What’s Behind My Mother’s Obsession With Food?

by Diverse Elders | Dec 26, 2019

by Jaya Padmanabhan. This article originally appeared in India Currents. “What did you eat today?” my mother, Sarada, begins her phone conversation with my twenty-three-year-old daughter in New York. When my daughter explains that she made rasam and sautéed...

As Death Approaches, Older Indian Americans Unprepared for the End

by Diverse Elders | Jul 30, 2019

by Viji Sundaram. This article originally appeared on India West. See the full slide show by Viji Sundaram at https://tinyurl.com/y5kc8fpk The 88-year-old man looked gray and emaciated, the outline of his collarbones clearly visible under the loose fitting gown he...

A Mouthful of Pain for Older People: Sen. Cardin Introduces Medicare Dental Benefit

by Diverse Elders | Mar 6, 2019

by Viji Sundaram. This article originally appeared in India West. When Sanjog Kaur could no longer bear the pain around her upper molar that had been bothering her for months, she took a needle-nose pliers from her husband’s toolbox one recent day, sterilized it in...

Immigrant elders find relief with affordable housing in NYC, but feel isolated from community

by Meera Venugopal | Aug 20, 2018

This article originally appeared on the India Home blog. Nurul Khan and his wife Farida Begum are an older Bengali couple from Queens who lived for 30 years in damp basement apartments in Jamaica, Queens. “It was so damp I got arthritis,” Farida Begum said to visitors...

Pains, Trains, and no Automobiles: Abu Sayeed’s Commute Highlights Transportation Difficulties for Elders in NYC

by Meera Venugopal | Jun 6, 2018

This article originally appeared on the India Home blog. Three mornings a week, Abu Sayeed, 64, wakes up in his home in Cyprus Hills in Brooklyn, NY, worrying about the subway. He wonders if he’ll manage get the right train. How long will he have to wait? As he gets...