STARTUP WITH A SOUL

India is getting older and lonelier, and that is where The Goodfellows come in, pairing youngsters with senior citizens and offering them comfort, care and company

- BY POOJA BIRAIA PHOTOS BY AMEY MANSABDAR

AT A RECENT graduation ceremony in Mumbai, a man in his eighties stood out. He was no parent, neither a professor, yet there he was, standing quietly in the crowd. When the young woman on stage saw him, she broke into a smile, walked down, and pulled him into the frame. “He is the most special person in the crowd,” she said, wrapping an arm around him. To her, he was family. The applause that followed was not just for her. It was for the bond they had built—one weekly visit at a time. That moment was not staged. It was a snapshot of the ethos of The Goodfellows, a social enterprise that pairs young adults (called goodfellows) with grandpals—senior citizens who live alone or crave meaningful companionship.

In that college, at that time, it was a grandpal who had come to attend the graduation ceremony of his goodfellow.