KOCHI: The world can be a daunting place for those aged 60 and above, especially when one becomes the soft target of scamsters and others trying to exploit your inability to navigate the maze of technological evolution. This was the sad truth that a 30-year-old realised on a train journey.
Shijin K P got to experience first-hand how travel agents dupe the elderly by promising them travel packages at exorbitant rates. Taking note of the issues faced by seniors, he formed a WhatsApp community, named ‘How Old Are You,’ to help them in their time of need.
Shijin details the events that led to the formation of the community, which today has more than 400 members, all of whom are over 55 years of age and from different walks of life. “The journey on board Mangala Express from Kerala to Delhi was the turning point.
During the journey, which took over two days, I interacted with co-passengers, who were mostly those above 60. Talking to them, I realised that they were all travelling to Delhi for various purposes and had relied on travel agents for bookings. I understood that they had been robbed blind by agents. And when I pointed it out to them, most of them said that since they had no one, including children, to rely on, they paid good money to ensure a safe journey.”
Shijin was pained by the situation of the elderly co-passengers, who were all retirees. “On the entire journey, I decided to help them out with things like accessing food and other necessities. The language barrier was another problem that I helped them out with,” says Shijin, who later discussed the issues with his friends in Delhi. “We formed the community and decided that the first task would be to make the seniors tech-savvy,” says Shijin.
He and his friends began teaching the members on use of WhatsApp, Google Meet and other apps. The senior citizens were then taught the fundamentals of artificial intelligence (AI).
“We then created activities that helped them connect with their old selves and brush up on their latent talents like poetry writing. Initially, it was tough, but as the sessions progressed their writing skills developed significantly and we even had members composing songs on Suno AI,” he adds.
The community holds mental health classes. Police officers have been roped in for advice on guarding against online fraud. Besides these sessions, tour programmes are conducted for members.
Sharing his experience of the initiative, K V Sreedharan Nair, former regional manager of Emami Realty, says, “I am an active member of the community. Being a senior citizen, I feel that spending time with our peers, irrespective of their caste, creed, or geographical divide, is beneficial. I am the convenor of a seniors group called YoungOldees, which has a reading room and a sports club.
We are all members of How Old Are You. Though very young Shijin manages the group very well. He frequently communicates with each member, enquiring about their health and other matters.” Another community initiative has involved utilising the expertise of retirees to keep them engaged and help make them financially independent.
“One such initiative that will be launched very soon will involve handmade soap made of natural products. We will provide all the raw materials and also help members with marketing and sales.
All the proceeds from the sales will go to them. For the initiative, I am planning to learn soapmaking, after which I will train the seniors,” Shijin points out. He has lined up various other plans that includes designing games to fight dementia and senior daycare facilities in the unoccupied houses of NRIs across the state.