Covid-19 lockdown: Loneliness worries senior citizens in Patna

B K Mishra | TNN | Updated: Apr 5, 2020, 07:30 IST

Two women walks on a deserted road to buy essential commodities in Patna on Saturday.

PATNA: The nationwide lockdown to prevent spread of Covid-19 has compelled senior citizens of the city to remain completely isolated from the society. While some have welcomed this 'confinement', others are struggling with loneliness, restricted mobility and lack of financial security.
Eighty-year-old Ramesh Prasad Singh, a resident of Anandpuri locality in west Patna and his ailing wife are facing great hardship in having their meals regularly. As the maid and the cook have stopped visiting Singh's house after the declaration of lockdown and he does not know how to cook, they are facing some difficulties in getting food and medicines on time. "Thanks to our neighbours residing in the apartment where we live in, we are getting some food and also the essential medicines," said Singh, a retired bank employee.
Seventy-eight-year-old Mahesh Chandra, a retired professor of Magadh University, who resides at Rajendra Nagar, manages the things somehow with the help of his domestic help, but he is feeling restless ever since the lockdown has been enforced. He used to visit parks and spend considerable time with the relatives and friends residing in the neighbourhood, but now he is confined entirely to his flat. "This has made me desperate and sometimes I get nervous," he said.
However, 90-year-old Nageshwar Prasad Sharma, state's former director of higher education, hardly finds any perceptible change in his life during lockdown. He continues reading books and composing poems and essays on topics of his interest. The only change in his daily routine these days is that he has stopped guiding students for various competitive examinations as most of them have left for their native homes. He has been teaching physics to a number of undergraduate students free of cost for the last several decades. "Mobile and newspapers keep me busy these days," he said.
Eighty-two-year-old Bishwanth Verma, a retired officer of a reputed medical firm, resides with his wife at S K Puri locality. His siblings are settled in the USA and Japan and hence, he had visualized this lockdown more than a fortnight ago. He does not get bored even for a second as he always keeps himself busy with his usual practice of laughter therapy.
Environmentalist Mehta Nagendra Singh (80), who resides with his doctor wife at Kankarbagh, is utilizing the lockdown period in cleaning his house and rearranging his bookshelves and almirahs. He has got more than 5,000 books in his possession and he is arranging all these books subject wise. Singh spends some time in gardening, his very old hobby.
Seventy four-year-old Narbdeshwar Dayal, retired director of Geological Survey of India, said, "The lockdown has compelled us to remain confined to ourselves and lead a disciplined life. Even though I have stopped walking on the road, I do regular exercise and yoga to keep myself physically and mentally fit. I hardly find any difference in my daily routine following the lockdown," he said.