The orchestra was in full flow. A few seniors had even risen from their chairs and began to slowly sway to the beats of a popular Hindi film song; they were clapping their hands or trying to sing along. Some of the wheelchair-bound patients did the same while being seated. It was an entertainment session organised by an assisted living centre for its residents. The space — a hospital cum commune — located by the banks of a river offers round-the-clock assistance for 70-plus senior citizens with all kinds of medical conditions.

There’s a catch, however, to this picture-perfect scenario. This space is in faraway Vashind, or “The Boondocks”, as an acquaintance, a Worli resident, chose to call it. And even if you’re a suburbanite like this columnist, it is still a long distance to cover. So why go so far, I’ve often been asked. Truth is, the city and its suburbs are starved of good-quality, medically secure and safe homes that offer senior citizens a dignified life. The few options that met these requirements within city limits, and may I add, good options, having done innumerable recces and physical visits over the past few years for my own father, will need you to fall into a certain income bracket, way beyond what most journalists and middle-class folk can afford. And, then, consider the big questions of hygiene and round-the-clock care. It’s either one or the other. I’ve covered the city and the suburbs, twice over and I can safely say that it leads to shocking revelations and terrible compromises.