Making the senior citizens smile

With the objective of contributing towards the betterment of senior citizens, Mount Carmel College hosted its annual mela for the elderly on Saturday.

Students of the human development department organised the event. Students invited inmates of old-age homes—particularly of neighbouring areas—to participate in the mela. Eighty-two senior citizens from seven old-age homes arrived at the campus to take part in various activities organised for them, including a number of games. Through this initiative, along with generous donations from sponsors, MCC students collected about Rs80,000, which has been donated to HelpAge India, an NGO that works towards serving the senior citizens. The money will go towards 30 cataract operations, said Vishaka, one of the students involved in the programme. Kalambi, who has been residing at Nightingale Home for more than 10 years now, was all praises for the event.

“The event is first class. We are all having a gala time!” she said.
Most of those present at the mela have been residing at various old-age homes, primarily for the same reason: “We started being a burden on our children. This (going to old-age home) was the best decision for the both of us,” they said. However, this has not let it dampen their spirits. Andrews, who is fairly new to the setup, has been a resident at the Friend in Need Society in Shivajinagar for the past 10 months.

“We have about 57 members in the home. Although I am fairly new here, I’ve already made plenty of friends. It feels just like home. I am happy,” he said, not wanting to dwell on the reasons that landed him in the old-age home. Echoing the sentiments, Kalami says he loves being at Nightingale.
“Its almost like a second life,” he said and laughed.

“There is no scope for loneliness or boredom. We have lectures on various topics, philosophy, medicine etc. The home also organises an outing every month, which all of us look forward to. This is my family now, we are loving life!”