Ageing is perceived as a transition from one set of roles to another set of roles structured by the social system in Indian society. Physical and mental health is interrelated as both have an impact on the life of an individual. Stress among aged people is a common feeling, and bad feelings, sadness and worry generally characterize it. The stress of creative, constructive and successful work is beneficial, whereas the stress of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental. [1]Loss of personal space and privacy and continuous household works creates stress for older women, and this has been illustrated with the support of a case here. Mrs.Ponni is a thin, slender woman aged 70 years old residing with the daughter’s family in the outskirt of Madurai town of South Tamil Nadu,India. Her husband was a Government retired teacher, and he died 15 years ago due to physical ailments. Mrs.Ponni has hearing problems where she could hear only in her right ear and not in the left. She is physically healthy as she does all the domestic activities like washing, cooking and cleaning the house regularly. She does not have significant ailments, and she gets knee pain when she works continuously. When asked about her life routine, she stated that for the past 50 years, she had the same life routine like waking up at 5.00 AM and doing all the household works and supporting the family members to get ready for their school and office work and close the house door at 10.00 AM. When the house members come back from their office work in the evening, Mrs Ponni's work starts in the kitchen, and she finally goes to bed at 11.00 PM. When she was in her 20's age, she worked for her husband and in-laws, and later her domestic work increased as she had to take care of her three sons and one daughter. Even after the death of her husband and after her children got married, she was not able to come out of kitchen work as she started to bring up her grandchildren since their parents go out for work. On weekends all the three sons with their spouse and children would visit her which makes to prepare breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner for 15 members. It is quite shocking to know she cannot come out of the kitchen work even she wishes. Kitchen work and other domestic work has become a lifelong trap for her. Elderly Women face stress and depression due to living within the house and limited access to the outside world.[2] She receives the pension amount of her husband, and economically, she is stable now, and she could spend money for her medical expenses and for her grandchildren. She is a voracious reader that she loves to read historical novels. She lives with her daughter and son in law, and both are Government employees and with two grandsons. She loves to visit her siblings and attend family functions in her native village. Due to her domestic work, she could not participate in any special occasions, which she regrets enormously. Though she wants to visit many places, her caretaker role does not allow it and makes her stay inside the house.Her long time dream is to have a get together with her brothers and sisters, and she feels that her dream should not be a mirage. Nowadays, she gets into a high level of stress due to Covid lockdown. She states that all these years, all the family members except her leaves the house by 10.00 AM and comes back around 3.00 PM. She had her own time and space where she listens to news and songs on television after completing the household works, talks with her relatives over the phone, and eats healthy snacks. The lockdown has created an environment where her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons are at home and

follow their routine life. Life has become upside down due to lockdown. Her everyday life is disturbed where the kitchen work has become a full day work. Though her daughter supports it, Mrs.Ponni is not happy about that. She feels the peacefulness in the house has gone as most of the time grandsons are watching their favourite programme with high volume and not listening to her words. There is a rift in the relationship among the family members as everyone struggles to be at home 24X7. With tears in her eyes, she reveals that her privacy and happiness have gone with family members' presence. She feels very lonely even in the fact of family members’ presence in the house. People need to become aware that staying healthy is not merely a matter of a good diet, taking vitamins or even doing proper physical exercise. More crucial than any of these factors is keeping a healthy state of mind”. [3] This case study reveals the sufferings of women at old age though they are financially viable/ independent. Women are always considered secondary citizens in India, and the situation of aged women is so pathetic that they have to play the role of caretaker for their entire life. This case study has broken the myth that elders with financial stability can lead a peaceful life. Here though the respondent is financially viable, emotionally she is very upset. Though she does not have to be in the kitchen daily, her situation demands her. The primary reason for the person's stress, in this case, is loss of her own space and privacy and continuous household work. Mental health of the elders is a public health concern where the state and Non Government organizations should address it with empathy. In this case, the family members should be given awareness about the significance of mental health of elderly woman and how they should take care of her.

Table 1: Age-wise Care giving responsibilities.

1. Hans S. "The Stress of Life. New York: McGraw-HillBook Co."  USA1956.
2. Meenakshi JR. "Geriatric depression among the retired elders in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India." Indian Journal of Community Health. 2018;30:4 2018.
3. Rama, Swami. A practical guide to holistic health. Himalayan Institute Press, 1999.