For an ageing community like the Parsis, amongst others, the August 16, 2022 launch of Goodfellows by Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Trusts and chairman emeritus Tata Sons will a prove a blessing. The initiative of Cornell University graduate and general manager of Tata’s office Shantanu Naidu, the paid for service promises to "provide meaningful companionship to senior citizens who live alone. From grocery shopping to doctor’s appointment the fellows will do everything,” notes a 1.26 minute video produced by The Indian Express (IE). The seed money for the project has been provided by Tata.
Ratan Tata, seated, center, with Shantanu Naidu, seated r, and other Goodfellows
"No one minds getting old till you actually get old… Getting good natured companionship, which we take for granted is a challenge,” stated Tata, according to a report in The Hindu (TH) of August 16. Tata added he would be delighted if the service "matures into something which innovatively changes people’s lives.”
Goodfellows will hire young empathetic graduates with the "right emotional intelligence” to work as companions for the senior citizen clients’ and ease the day for them with any tasks or just talk with them, states TH. Subscriptions will start at Rs 5,000 after a month’s free service, notes the report. A companion would visit a client three times a week, spending up to four hours per visit. Goodfellows "plans to have 100 registered companions serving about 350-400 seniors across the country.” The company has been working with 20 elders for the last six months in its beta (testing) phase and plans to branch out to Poona, Madras and Bangalore next. Fellows have the option of taking up internship for three, six or nine months and they are paid a nominal fee, noted IE of August 17.
Twenty-six-year-old Naidu told IE that his "personal bond with seniors led to this idea… That bond peaked with Mr Tata in my life… It is a sort of goofy relationship where we are professional when we are working, and we are sort of fooling about, pulling each other’s leg and introducing each other to new things…If there is a gap among seniors who are now alone, and youngsters who want to pursue fulfilling careers, I can do something about it.”
In 2021 Naidu authored i came upon a lighthouse: a short memoir of life with Ratan Tata on his interaction with the businessman (see "Of heart and story,” Books, Parsiana, May 21-June 6, 2021).