The challenges of caring for elderly parents, when far away and in lockdown

Arundhuti Dasgupta on the anxiety and logistical challenges of caring for elderly parents during lockdown, especially if they are ailing and live away from you

It is not the best time for my nearly 80-year-old mother to be discovering that she lost her husband three years ago. My father had passed away after a prolonged illness. At the time, my mother, who had fretted and worried throughout his illness, was in the bear grip of a paralytic stroke. She has lived inside a cocoon of silence ever since, trapped in the labyrinth of her own mind. 

Now, in the middle of the lockdown, when my only connection with her is through FaceTime over a weak WiFi link, she has miraculously found her voice. And so she