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By:

Ruddhi Phadke

22 September 2024 at 10:17:54 am

On a mission to serve the elders

Mumbaikar Leena Deosthalee finds a way to support the senior citizens through an old age home situated in Raigad Mumbai: A Mumbai resident Leena Deosthalee’s urge to serve her father in his illness has led to formation of one of the friendliest old age homes in Maharashtra - Chaitanya Jyeshtha Nagarik Sahaniwas situated at Jambhulpada in Sudhagad district of Raigad. Deosthalee, a retired banker, started this facility in 2012 to fulfil her desire to serve the elderly people as she could not do...

On a mission to serve the elders

Mumbaikar Leena Deosthalee finds a way to support the senior citizens through an old age home situated in Raigad Mumbai: A Mumbai resident Leena Deosthalee’s urge to serve her father in his illness has led to formation of one of the friendliest old age homes in Maharashtra - Chaitanya Jyeshtha Nagarik Sahaniwas situated at Jambhulpada in Sudhagad district of Raigad. Deosthalee, a retired banker, started this facility in 2012 to fulfil her desire to serve the elderly people as she could not do much for her father in his last days. “I worked for 33 years with Bank of India, from 1966 to 1999,” Deosthalee told ‘The Perfect Voice’ . “At that time my father was very old. I wished to visit him every day, but there was a time constraint. I quit my job to give him time. However, he passed away and my purpose of quitting the job was over,” she said narrating the idea behind Sahaniwas. “My husband was extremely busy. I had ample free time. By God’s grace I was financially stable. My children were well settled in their own world. Hence, I felt that it is time to give something back to society. I expressed my wish to my husband, and he supported my dream whole heartedly,” she said. Chaitanya Nagrik Sahaniwas has a capacity to accommodate 30 residents at a time. Jambhulpada is equidistant from Mumbai and Pune—approximately 100-110 km. Senior citizens who are physically independent and do not need assistance for their daily activities are given admission after they are screened and interviewed by the Trustees. Chaitanya is run by Mathura Foundation. On twin sharing basis 30 residents can be accommodated. There are other rooms for amenities such as library, medical room, dining room (with attached kitchen), recreation room which has a common T.V. and tables for playing chess, cards, carom etc. The facility has a caretaker and two resident staff members, who are on the premises all the time. Other staff members travel from the surrounding villages. The Foundation also has its own ambulance and driver, who is available on the premises 24x7. Self reliance Deosthalee said Chaitanya home is 95 per cent self-reliant as far as electricity is concerned. They have a project installed with a solar power capacity- 20 kv which has reduced their electricity expenditure to an extent that they send surplus electricity supply to the MSEB grid. “We are almost self-reliant as far as electricity is concerned. Besides, the solar water heaters keep us self-reliant for nearly nine months of the year.”They recycle the sewage water using Solid Imobilised Bio Filter (SIBF) System and alum tanks to reutilise it for sanitation and maintaining the gardens. Social serviceDeosthalee believes that she is able to overcome most of the operational hurdles without the residents feeling the pinch of it because of her sound financial background. “We are not making any profit because our objective is not to earn money. We take nominal fees from the residents and find solutions to our operational difficulties through donations and sometimes from our own pockets.”Jambhulpada has one more such old age home. Deosthalee had to open a facility at the time when there were similar facilities doing a good job in the area. However, she cited that there was no sentiment of competition and that other facilities were working for the same cause and hence she actually got a lot of guidance and help from the trustees. “They actually helped me identify what was lacking in their facility so that I could rectify their flaws in the facility I was planning to set up,” said Deosthalee.

Arrogance or Nervousness?

Society too often assumes the role of unsolicited judge over children’s behaviour, disregarding the long-term consequences of its scrutiny.

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Recently, a child from Ahmedabad entered India’s one of the most popular shows, Kaun Banega Crorepati, with a lot of dreams. The fact that the 11-year-old boy would be taking questions from veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan on the most watched show in India must have left the parents on cloud nine. The boy who is a fifth grader has not even learnt the art of nurturing dreams. He would have been bombarded with a pool of non-stop instructions explaining him the dos and don’ts while on the show by his family, just like any typical Indian parents would do before a child heads for an exam or one of the biggest events of their life. Most children are not even aware of the seriousness and the depth of the occasion they are preparing to experience. At the age of 11, children often live their parents’ dream, and parents always work hard to leave no stone unturned to make their children achieve what they feel was never their cup of tea.


The debate over why a child behaved in a certain way on national television in front of an extremely popular and senior actor is a tricky one. However, society is the quickest to take the form of an unsolicited judge and make the life of the child and family extremely difficult. Little did the child know that life may become a hell after resuming school, after featuring in that one episode. This reminds me of the cold play incident when two a mere concert proved to be a nightmare for two colleagues to an extent that their careers and futures were devastated.


While social media, or society as a whole has raised questions over the child’s behaviour and the parents’ upbringing, it’s important to note how the host of the show has handled the child’s behaviour maturely with no aggressive counter reaction leaving a lot to learn from his behaviour while on the show.


How children behave is more of what they see and experience than what they actually are. More importantly, an 11-year-old spends most of his day away from his home, mostly in his school, tuition, which his peers. Family outings, functions and screen time take up 20 percent of their time which over all leaves very little exposure to parents. Hence, blaming the parents for how a child behaves on national television is an extremely poor choice.


According to a Mumbai-based child psychologist, there is something called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Many children suffer from this condition which is undiagnosed or diagnosed. Answering questions before hearing the options, not being able to hear the rules, and no patience are symptoms of ADHD, as per this stream of opinion.


Having said that, now arises a larger issue of psychology being often underrated. For long, society has been ignoring or not counting psychological diseases as diseases. A person who approaches a psychiatrist or takes counselling sessions has since long been labelled as mad. Society has not been broad minded to take psychological illness seriously. Every school has a child psychologist attached who is expected to help children overcome a lot of psychological conditions. Not many parents are aware of this. A lack of mental health awareness can lead to a variety of negative effects, including a reluctance to seek professional help due to stigma, reduced self-esteem, difficulties for individuals in social and professional environments, and a lack of understanding from family and friends. This can result in delayed diagnosis and treatment, poorer mental health outcomes, and significant distress for individuals and their families.


Parenting is a tough job, especially in an era where children are exposed to digital media at a very young age, children are growing faster than they are expected to.


Adolescence is arriving earlier than in previous generations, leaving many parents struggling to adapt to shifting behavioural expectations. Children increasingly shoulder the weight of emotional complexity before they are ready. While the young ideally should be allowed to develop at their own pace, many are instead propelled into accelerated maturity, forced to perform in situations for which they are ill-prepared.


Competitions are meant to motivate children to work hard, however, through reality shows, children are often pushed into spaces where they feel they have to overdo their act to prove themselves and end up taking wrong lessons for the purpose of a healthy competition.

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