“Kya leke aaye the, kya leke jaaoge”, apparently a thought worth considering. We are born with nothing, and we end our journey with nothing. Everything else in between is a journey called life.
This thought is the driving force behind most of my decisions. My name is Abhay Patil, a 59-year-old VP of Marketing working for an advertising firm in Mumbai. Coming from the creative industry, I often wonder: after this journey ends, where will my quest for the unknown take me? My kids are in the USA, and I have enough money to start painting on the empty canvas called life.
This quest for a new and exciting phase of life set me on the voyage called the senior living hunt, preferably away from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai somewhere in the lap of Mother Nature, like Talegaon, Pune, or Lonavala.
On this voyage, fortunately, I am not alone. I have a few friends, just like in the movie Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest), the 1970 film by Satyajit Ray. Together, we are on a quest to find the best experiences life has to offer.
What surprised me the most is no one except Cradle of Life is offering the senior living facility on a rental model. But why? This is surprising for me. Senior living is about a 10–15 year old concept in India; still, something this basic has gone unnoticed this far. Has it really gone unnoticed, or did developers think of it as white noise and move on? When it comes to senior living communities, sure, if you want to, you could Do all the research, hunt for listings, reach out to the current owner negotiate a deal, bring in your own furniture and start living in but honestly that’s a lot of hassle. Personally, I wouldn’t want to go through all that. That’s where the difference with Cradle of Life is clear: they’ve single-handedly taken care of everything, from ready-to-move-in interiors to maintenance and amenities, making the whole experience effortless and truly stress-free with allowing rental options because honestly I, being driven by “Kya leke aaye the, kya leke jaaoge,” do not want to own a senior living residence. I am just interested in the experience it provides. I sold the same thought to my friends. After all, I am a marketing guy and have my way around with words. Here is what I told them:
Experience-Heavy and Capital-Light: At this juncture of life, this is our last canvas. We would not want to buy a truck full of colors, it’s absolutely unnecessary. Similarly, we like the experiences that are provided by senior living: the freedom, purpose, happiness, and health that come along with it, but not the real estate part of it. We should not spend 80–90 lacs towards acquiring a property, especially when our kids most likely will never come back to India.
Why Rental Makes More Sense: Buying a flat in senior living is like buying an aircraft because you have to travel from Mumbai to Pune, that’s absolutely crazy. You will buy a ticket and travel from Mumbai to Pune. Besides being capital-light, you are paying for what you want. Why do you go to senior living? To have a social life, to be with like-minded people. So, it’s essentially the experience that draws you towards senior living, not the real estate part alone. Real estate is just 30–40% of the whole deal.
Moral of the story: why buy an aircraft when you can just buy the tickets and fly? Just rent and experience the life you always wanted.
Rental Is Service-Heavy: If we are living on rent, the service quality would be much better since the operator would also be afraid, because if we don’t like the service, we may exit. That’s not the case with buying, since you have already paid, no matter the service quality, you are stuck. And if there is a considerable number of people facing the same problem, the negative word of mouth would fly like wildfire and boom, no new takers for your ₹1 Cr house. Why would someone want to buy a senior living that does not provide the experience it promises?
My group absolutely loved the thought. It’s a known secret that our devices listen to us. Immediately after this conversation, YouTube showed a podcast featuring Sharad, the founder of Cradle of Life, and Dr. Murli from Jeevin. In the podcast, Sharad echoed the exact same things. This podcast convinced us to visit the only option offering a senior living facility on rental in Talegaon, Pune. We were impressed by this unique senior living project in Pune — probably the only one with a decentralized clubhouse, smart automations, and more. We got excited and called their sales team at 7065002233 and have scheduled the site visit on 14th Sept 2025.
Based on the true story of Abhay Patil, VP Marketing, this is not a one-off story. There are many such stories. We are thankful to the views of the podcast. Ever since the podcast has been live, seniors have shown incredible appreciation towards the uniqueness of Cradle of Life, and a lot of customers now want to opt for the rental model instead of outright purchase.
Cradle of Life is actually unique in terms of how the project has been planned, with two extended clubhouses within 7 meters of the apartments. Seniors can opt for long-term rental, shattering the ₹1.5–2 Cr entry barrier. Seniors who are retired and getting an 80–90K pension can also opt for senior living without having to worry about the entry barrier.
Cradle of Life is truly renting experiences; the only facility in India so far.