As we walk inside the new age retirement village, Suvidha, off Kanakapura Main Road in South Bengaluru, Srikanta Rao introduces the Suvidha Community.
“We get together in these beautifully-landscaped outdoor spaces. We are surrounded by like-minded people.” Suvidha was conceived by a few doctors from Bangalore Hospital on South End Circle, Jayanagar. “This is one of the reasons why nearly 70% of the investors in the company (set up by Sushruta Vishranthi Dhama) are from the medical profession. An added advantage is having doctors on call,” says architect Jaisim who has planned the layout. “We have club house, a health care centre, a canteen facility and water treatment plants to cater to the 180 cottages,” he says.
A three-acre water body has been created by damming a perennial stream flowing through the property. Septuagenarian Dr. Jayalakshmi’s one bedroom cottage in Suvidha has an open kitchen with a dining area. Showing the lunch box with chapati, dal and vegetables that has just arrived from the canteen, she says, “This is the best help one can get. I live alone, yet don’t feel lonely. Although there are so many ways to spend time, I prefer to be with my television, and do a little cooking.”
- Services such as housekeeping, caterers, beauty parlours, gyms, movie theatres, indoor games, pools.
- Common areas such as clubhouses given more space than in traditional buildings
- Doctors on call, 24/7 nursing staff and ambulances, proximity to hospitals
- Classes for yoga, dance, music, and more
- Design features: Railings in bathrooms, ramps across the building, elevators, lights that are easy on the eyes
- Price for the homes start from ₹30 lakhs to ₹8 crore, plus care charges, depending on their size and location
Architect Leena Kumar of Kumar Consultants who has designed may senior living homes says, “Accidents are common with the elderly and many times the flooring proves to be the culprit. The spaces should be free of thresholds and have non-slippery flooring. Wood flooring, linoleum are good options.” Materials should be anti-bacterial, dust free and easy to clean and maintain, she adds.
Since accidents invariably happen in the bathrooms, she advocates, besides non-skid tiling, the presence of grab bars in the toilet region, bath area as well as near the wash basin. “I keep bathrooms fairly large to permit the use of a walker or an assistant to aid in use.”
According to Subbalaxmi Dutta from Kolkata, who lives in a posh senior living community in South Bengaluru, “Many of us living here, have children who have moved away to other countries and cities. I love get-togethers during Navratri and Holi. Sometimes we take the community bus for shopping or visiting relatives.”
Being a resident of of Serene Urbana for two years, M Radhakrishnan says “the community has everything to keep to make one’s life comfortable— empathetic staff, adequate security, housekeeping facilities, prompt medical attention and a vibrant community. We have hosted our friends and family here, and they always leave with sweet memories.”
ES Sivakumar also living at Serene Urbana who has come from Puducherry says, “The decision to move to Bengaluru was because of the pleasant weather and proximity to the airport. In the past year, we have experienced many developments, but it is difficult to satisfy a community of about 250 individuals.”
For all intents and purposes, Serene Adinath, a building complex near Vandalur, Chennai, could pass off as a college hostel.
Serene Adinath, built in 2015, acquired and managed by Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Communities, is one of many senior living residencies — gated apartments that can be bought exclusively by senior citizens. It is a concept that India is increasingly warming up to, judging by the growing number of such retirement homes across the country.
- Serene Urbana by Columbia Pacific Communities, 4.5 acres: Located within Ozone Urbana, Kannamangala village in Devanahalli, near the Bangalore International Airport, the senior assisted living property has 318 apartments from one to three bedrooms.
- Suvidha, off Kanakapura Main Road, 30 acres: a modern retirement village in a 30-acre plot off Kanakapura Main Road in the outskirts of Bengaluru boasts of 180 cottages amidst lush greenery with a 3 acre water body.
- The Brigade Parkside, Mysore Road: The apartment units, meant for sale to citizens over 55 years of age, come with assisted living concepts of housekeeping, food catering, health care, specially designed club facilities and common areas that include a walking track and an expansive landscape.
- Mantri Primus, Kanakapura Main Road: gated complex houses apartment units ranging from studio, one to two bedrooms, with a health care centre, housekeeping facilities, nursing care, a common kitchen with meals specifically addressing nutritional requirements of the elderly.
“Let me make one thing clear first. This is not an old age home,” states resident Lakshmi Swaminathan. At 57, she is relatively younger than the rest, and the in-house ‘gadget guru’. Her husband, TS Swaminathan, talks over her as a couple who has been married for years is wont to, “She’s right, we chose to live here. Every day, we are busy here: one day with cultural activities, the next day carrom, yoga, pujas, and so on.”
Columbia Pacific Communities is managing such nine communities — many of them in Coimbatore, the new hub for such homes — of varying levels of grandeur. On the other hand, some are exclusively high-end, such as Antara Senior living in Dehradun, and Bless Retirement Living on the outskirts of Aluva, near Kochi.
“This kind of community living ensures that there is neither loneliness nor alienation, and therefore better mental health. Seniors are secure and their self esteem is intact as they don’t have to depend on their children. There is a professional system in place to take care of them,” says Babu Joseph, of Bless Retirement Living.
The premium retirement community, which began functioning in 2016, has 64 apartments, on three acres, all of which are booked and is now moving into the next phase of construction with additional 100-odd apartments. “Initially we were sceptical about the response. But the stigma around senior living communities is gone, perhaps,” he adds.
After her husband passed away 10 years ago, 78-year-old Lalitha Ramachandra lived in New Jersey with her son for five years. “There wasn’t much I could do for fun there. Go out on a stroll, walk the dog…” She came back to India, to live at Serene Adinath. “I have always been restless, I need something to keep me occupied every day,” she says, just back from yoga class.
(With inputs from Shilpa Nair Anand )
