Dressed in a pastel salwar kameez, Suman Tarneja hurries into the main hall of the JCO Club in Delhi’s posh Defence Colony. It’s a hot Saturday afternoon and she quickly settles down, almost apologetically, after her late entry. But, she goes unnoticed by the five other persons in the hall, each of whom is engrossed with the gadgets in their hands.
Mrs. Tarneja takes out a pocket-size notepad from her bag and begins to carefully jot down points under the header “To see photos”.
“Tap on flower box on the screen; Go to Camera Roll,” she writes while practicing the steps on her iPad simultaneously. Other pages of the notepad are titled “Access and add contacts”, “Take a selfie”, “To use WhatsApp” and “To FaceTime.”
Solving the ‘mystery’
A child would certainly laugh at Mrs. Tarneja. But for the 72-year-old former school teacher, and like many of her generation, handling a smartphone is a “mystery” that can be unveiled at the coaching class meant exclusively for senior citizens.
The ‘Digital Literacy’ class is her chance to learn how to use her iPad.
“My daughter, who lives in Britain, had gifted it to me a year ago on Mother’s Day. But, I only used to play cards as I was scared that if I tapped anywhere else it would be damaged. With these classes I am finally able to use the device,” says Mrs. Tarneja while her husband Suresh Chandra Tarneja learns how to pay electricity bills on the new computers in the club.
Like the Tarnejas, most of the students in the class were between 70 and 91 years of age when they were gifted flashy gadgets by their children. However, all of them rued that the children had no time to tell them how to use these devices.
“Our sons and daughters give us these complicated smartphones and leave. They ask us not to be worried as all we need to do is just receive and make calls. But, it is our desire also to explore these gadgets and master them,” says Suniti Saini, who is almost a pro at chatting with her friends on WhatsApp. Her 80-year-old husband S.K. Saini, an ex-Armyman, is learning to Skype with his grandchildren abroad. Halfway through the digital training programme, the students have their little moments of joy.
Sukhwant Singh, a former engineer at a private firm, describes his achievement of clicking pictures and uploading them in his family WhatsApp group and Facebook, much to the surprise of his children.
“In the early 1970s, we used to have one landline telephone for the entire colony. Not in our wildest dreams had we imagined that there will be a time when every kid will play with such hi-tech gadgets. At 73, I am still figuring out how the internet works, but my 10-year old grandchild is already a master,” explains Mr. Singh as he opens a news website on a desktop.
Most elderly people want to be tech-savvy, but are unable to trust technology completely when it comes to financial transactions. Mr. Singh explained his distrust. “Once I tried to renew my car insurance policy online. But, the company ended up deducting the money thrice. I got the money back after several follow-ups. The hassle was unnecessary. So, I do not really rely on online payments.”
Gainfully engaged
According to Himanshu Rath, Chairman of Agewell Foundation that started the coaching classes on a pilot basis in Defence Colony, the move is helping the aged to be gainfully engaged. “Old people find themselves marginalised and isolated in today’s fast-paced society. It will certainly help them connect with the mainstream and keep them active — socially, physically and psychologically. We now plan to expand these classes to Lajpat Nagar,” said Mr. Rath.
