Valentine’s Day | Two initiatives reimagining love for the disabled and for senior citizens

Explore innovative initiatives transforming love for the disabled and seniors, fostering meaningful connections and combating loneliness this Valentine’s Day.

When Mumbai-based Khushi Ganatra, 35, turned to dating apps to look for a life partner, or even a companion, she had no luck. “No one wants to talk to me once I state that I am a wheelchair user,” she says. Born with spina bifida, Ganatra’s experience reflects the quiet exclusion faced by many persons with disabilities (PWDs) seeking intimacy and belonging.

On Valentine’s Day, when the idea of companionship is widely feted, for PWDs, forming romantic and social connections often remains far more complex. “It doesn’t even strike my own family that I have desires and dream of marriage,” says Ganatra.

Many PWDs face insurmountable barriers when navigating mainstream dating and social networking platforms. The challenges range from poor accessibility and lack of inclusive design to social stigma and rejection based solely on disability.

According to WHO/UN estimates, globally more than 16% of the population lives with a significant disability, indicating the number of Indians with disabilities could be over 200 million (more than 10 crore). And Cupid can be cruel.

(L to R) Gopika Kapoor and her son Vir, with Mihan and his mother Moneisha Gandhi. Kapoor and Gandhi are the founders of the Buddy Up Network (BUN) app.

It took two Mumbai-based women, mothers of neurodivergent boys, to plug this gap and offer a ray of hope for this section of society.