Smartphones And Senior Citizens: An Unlikely But Fruitful Friendship!

Recently, I made a visit to my nearby old age home and now here I am unable to stop myself from expressing a few views.

My conversations with my grandma have always been spellbinding and revealing. I have always remained in awe of her ability to express stories. There are a crate of experiences that the elderly will like to share with us, only once we allow them to open it. Once they open their crate, you get to see the sparkle in their eyes to see for the fact that someone is interested to listen to them. Well, are we truly being good listeners or for the namesake? Do you see the sparkle?

My interaction with a few such people made me look up to the very own fact that they are humans just like us! Now that when I exclaim to this, you might find it nothing unusual but have you ever thought it this way always?

There are curious minds to know what current actors have got to present, hearts that beat along to AR Rahman, who would like to hum to tracks of Rafi and Yesudas wrapped in their childhood/teenage memories, who are keen on knowing about what our superstars have got up with their new upcoming work, who would love to get along with selfies, who would love making food and serve it with love. And all these realisations racked over my brain again when my grandma was presented with a smartphone!

For this generation, a day without their smartphones becomes unimaginable! Aside from the continuous debate whether it is a boon or bane, they do play a pivotal role in our life. For example, right from our morning alarm app to there are apps to control your routine with exercise, work, food, travel, accommodation and recreation.

But, what about our old ones? Well, they become the target audience for TRP driven soap operas. Old age homes like the one I visited myself, keep the ‘X” channel as the only thing to be viewed for the inmates.

Life started changing for the better for my grandma after she received her smartphone. She used to complain of not getting attention from her children and grandchildren and became very low-spirited. Having taken a little bit of time to teach her, she immediately got a grasp of her needs on the phone. She started enjoying video calls on a daily basis with her daughter abroad, she found bliss in the smiling emojis and the memorable songs of her time, and in exploring various recipes across the globe — all at her fingertips.

Let’s redefine the term and understand “old age” demands more involvement, interaction, travel and engagements with various activities. Why not encourage improved technology and facilities for their betterment? It may even just be programmed to promote awareness about gadget usage, or making software which is much simpler to make use of, keeping in mind their peculiar wants. After all “necessity is the mother of invention”.

Just like the coin which has two sides, I believe that practicality and planning do not go on par all of a sudden, and follies do lie apart, but with constant effort, and improvisation, the ‘better’ is surely predicted!