KOCHI: Taking to the buzzword of upskilling to keep abreast of the evolving world, a 105-year-old great-grandfather from Asamannoor in Ernakulam district has put himself through a one-year training programme to handle a smartphone.
M A Abdullah Maulavi Bafaqi, who joined the state government’s digital literacy programme in 2024, is now sufficiently adept at looking up news and relevant information, especially on YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
According to officials, the successful completion of the programme has possibly made him the oldest person to be trained under the local self-government department’s Digi Kerala initiative.
“My father’s decision to make himself capable of handling digital devices like the smartphone took root during the Covid days,” Faisal Ali, who works at the Paddy Research Centre in Kayamkulam, told TNIE.
During the pandemic period, the restrictions meant that he had to make do without newspapers, Faisal pointed out. “An ardent reader, he missed his morning routine of reading the newspaper. Realising his distress, my granddaughter started putting on YouTube so that he could watch the news,” Faisal said.
Abdullah, though, found it tough to use a smartphone all by himself. “The phone he used was a basic model, to make calls. After my granddaughter went to Dubai, my father found it very difficult to navigate the smartphone.
It was at this juncture that he came to know about the Digi Kerala initiative. People from Kudumbashree came to our house and explained the training module. My father became very interested and joined the course,” Faisal said.
As Abdullah suffers from age-related ailments, he could not go to the centre where the training was being offered.
“So, a volunteer would come to our house to teach him,” his son said. Abdullah slowly picked up the tricks of navigating the smartphone and of using the various apps.
“He was a religious teacher for 35 years and had also served as an imam. Being able to listen to the religious programmes on YouTube brings him a lot of joy. He has become adept at searching YouTube and occasionally logs on to Facebook. He has also become capable of handling WhatsApp video calls from his great-granddaughter,” Faisal said.
Abdullah is among 21.87 lakh Keralites trained under the Digi Kerala programme which has made Kerala the first state to bridge its digital divide—an ambitious feat that will be formally announced on August 21.