IIM-A student skips placement to employ elderly people

AHMEDABAD: It is that time of the year when students of the graduating batch at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) are leaving no stone unturned to bag hefty pay packages and land cushy corporate jobs. One of the students, however, is least swayed by this hustle bustle of the campus placements, pondering over an idea of bridging the gap between the past and the future. He wants to do this by facilitating the transfer of traditional knowledge and values of the elderly to the young.

In this endeavor, Chandresh Maithil, 28, who will be graduating this year, is channeling his skills and knowledge in setting up kindergartens for children. Maithil's kindergartens, which will be called 'Naani Ka Ghar', will operate with the help of the retired and elderly people.

"These kindergartens will be a self-sustaining social platform that would allow a two-way exchange of benefits between the children and the elderly," said Maithil, who has four years of work experience before coming to study at IIM-A.

He explains that this is a model based on the arrangements of nature. As young parents go out to search food, the elderly stay at home to take care of the children, passing on traditional knowledge and values as they play with them. With changing lifestyles and emergence of nuclear families, there is an emerging gap between the traditional past and the children which needs to be bridged.

"By playing with and learning from elderly people, the kids will be exposed to lot of love, gentleness and knowledge. The elderly people, who have a lot of time on their hands, will be able to engage themselves into activities with the children and keep themselves busy, thereby avoiding boredom and loneliness," said Maithil.

The student's plan is to start a small model venture in one of the localities where there are a good number of elderly people. Once he streamlines the pros and cons of the models and mends the loopholes, he will expand by tying up with old-age homes.

"India has a huge population of young people. Someday, this population will be growing old as well. There is inadequacy for such arrangements for the ageing people in the country today," said Maithil.