to the rumours that had been circulating.

I finished that term and resigned my position. I had suffered enough and whatever I did, I knew people would still look at me in a certain way.

Today, I wish I had lodged an official complaint while the harassment was going on and insisted on an inquiry. My inaction probably spurred the harasser into doing more things to embarrass me. I wish I had not been so defensive from the start – as women, we are conditioned to feel shame when men humiliate us. I hope women who are harassed don’t take it silently. They must fight back and be alert at all times.

As told to Vrushali Lad.

(Picture courtesy www.indiafirstedition.com. Image is used for representational purpose only)

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Deal with it

City’s conservancy workers will get their own flats

BMC moves proposal to construct flats on ownership basis for its almost 35,000 conservancy workers using an FSI of 4.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Dockyard road collapseA horrendous building crash at Dockyard Road in September last year killed 61 people. The spotlight fell on the state of the building – it was 33 years old – and the fact that it was owned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The building housed employees of the BMC’s Markets Department.

After the uproar over the crash, the BMC swung into action and fast-tracked a proposal seeking to build flats for the Corporation’s 35,000-odd conservancy workers under the ‘Ashray Scheme’. As per the scheme, conservancy workers in the city would get permanent homes that the BMC would build and hand over to the workers along with ownership rights. The Improvements Committee of the BMC first approved the proposal to use 4 FSI in the construction; the Standing Committee soon followed suit and approved the proposal as well. It has now been sent to the State Government for approval.

As per the scheme, redevelopment or reconstruction of old buildings will be done to provide homes for the BMC’s about 35,000 employees working in solid waste management. “The huge numbers of conservancy staff have always carried out their duties of keeping the city clean,” says Rahul Shewale, Standing Committee Chairman, BMC. “However, so far their own living quarters were not adequate. The city’s health is affected if their financial and social lives are unhealthy. We feel that a large part of their issues will be solved if they have their own houses.” He added that the BMC could not build these houses because of existing FSI rules and unavailability of plots. But if an FSI of 4 was granted, the project could get underway and the surplus units could be developed for Project Affected Persons (PAPs). The overall project cost is pegged at about 1,800 crore.

Currently, the BMC’s conservancy workers stay in 39 staff quarters located all over Mumbai. Most of these dwelling units are in a bad condition.

(Pictures courtesy Sudharak Olwe [part of his award-winning ‘In search of dignity and justice’ series], www.thehindu.com)

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‘Police harassment has already started since the verdict’

Three gay activists tell us what the recent SC verdict criminalising gay sex really means for them and the community.
by Nidhi Qazi

The Supreme Court judgement on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 prohibiting “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” came as a shock to everyone. This came four years after the Delhi HC’s 2009 judgment that decriminalised homosexual intercourse as provided in section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and ruled that such sex between two consenting adults in private would not be an offence.

In the wake of this, there has been an outcry in the media, academicians and the community of the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, inter-sex). To closely understand the issue from the community’s perspective, The Metrognome spoke to Ankur Srivastava, researcher with The Humsafar Trust (HST); Priya, Co-editor of queer blog, The Gaysi Family and Ankit Bhuptani, Founder, Gay and Lesbian Vaishnav Association, Mumbai.

Q: What does the verdict mean to you?

Ankur: Well, I would like to answer this on two levels. The first is me, as a professional and a student who has been engaged on sexuality studies and aligned with the movement. In this space I feel that we all have been pushed many years back in the struggle; and the now need of the hour is to re-strategise and ensure all subgroups of the LGBTI community fight this together. I also feel disappointed with the judiciary, where I had my hopes and faith on. Secondly, at a personal level though I see my friends standing by in support; I also feel more conscious of the fact that how the continuous telecast of this news is impacting the ways in which my family who is aware of my sexuality is interpreting it. I do not feel scared or threatened by it rather my commitment towards working on the issue is strengthened.

Priya: This verdict only means more work because there is no going back. When one has seen the blue blue sky, one cannot go back to the dark tower. SC made two points that impacted me the most. A) Only 200 cases of discrimination and harassment of LGBT people by the law have been recorded in the last 150 years. B) LGBT only forms a miniscule part of the population and hence, should just be ignored.

This verdict also means the law of this land – India, has no standing or bearing or representation of its people for it has chosen to ignore and subjugate one minority in the name of another.

Ankit: A ‘LOT’. It was a key for me to getting acceptance from each individual who believed in the Indian Constitution.

What are the implications of the verdict?

Ankur: The verdict has created more spaces of vulnerabilities for the LGBTI community. The journey for many which began with Delhi High Court judgment may find it astray now. Young people who in the spirit of confidence and pride came out at their workplace or other spaces few might start feeling more vulnerable. Similarly a lot of men who aren’t confident about their sexuality or are in closet would resist taking health services for fear of stigma or discrimination. This verdict will impede in the work towards HIV prevention, impact psychological health, and may also result in an increase in the cases of abuse, violence and harassment; or even misuse of this Section.

Priya: It has given a lot of impetus to people to raise their voices even louder. The protests across 20 plus cities in India is just a small sign of what the people are feeling on being denied their fundamental human rights.

On the negative side, it opens up the path for millions of queer Indians to be oppressed in the name of sexuality and does away with years of progress towards opening up spaces, mindsets and opinions.

Ankit: It will be very negative. It will be used by the Police against homosexuals in a very wrong way. It will bring depression on Indian youth, especially in small cities.

What is the next step for organisations like yours?

Ankur: I don’t think it is any more of an individual organisation’s response that matters or rather is of any consequence in relation to national response to the judgment.

At The Humsafar Trust, currently we run six targeted interventions for prevention of HIV with men who have sex with men and transgender persons in Mumbai, supported under Maharashtra District AIDS Control Society (MDACS). One of the key tasks is of distribution of condoms and lubricants to the population and talk for safer sex practices. Since the verdict, a few of our outreach workers have already reported cases of police harassment.

What really seems like a response to me, is what we intend to do by being part of Queer Azadi Mumbai (QAM) collective. The call for a meeting on December 15 to protest against the verdict was to discuss the next steps in the presence of the larger community. This meeting is the first step that converges into a national meeting with LGBTI persons in Delhi next week to finalise the plan of action. A collective national response and strategy is what we are looking forward to.

Priya: The idea is to gather, inform and campaign more and more and more until somebody responds! This verdict has brought people far closer than even the glorious High Court verdict in 2009! We plan to engage and encourage people for continuous on-the-ground public action.

We are also at heart a media platform – we will continue to share voices, thoughts, opinions on the issue and also curate all possible news and information so we stay ahead of the way the Indian and global community has reacted and continues to react to this development.

Ankit: We are going to fight for our rights. And apart from our judicial fight we will also do more of social awareness programmes. It’s about time that the society understands that Gay rights are all about basic human rights.

Why do you think the 2009 HC decision was quashed?

Ankur: Well, I would refrain from answering this question. We all know the judgment by Delhi High Court in 2009 was a historic judgment not because it favoured LGBTI rights, but more because the judgement called upon ‘constitutional morality’ above everything, and an essence Indian constitution. It stated that Judiciary in a democracy has to ensure equal rights and justice to all the citizens of this country and in particular to safeguard the rights and interests of marginalised and vulnerable populations. Supreme Court’s verdict has weakened trust and hope of a lot of citizens like me, who always thought Judiciary as a key to realize rights and justice.

Priya: We seriously do not know. Common sense fails us here. The current judgment lacks clarity in the arguments on which the conclusions are based. It seems to have completely ignored the fundamental constitutional promise of equality and dignity to every citizen of the world’s largest democracy. It is just the extreme opposite of the HC judgment. There are multiple speculations – owing to the shaky and political nature of India’s decision-making but otherwise we have no reasons as to why this may have happened. Prior to the decision, we were highly optimistic.

Ankit: Because SC mostly speaks about the technicality of law, about how the court cannot do much about it and we need to approach the Parliament for the same. This judgment is without heart. I personally think that the SC should also consider human feelings as they are dealing with human rights.

Irrespective of the verdict, do you think that the society is prepared to respect the choices and decisions of the LGBT community?

Ankur: Though it saddens me to look at the verdict, I am happy to see the massive support that is coming from the general population. I like the fact that many straight friends, allies

and supporters are coming in front to condemn the judgment. This is a result of the efforts that have been put in all these years to mainstream and create awareness on this issue.

I thought that irrespective of social acceptance, I want my rights to be in place. I believed that my legal rights will help me fight more rigorously and more importantly to fight back any abuse, violence or harassment from homophobic persons or institution. But now, I sincerely hope that we consider this unfortunate event as an opportunity to talk and discuss more about the issue with people, and gain from their support. There will always be homophobes like there are racist, sexist people, but what I look forward to is a space where I have a right to protest and ask for a justice when I am being denied; and I am many more allies and supporters to outnumber the homophobes.

Priya: We think so. The last four odd years have seen many individuals stepping out and expressing their identity, gender and sexual diversity. Many public spaces have been created to promote a dialogue between the LGBT community and the mainstream. Enough literature has been produced that reflects the queerness in the lives of straight people and the stories of LGBT resonating well with the majority. We think the society is making an attempt to understand the LGBT community, and is supporting us through all this in spirit, in heart and in kindness.

Ankit: Well, I personally feel that society is ready to accept anything which you can make them understand. So, the question is not whether the society is prepared to respect the choices and decisions of the LGBT community. But is the LGBT community ready to make people understand why they need to accept and respect themselves? And the answer is, the LGBT community has somewhere failed to prove it. The reasons for this can be many. But indeed there is a lack of effort from community work for their social acceptance.

Has the media played a supportive role in advancing the rights of the community or has the gesture been purely symbolic?

Ankur: I think it has been really supportive, in fact better than ever before. Look at any of the news channels and you would see journalists stating their clear position on the judgment and also advocating the rights of the LGBTI community. I also would like to believe that these people who have a large viewership in the country would impact and also create a positive change in the viewer’s perspective. Similarly for two days in a row, many of print media (English and vernacular) have covered extensively the news on the judgment and have dealt with the subject with sensitivity and in solidarity.

Priya: The media has been really supportive in advancing the rights of the community. Every newspaper, magazine, online platforms and television have done their part in promoting, sharing, and informing the mainstream about LGBT and other minorities. The onus of causing a shift in the social acceptance, mobilisation and sensitisation also lie heavily with the media. It is through them that people have heard of the lesbian couple who committed suicide in Nandigram, Bengal or the famous wedding of another lesbian couple in San Fransciso.

We like the fact that the media creates a lot of noise, picks up on nuances, details, small issues and plays to social causes these days. We’ve seen it for other issues in the country before and now there is no better time to play to the cause of the Gay rights issue.

Ankit: Yes, the media has been very supportive about this. I observed very effective support of media in last few days, English as well as regional. Lastly, I would just like to say that it’s not an end, we have very long way to go and we are going to walk ahead and make this country and world a better place to live.

(Pictures courtesy Nidhi Qazi. All images captured on Sunday, December 15, during the Global Day of Rage)

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The scrap house

An artist put a lot of scrap and unused material to creative use and created a themed home in Sion. Read on to know how.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

I was invited to view the Jamkhedkar residence in Sion last week, amidst the Ganpati fervour. The Jamkhedkars celebrate the festival with a 10-day themed Ganpati decoration, and at first sight, I was slightly bewildered by the living room in which I was invited to sit. I could hear a waterfall close by and the ceiling, with angel motifs and a beautiful woman on it had an eerie 3D effect.

Dr Neela JamkhedkarActually, everything about the house is themed – the bedroom’s theme is ‘Khajuraho’, the living room is a ‘Kashmiri shikara’ (see pic above), the kitchen is a ‘garden’ and the music studio they own on a lower floor is ‘cave’ themed. Says Dr Neela Pimparkhede Jamkhedkar, (61, in pic on left), whose idea the house’s design is, “When we purchased the house and studio about 10 years ago, we had little money left over to get the interiors of the house done with furniture and all the fixings. Besides, I had always wanted to decorate the house my own way.”

Neela’s idea of decorating the house was simple – decide on a theme per room, then look for items she already possessed and which could be put to use, and lastly, go sourcing for items she would need. “You will be amazed at the amount of things every house has, things which are no longer usable but which we can manipulate and use as something else. I got a lot of such items together – an old painting of a woman I had done, urns and murtis I had brought from my maternal home, and even sheets of cardboard that were just lying about.”

Getting down to work

Chor Bazaar became Neela’s favourite go-to refuge for things she could buy. “My husband and I would do the rounds of the place, and I picked up so many beautiful, ornate things there,” she says, pointing to the sliding door that closes off the living room from the passage, and the front door of the house. “See how beautiful these doors are. I got them at not over Rs 2,000 per door at the time. Then I got them home and made my carpenter work on them to create the designs I wanted.”

She also sourced several wooden partitions and strips from a local scrap shop, which she would buy at Rs 30 a bag (till the shop owner wised up and demanded an exorbitant amount). Door done up with wooden strips“I had hired a local carpenter, Rampreet, a most patient man who would do exactly as I said. I got him to carve each strip to the design I wanted, and then these were pasted in a pattern (in pic on right).” She even hired a local painter, Nandu, to implement her designs and assist her wherever required – Neela is an accomplished artist on both fabric and canvas.

Chor Bazaar also came to the rescue when Neela wanted knick-knacks and smaller items. “For example, I got a lovely little beer keg for the bar that I created for my husband and son,” she says, showing off the little corner which is adorned with a mural and which holds bottles and a running waterfall. “I also bought a measure of cloth and stitched it myself for the lamp over the dining table. Besides this, I got a small mandir from Satguru’s and created a little puja corner in the bedroom. It is everyone’s favourite space in the house,” Neela says.

Lessons learnt

Neela says that though putting the house together this way took a long while, it gave her the kind of creative satisfaction nothing else could give. “Our house is not expensive, but it has taken a lot of effort and ideation to get it to this stage,” the former Ayurvedic practitioner says.

“The setting up of the house had taken over my mind completely. There were days when we would have no money left over for the cab home after making our purchases. My husband and I once carried giant murtis home in a BEST bus!”

She contends that it is easy to decorate your home yourself, provided you have a clear idea of what you want and the resourcefulness to procure the items you need. “I am always looking for interesting objects that can be put to use. And I make a lot of things at home myself – I have painted entire carpets and put together canvasses too,” says the artist, who has also held exhibitions of her work previously.

“In a city like ours, using every square inch of space is essential. Besides this, one must keep learning all the time,” the senior citizen says. “I learnt to use the Internet so that I could browse different designs and interpret them my way. I look up a lot of Street Art as well. When I’m not painting, I’m designing sarees or strolling through interiors exhibitions. Eight years ago, I got a diploma at JJ School of Art, which honed my skills further. I also plan a different theme for Ganpati each year. Planning and designing my house taught me several things.”

She adds, “I have learnt one thing – the world is a beautiful place and we have to participate in its beauty. If we invest ourselves in beautifying our homes, we will find the kind of happiness that nothing else can give us.”

Dr Neela Jamkhedkar is open to conducting a paid tour of her home and explaining the various ideas she has used in designing it. If you want to see her house and get design inputs for your own home, write to editor@themetrognome.in and we will facilitate the interaction.

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A second home for our seniors

Mumbai gets first assisted living facility for senior citizens at Nala Sopara, under the aegis of the Silver Innings Foundation.
by the Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Walkway leading to the houseLast weekend, we made the trip to A1 Snehanjali, an assisted living facility for senior citizens at Nala Sopara. At that point, it seemed difficult to believe that anybody would send their aged parents so far away from the city; the facility itself is about four kilometres away from the railway station.

But once we got there, we saw why not just their families, but the senior citizens themselves would like to give Snehanjali a try. Located inside a villa on a chowk that is in close proximity to a school, a market and a hospital, the place is not cut off from the rest of the area and is well-equipped to both house and handle residents.

“We were very clear that we are not opening an old age home. This is a space for assisted living,” says Sailesh Mishra of Silver Innings Foundation, which has started A1 Snehanjali. “People don’t need old age homes, which are essentially dumping grounds for our elders. They need services which may be both short term and long term. For instance, some people need to travel for a few weeks and need their parents to be taken care of. Or they may be based abroad but would want their parents to have medical attention and to be monitored. Many times we blame families for sending their elders away, but at times, they have no choice.”

Why assisted living matters

For a city that has hardly any facilities for senior citizens, an experiment like A1 Snehanjali is a worthwhile one. “There are five bedrooms, and we areBedrooms at Snehanjali able to take in only 13 people at the moment. There are several applications, but we select the residents carefully,” explains Sailesh. “We are trying to ensure that the space is interactive, and that it feels like home.” He adds that the selection process includes rejecting applications where it is clear that the family is banishing the elder from the home, or if the person needs daily nursing.

Silver Innings has tried very hard to make the space a welcoming one. Walking surfaces are provided in the compound, with specially-paved areas and lawns for residents to walk on barefoot. Flowers, herbs and vegetables have also been planted; the produce is to be used in the kitchens. “We provide vegetarian food, low on salt and spices, but once a month, a resident may eat non-vegetarian food brought from home,” Sailesh says. On-site medical facilities are available round the clock.

About seven CCTV cameras monitor the premises constantly, and the gates are always locked. “Those suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s have the tendency to wander,” Sailesh explains. “We have to keep them occupied, so we have TV and recreation roomplanned daily activities that they can be a part of if they wish to. Otherwise, they can watch television or listen to music or simply stay in their rooms.” Sundays is a day of eating whatever the residents wish, and they are permitted visitors on any day of the week. “We don’t have a lights-off rule and in fact, there are no rules for residents,” says Sailesh.

Who can make the cut

The NGO is very clear on who can be admitted. “We meet the person only through a referral, to gauge the need to send the person to us in the first place. We take in people who are suffering from Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, those bed-ridden by paralysis but not needing constant nursing, and people over 80 with mobility issues,” he says. But people suffering from TB and AIDS are not admitted as of now.

“There is a Rights of Residents charter that must be signed. We insist on families visiting them once a month, or if they can’t, we’ve provided Skype too. Besides this, we allow the residents to network outside with the local community. The idea is to let the resident have a good life here.”

If you want to know more about A1 Snehanjali and if you think you should send an older family member there, contact Sailesh Mishra on silverinnings@gmail.com or a1snehanjali@gmail.com.

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