Loneliness is one of the hardest parts of growing old alone. In Pune, Madhav Damle decided to do something about it.
Damle, a Pune-based service engineer, first saw the loneliness of older people while volunteering with the Lions Club and visiting old age homes. In 2010 he set up an old age home on his family’s land in Wai, near Mahabaleshwar. There he met widowed and single seniors whose children rarely visited.
Happy Seniors
In 2012, he started Happy Seniors, a group that helps single, widowed and divorced people over 50 find a companion. Members can choose to marry or to live together. Damle points to Indian court rulings that adults living together without marriage is not illegal.
- Where: Pune, Nagpur and Mumbai
- How: members pay a one-time fee of ₹7,000 and meet at regular get-togethers, where around 20 new members join each time
- Checks: members are asked whether their children know, and whether they are financially secure
- Safeguards: partners each put a fixed amount in a bank account with the other named as holder, as protection for both
Love, again
About 150 people have found companionship through the group, according to The Better India. Among them are Anil Yardi and Asawari Kulkarni, who met at a Happy Seniors meet and have been together for nine years. Asawari had been widowed since 1997.
The very first match was a woman in her fifties and a man in his sixties. They dated for a year, then married.
Why it matters
Many older Indians live alone after losing a spouse, often with children in other cities. Companionship is good for both mental and physical health. Yet seniors who want a new partner still face stigma, often from their own families. Groups like Happy Seniors are slowly changing that.
Source: The Better India, updated 14 February 2026. healthyageing.world has no connection with Happy Seniors.