Dignity, and quality of life in one’s old age is not something given to all of us; sometimes, for various reasons, people have to take up residence in an old-age home. I recently visited one such home, only for ladies, in J P Nagar.

I found that the number of ladies in residence had dwindled to only eight, but these ladies seemed quite peaceful and content with their lives. Indeed, one of them (name withheld on request) regularly makes rangolis in front of the gate each morning.

However, life is not luxurious. There are, indeed, several “senior citizens” residential projects coming up around Bangalore, but many of them seem very commercial and one is not sure what the quality of life will be like when one actually lives there. I recently visited one such upcoming project on Kanakapura Road (29 km away from the city) and found that the nearest hospital was….Jayadeva Hospital! How many of us can afford to sink our life savings into such a project and then find ourselves isolated and helpless in our old age, and without the ability to move to another location?  

Truly, the problems of investing in a senior citizen residential project are enormous and it’s no wonder that many senior citizens tend to put off such major financial decisions.