How a train journey led to a lifeline: Online community gives seniors a lease of life

New Indian Express

08-05-2025

KOCHI: The world can be a daunting place for those aged 60 and above, especially when one becomes the soft target of scamsters and others trying to exploit your inability to navigate the maze of technological evolution. This was the sad truth that a 30-year-old realised on a train journey.
Shijin K P got to experience first-hand how travel agents dupe the elderly by promising them travel packages at exorbitant rates. Taking note of the issues faced by seniors, he formed a WhatsApp community, named 'How Old Are You,' to help them in their time of need.
Shijin details the events that led to the formation of the community, which today has more than 400 members, all of whom are over 55 years of age and from different walks of life. 'The journey on board Mangala Express from Kerala to Delhi was the turning point.
During the journey, which took over two days, I interacted with co-passengers, who were mostly those above 60. Talking to them, I realised that they were all travelling to Delhi for various purposes and had relied on travel agents for bookings. I understood that they had been robbed blind by agents. And when I pointed it out to them, most of them said that since they had no one, including children, to rely on, they paid good money to ensure a safe journey.'
Shijin was pained by the situation of the elderly co-passengers, who were all retirees. 'On the entire journey, I decided to help them out with things like accessing food and other necessities. The language barrier was another problem that I helped them out with,' says Shijin, who later discussed the issues with his friends in Delhi. 'We formed the community and decided that the first task would be to make the seniors tech-savvy,' says Shijin.
He and his friends began teaching the members on use of WhatsApp, Google Meet and other apps. The senior citizens were then taught the fundamentals of artificial intelligence (AI).
'We then created activities that helped them connect with their old selves and brush up on their latent talents like poetry writing. Initially, it was tough, but as the sessions progressed their writing skills developed significantly and we even had members composing songs on Suno AI,' he adds.