‘SHE KEEPS LONELINESS AWAY’
Every afternoon at three, Chhaya Patil stands at her window to make sure Nutan has crossed the road safely. The 80-year-old then walks slowly to the door to receive her. “She is just like my granddaughter,” says Patil, a retired clerk with the Mumbai Port Trust.
Nutan Ghag is a 20-year-old college student who works part-time with Mumbaibased Aaji Care, an organisation that offers monthly companionship packages for senior citizens.
She has been visiting Patil for eight months, for four hours a day — half of which is spent solving puzzles and reading. “The astrology page is our favourite one in the newspaper,” Patil says.
At 5 pm, the two women go for a walk either to the market or to the Dadar beach nearby. “She is a fit woman but a little unsteady on her feet, so I hold her hand firmly,” says Ghag.
Patil then takes her afternoon nap while Ghag finishes college assignments or reads a book from Patil’s collection.
“It works both ways. My parents don’t live in the city, but with Aaji around, I don’t feel so alone. And with me around, her three daughters can work stress-free,” says Ghag.
Patil says she likes that there is somebody young to help her with decision-making. “Sometimes I agree, otherwise we take the middle path,” she laughs. “I think more such services like these should come up.”
Ghag gets ₹4,000 a month for her service. “It helps me pay my rent and meet college expenses,” she says. “But I don’t do it just for the money. Aaji teaches me a lot and I am making memories with her.”
For Patil, Ghag is now family. “She helps keep my loneliness away,” she says.