assisted living facilities – 25-year-old Shashwat Ghosh wakes up every day at 6 am and takes a bath. A routine is important for him.

He runs marathons to stay fit. After working in a hotel, he runs a small baking business in his Bengaluru apartment complex, and orders come to him on a WhatsApp group called Baker on the Block, created by his mother.

He delivers the order by evening. Every night, he prepares the next day’s menu with the help of his mother.

Now taking a break from business, he is learning to manage money digitally, at the insistence of his parents Malvika and Swapan. They find complex calculations challenging.

Shashwat is autistic, his brain processes things differently. When neurotic people meet the eternal, their speech may sound distorted; His insistence on being physically close while conversing can irritate some people, especially women. His parents conduct awareness and sensitization campaigns in their apartment complex to make others aware of their condition.

One day, a neighbor found him wandering on his bicycle on the walking track of his apartment, mumbling rapidly, and with his hand bleeding. She ran to alert her grandmother. Shashwat lives with his parents and grandmother, and has difficulty telling others about his physical injury.

“My husband and I are always worried about what will happen to them after us,” says Malavika.