Email
Print
ShareMUMBAI: Christmas is the season of good cheer, of giving and receiving, of family reunions. But what if you no longer live with your family and the only time you get to see them is during 'special' visits; when the only family you have left are the people who inhabit the same old age home that you do?
At Little Sisters Poor Home for the Aged in Andheri, Christmas season begins early --almost a month before Christmas. "People start coming to visit their relatives a month in advance, bringing gifts," says Sister Mary Joseph.
"But it is the visit in itself that is special to them," she adds. Some relatives even take them home. However, there are many who prefer staying back as they are not treated too well when they go home. Some residents don't get any visits at all. "It's a horrible feeling when other residents get family visits during Christmas, and no one from my family comes," says Desmond Alexander.
It isn't just family members who come to spread Christmas cheer. All Saint's Homegets visited by many different groups of people who sing carols and perform skits for the residents. Roger D' Silva, who works at Wipro, heads a team that visits Little Sisters Poor Home For The Aged every year. "It is a special feeling -- many of the people here don't have anyone coming to call on them any more," says D' Silva.
Another Wipro team member Roshni Anthony takes along her three-year-old sons, Eric and Chris, to the home. Both dress as Santa Claus. Eric makes it a point to tell his doting audience that he is the real Santa and his brother, a fake. "The older folk are so happy when they meet the children," says Anthony.
The residents realise that Christmas is approaching as they notice the place being done up and one notices a sudden high in their spirits, says Sister Irene of Little Sisters Home for the Aged. Many a times they actually break out into a jig, she says. Ask Sister Francisca. She has just come from Tamil Nadu to join the Little Sisters Poor Home For The Aged in Andheri.
"There is so much happiness and fervour amongst the residents, that often we feel old," she says. "Christmas is the time to party and dance," says 62-year-old Pia Diaz, sitting in a wheelchair, as she holds out her hands and asks her roommate to dance with her.
