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Innovation was at its best whenstudents of Cambridge School,KR Puram, came out with models
explaining the solar system, eco-sys-tem and various other exhibits at theannual science exhibition and thelaunch of the school’s Go Green cam-paign recently. They were not onlyaesthetic and decorative, but alsofunctional.
Students from classes I to IX ex-hibited models on elements of the
Earth, forms of en-ergy, hydro-electricdams, electricityfrom salt water, hy-draulic jacks, elec-tric motors, genera-tors, low-cost airconditioner, escala-tors, optical fibres,motor boat in ac-
tion, magnetic car and remote con-trolled car. There was also a practi-cal demonstration on calculation ofthe body mass index.
Chairman of the CambridgeGroup of Institutions DK Mohan,
who inaugurated the Go Green cam-paign, said: “The school developsscientific temperament among stu-dents; they learn to think rationallyto create something new.”
Cambridge Institute of Technol-ogy principal Suresh and other dig-nitaries from CIT were present.School principal Esther Pillai laud-ed the efforts of students in creatinginnovative projects.
Plays spread strongsocial messageClad in colourful attire, studentsdanced to their heart’s content at the30th annual day of Florence PublicPrimary School. There was muchmore in store for the audience. Playswhich drove home themes like na-tional integration, child trafficking,mother’s love and protecting wild-life and a fashion show were a visualtreat. The show was themed on ‘Lifeis colourful’.
The aerial act by students in a few
dance numbers kept the viewersawestruck.
Paediatrician Shailaja Basava-raj, the chief guest, spoke on nutri-tious food, vaccines, hygiene, andways to keep a child healthy.
Principal Bridgette Mc Gavinpresented the annual report, fol-lowed by the prize distribution cere-mony. School chairman AF Kudroligave away the proficiency and spe-cial prizes in various fields.
Greenfield Public School, Jak-kur, a sister concern, also participa-ted in the programme. The attractivedance props and vibrant Manipuridance brought a festive spirit to theshow. Principal Aruna also spoke atthe programme.
Help the needy, students toldA perfect mix of traditional andwestern, the performance by stu-dents of Kids Global School, Marath-ahalli at their 16th annual day re-
cently was a crowdpuller.Rev. Fr. Joy Inchody, director,
Snehadhan, home for HIV-affectedchildren and palliative care for HIV-affected adults, and N Ramesh, cor-porator of Marathahalli ward andchairman of BBMP finance commit-tee, were the chief guests.
Rev. Fr Joy highlighted the im-portance of providing children in-fected with HIV a safe place, and theneed to support the downtrodden.
Chairman of Kids Global SchoolKM Cherian advised students tohelp the underprivilaged. He hand-ed over a cheque to Rev. Fr. Joy Incho-dy as a token of appreciation for thework undertaken by Snehadhan andSneha Care Home.
Headmistress Magdalen Marypresented the annual report. Vice-chairperson of the school Retd. Lt.S.Cherian handed over the best outgo-ing students awards to Rahan Rath-eesh R, Manthesh N, Meghana N andPallavi P of class X. Physical trainerVenkateshappa T bagged the bestteacher award.
Children’s scientific temper comes to fore
CREATIVE DISPLAY: (Above) Students of Florence Public Primary School perform; Students of Cambridge School, KR Puram, with exhibits at the annual science exhibition
nanda Degree College. “Mostof the time, the pressurecomes from society and par-ents who want their childrento be toppers in all examin-ations. Excelling in academ-ics should not be above one’slife, and all parents must un-derstand this,” said anotherstudent.
Police commissioner NSMegharikh urged studentsnot to give up when challeng-
Bengaluru: The pressure todeliver good performanceand withstand cut-throatcompetition has taken thelives 1,906 people in Bengalu-ru last year. Worse, 709 ofthem belong to the age groupof 16 and 29 years.
Failure in academics, ca-reer and relationship is oneof the main reasons thatpushed many youngsters tosuicide. Of the 709 cases in2014-15, most of the victimswere girls.
This alarming trend hasprompted more than 1,000 stu-dents from government andgovernment-aided colleges,parents and representativesof various NGOs to come to-gether on Sunday and say noto suicide. The standathon‘Love Life’, organized by SaMudra Foundation in the city,was aimed at spreading themessage against increasingsuicide tendencies.
The participants formed ahuman chain from MaharaniLakshmi Ammanni Collegeto the SSLC Board along Sam-pige Road in Malleswaram,10am till 2pm. ‘Love your life,don’t commit suicide’ wastheir message.
“It’s sad that students takeone failure as the end of theireducation and life. I am hereto spread the message of lov-ing one’s life,” said HarishRah, student of the Viveka-
es crop up in life. “Youngsters preparing for
IAS and IPS exams are undertremendous pressure. I wantthem to take on the pressureto perform in a positive man-ner or see it as a test and en-deavour to take it head-on,”he added.
“I think all should dis-courage the comparison cul-ture that most parents fol-low. Instead of comparingyour child with another, weshould acknowledge theirabilities. We should helpthem cultivate what theylove instead of making thema part of the rat race,” said aparent.
The street play, DepressionAsura, staged on the occasionwas an eye-opener for stu-dents, teachers and parents.
It’s OK to fail, say studentsrallying against suicide
LOVE LIFE IS THE MESSAGE: College students take part in astandathon on Sunday to spread awareness against suicides
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
The standathon LoveLife, organized by SaMudra Foundation inthe city, was aimedat spreading themessage againstincreasing suicidetendencies
— Daivajna K N SomayajiALMANAC WEATHER TIMES CITYWOMAN POWER | I RISE, EDITION II - A DIALOGUE BETWEEN WORK, SPACE: Works of 15 women— Shanthamani M, Bhavani GS, Rani Rekha, Sumana Chowdhury, Urmilla VG, Anjana Kothamachu and Dhara Mehrotra. Art Houz, Palace Road, 11am
MARK YOUR
DIARYART | THE NEW ROMANTICS: Artists Anand Panchal, Avijit Roy, Bakula Nayak, Basuki Dasgupta, Bhoomika Dange, Biswajit Mondal and others present sublime meditations on the nature of postmodern love. Kynkyny Art, Infantry Road, 11am
TALK | BEFORE THE MONSOON, THE ARCHITECTURE OF CHARLES CORREA: A talk by Irena Murray, historian and curator who specializes in international and transnational architecture, will speak on the works of Charles Correa. Smriti Nandan, Palace Road, 6pm
EXHIBITION | NOSTALGIA 2016: Works of Badri Narayan, Akbar Padamsee, Krishen Khanna, Gogi Saroj Pal, Ramesh Rao, A Raiba, Anwar, Laxma Goud, Achutan Kudallur, Chandra Bhattacharjee, KG Subramanyan, KM Adimoolam, Yusuf Arakkal, Ashoke Mullick, Gopal Adivrekar, Satish Chandra, SG Vasudev and KS Rao on display. Crimson Art Gallery, 11am
PHOTOGRAPHY | THE SILENCE OF HAMPI: Prabuddha Dasgupta's works showcase his response to the magnificence of Hampi, capturing the interaction between the lines and boundaries. Ganjam, 11am
7-03-2016 | Maximum: 33.4, Minimum: 18.7, Rainfall: Nil, Humidity: 20%, Sunrise (Tuesday) 6.31am, Sunset (Monday) 6.29pm,
Moonrise (Monday) 4.50am, Moonset (Monday) 4.54pm. Forecast: Mist likely in some areas during early-morning hours; mainly clear sky later.
7-03-2016 | Kumbha Masa 23 – Sri Manmatha Nama Samvat-sara – Uttarayana – Shishira Ritu Tithi: Magha Krishna Trayodasi Hr. 13-21 Nak: Dhanistha; Hr. 25-52 Yoga: Siva Hr. 20-18;27 Jamadu’ lawwal; Kali Day 1868989; Maha Sivaratri: Rahu Kalam – 7.30am-9am
THE TIMES OF INDIA, BENGALURU | MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016
RETIREMENT HOMES Are The New Lifestyle Trend | Seniors Invest In Community Living For Carefree Sunset Years
HAVING A BALL: For Ranjit Lilani, a retired businessman who spent years in Nairobi, the retirement home feels like heaven
Bengaluru: With more people eager to live comfortable and carefree retired lives, property developers in Bengaluru are increasingly focusing on ad-dressing the needs of this seg-ment, known as senior living.
As of fspring follow the rainbow out of their home-towns, in search of better ca-reers and lifestyles, the proud go-getter generation is trying to ensure its sunset days are not spent being desolate and marginalized. The retirement home, a popular concept in the West, is gaining momentum in India as well. Mantri Develop-ers, Ozone and Brigade have already moved into this cate-gory and are building commu-nity projects on the city sub-urbs. Mantri set up a separate company, Mantri Primus Lifes-paces, two years ago to focus on senior living.
Ozone’s Urbana, an inte-grated township in the north-ern suburbs of Bengaluru, has a portion dedicated to seniors, named Serene Living. Brigade Orchards, also located in De-vanahalli, names its seniors project Parkside Homes.
“We haven’t taken a real es-tate approach but a services approach, as these are not old age homes but a way to free up the retirement phase for indi-viduals,” Adarsh Narahari, managing director, Mantri Pri-mus, said. He said only those who are 55 years old are al-lowed to stay.
Mantri has two types of sen-ior living houses -- Primus Eden which is leased, and Pri-mus Reflection which can be purchased -- in Kanakapura. The company has leased 45-50 of its 75 apartments, and sold about 80 apartments in Reflec-tion. For a lease, the company takes a refundable deposit of Rs 25 lakh and charg es Rs 25,000 per person. It pro-vides a food and beverages c e n t re, m e d i c a l f a c i l i t y, concierge, daily housekeeping and gymnasium.
Tata Housing’s Riva Resi-dences consists of 187 units, of which 127 are sold, according to the company. These are 2-3 BHK apartments, with prices starting at Rs 50 lakh.
Ozone says it sold all 314 apartments under Serene Liv-ing and customers are expect-ed to occupy them mid-year. They range between 1BHK to 3BHK flats, and cost up to Rs 60 lakh.
Brigade’s Parkside Homes consist of 160 apartments, 90% of which are sold and posses-sion is expected early next year. “High-profile corporate retirees are moving in,” resi-dential chief executive Om
Ahuja said.These homes find three
types of buyers -- senior cor-porate executives who book together to plan their retire-ment, those who stay abroad and wor ry about parents living in independent houses, besides senior citizens who don’t have a support mecha-nism, said Ahuja.
Builders tap the grey market
At 32.1 degrees Celsius, the sun was unrelenting o n F e b r u a r y 2 8 . MR Sathyaraj, 90, up early as was his routine,
was driven nearly 40km from his home to a posh hotel on Residency Road. His task: Speak to people who are looking at settling into homes designed for the retired and elderly. “Senior living homes,” Sathyaraj said.
He spoke eloquently. “The meet was to showcase our property with all its facilities, and we thought it best to make people living there our ambassadors,” MN Shan-thasheela, general manager of Primus Eden on Kanakapura Road, said.
These projects are designed to take care of the needs of elders, and come as the perfect solution for families where the young are busy chasing dreams, and the sen-iors want to lead a free and digni-fied life.
“We have a 24/7 medical aid facility, we are close to a hospital. Customized food, reading area, swimming pools, a place for fitness and well-being, besides the manag-ers organize other programmes to keep us busy. I have all the com-forts I wanted,” says Shank Srini-vas, 84.
Tina Mahajan, 58, has an eye problem. “Earlier, I lived with do-mestic helps who were unreliable.
Now, I am tak-en care of well and we really like it here.” Husband Chan-dar Mahajan, 7 4 , a n d s h e have lived in
more than one country but find this place works best for them.
Lalit Lakhotia says as he exer-cises: “When we lived by our-selves, we were dependent on ser-vice providers like domestic help, cook, driver…. There was no guar-antee they would stick around, they needed supervision and we weren’t free of responsibilities. Here, we are doing what our hearts want to, with a lot of time for hobbies and exercise.”
The concept, in vogue in the West, is becoming a lifestyle trend in Indian cities, which are slowly beginning to push the elderly to the edges. Even Bengaluru, Pension-ers’ Paradise, as it was called back then. Now a competitive dream-land with shrinking public spaces, decaying parks, little patience, less safety, and almost no place to walk. Some global reports named it among the worst places for the old to live.
Yet, it’s a favourite with seniors. “I’ve seen many places in my ser-vice years, but when it came to set-tling down, it had to be Bangalore,” Air Chief Marshal H Major had said four years ago.
Pub City was a young metropo-lis in the 1970s and 1980s, but not alien to the elderly. Home to PSUs and state government-run institu-tions, several people settled down here post retirement. Senior de-fence personnel also made Ben-galuru, a land of gardens and lakes, their home.
Post 1991, things began to
change. New educational institu-tions and new economy jobs saw an influx of the young. By the mid-2000s, riding the IT dream, Ben-galuru’s demography changed. By 2010, Bengaluru was an old me-tropolis with a young population. Many were using it as a launch pad for careers abroad, leaving parents here, dependent and lonely.
The demand for old age homes began to grow. Something still ac-cepted with a frown in Indian so-ciety. Many seniors found them-selves in such homes, which were more like orphanages.
This was an opportunity for the real estate sector, which began putting plans on drawing boards, and came up with community pro-jects. According to a 2016 Jones Lang LaSalle report, Bengaluru has nearly 10 retirement projects coming up on the outskirts, while a few are already operational.
Sathyaraj is among many who have come to accept and even praise these homes. “Have you seen heaven?” asks Ranjit Lilani, 76, a retired businessman who spent many years in Nairobi and is now settled in Bengaluru. His question, while rhetorical, may seem to have an exaggerated answer – but it’s apparent Lilani is happy.
PM Chandrashekar, a doctor who is also in charge of the facil-ity, says: “Not too far from the city, and people to take care of other facilities, we find this convenient and also less lonely.”
A few kilometres away is Su-vidha, another such project. “This is a retirement village,” says Ashok Dey, 78. “There are multiple advantages -- physical security,
medical facilities, and all other needs are taken care of.”
Dey says these aren’t like old age homes. “We chose to invest our money here and came by choice. Several people have properties in Bengaluru but prefer to live in such facilities.” Satish Rao, whom Dey calls a ‘snow bird’, has in-vested in a cottage here although he only comes when it gets too cold in Canada.
While seniors continue to make Bengaluru their home, such facili-ties are for those with the resourc-es, and are not going to replace old age homes. For them, there is no empty nest syndrome: while their young are taking wing, they are building new nests of their own.
BIGP I C T U R E
TIMES VIEW
In a society where the young are too busy to care for
parents, retirement homes appear to be the ideal solution and should not be looked upon as a segregation or ghettoisation of the elderly. This is a niche concept and may go against the traditional Indian joint family system, but the positives are many: seniors are cared for professionally, lead safe and meaningful lives, and most important, are not lonely. We need to accept it as a reality, without guilt. At the same time, we ought to spare a thought for those abandoned in old age homes. Surely, their lives can be bettered too.
Pensioners’ Paradise COMES FULL CIRCLE
ASSISTED LIVING A BIG DRAWWhile there are various business
models for retirement villages/homes, one common feature all have is ‘assisted living’, which is why seniors prefer these places. It means a long-term system that has senior care options. This system provides personal care and support like food, bathing, cleaning, posting material, shopping, transportation and so on. The most important aspect is healthcare and medication. In all, projects in Bengaluru have a 24/7 doctor on site. An ambulance is parked within the facility, there are duty nurses and in-house helps who keep track of medication of the seniors.
Besides, there are several other options, including personalized food, depending on health conditions.
GOOD CARE: Chandar Mahajan and Tina Mahajan, who have lived in more than one country, find the retirement home on Kanakapura Road works best for them
SPECIAL DESIGN
Shower controls with anti-scald devices
Emergency call systems in bathroom, bedroom
Convenient sliding windows
Anti-skid tiles
Wide corridors with support railings and grab bars
Well-equipped gym
Multi-purpose lounge, dining halls
with running kitchens, indoor pools, massage centres
Reading room
Concierge services, housekeeping, laundry
Clubhouse with recreational therapist
24/7 healthcare with telemedicine facility
COMFORT ZONE
Builders have to keep special design features in mind, like
specifically designed elevators, doors, passage-turning radius and proper staircases. Some
other features
Pics: Chethan Shivakumar
RIGHT MIX: PM Chandrashekar, a doctor who is also in charge of the retirement home on Kanakapura Road in Bengaluru, says the facility is convenient and also less lonely
FREE & FUN: Lalit Lakhotia says they are doing what their hearts want to, with a lot of time for hobbies and exercise
IN SYNC: The performance of KidsGlobal School students was impressive
