As part of “Aspire & Inspire”, we are group of school friends and some like-minded people, who have come together to contribute back to the society. We have adopted a non-monetary approach, whereby we primarily like to contribute by way of our time rather than monetarily. It’s not that monetary (or contribution by way of kind) assistances are not necessary but we feel any form of significant monetary contribution needs to be monitored, of its end use. So where we come across instances where there is a need of monetary contribution, we don’t shy away from it either.
So this visit to Old Age Home was our second event in our “Aspire & Inspire” program and also our second visit to Old Age Home back to back. However, this visit was a little different from the earlier one, in the sense that the residents have been admitted in this Old Age Home by their family / loved ones voluntarily and their stay were paid for fully. The centre was close to a beach. We had planned to reach the location early so that we could have lunch on the beach side before we headed to the centre. The lunch was good but the location was very prime for a picturesque sunset. We decided that we could come back from the centre to enjoy the panoramic sunset moment.
After reaching the centre we were briefed about the residents and the dos and don’ts. We realized that the residents in this centre were primarily admitted because they were suffering from terminal illness, like Alzheimer, Parkinson’s, etc. The idea of admitting the residents into the centre was that they could be taken care of physically by a dedicated team and all the required attention could be provided in a professional manner. In the city of Mumbai, the residential apartments are quite cramped and finding a dedicated / trusted help is always a challenge. In such dedicated centre(s) the physical care can be directed and monitored with much ease for the resident beneficiaries. The relatives of the residents can come, meet and spend quality time with them and also get updates of the resident’s well-being.
Our intention was not to check the functioning of the centre but we found the centre was well maintained, staff were well mannered and trained to meet day-to-day requirements of the resident patients. We wanted to spend couple of hours with the patients and see if we could bring about a degree of aspiration and inspiration in their lives to live one another day with happiness. We were about seven of us (Nisrin, Lydia, Shikha, Tarun, Shobha, Deeda, and myself) and about 20 resident patients plus another about 5 employees of the centre.
We were told that practically all the residents were not strong enough to stand by themselves. In order to reduce the risk of any accident we decided to make them sit on a chair and form a big circle. First we introduced ourselves and tried to know them with little assistance from the centre employees. Some of the residents had speech impairment therefore the staff helped in prompting them where ever necessary. Some of the resident members had interesting past, one of them was an elected politician, one of them was a back-stage Bollywood singer during her hey days, some-where just common citizens trying to live a decent old age life, etc. One lady was into her 80s and refused to step down from her room till she was satisfied with her overall makeover. She had matching jewellery with her saree, elegantly done make-up, matching footwear, etc. And when she walked down, she wooed everyone with her grace and beauty. We were told that we could not start the games without her presence. It was worth waiting for her to join. Even the resident employees dressed up themselves for the informal games / event. We started feeling that we were little under-dressed for the occasion.
We agreed to play the game “passing the parcel”, after a small hunt we found a small ball and music was arranged after a little technical struggle. The rule was that whoever was caught with the ball when the music stopped, had to perform an activity of their choice. Our share of the joy was that we had to help some of them to receive or pass the ball as the music played on. The thrill in the game was high, we found ourselves jumping and shouting the resident’s nicknames like small kids in excitement. We had to co-ordinate to cheat a bit such that the music stopped when ball reached select people so that everyone got a chance to perform. We were pleasantly surprised that some of them wanted their chance to come early. Their acts included singing, dancing, narrating their stories, etc. Their performance even took their caretakers by surprise. Veena, the head of the centre said that inspite of their stay with us for number of years even we were not aware of their talents. Maybe spending time together and ability to connect with them, helped us to bring their talent to the fore-front. The positive vibes was building gradually and the spirit of joy had reached its peak that when the game ended, everyone wanted to dance to the music
We all were so consumed with the feeling of gratitude that we over stayed and missed our sunset moments. None of the residents including the staff did not want to stop the activities but it was time for the patients to rest and head to their rooms for their chores and medicines. We exchanged goodbyes and promised we would be back at some stage with more of our friends.
By the time we had finished and wrapped up from the centre, we were famished. So we decided to treat ourselves with pani-puri and other chaat snacks on the way. It was beautiful day.
As human’s we need to live each single day to the fullest, because we don’t know when the internal chip in our body will give up on us. Further living each day will help us to create unlimited finer moments of life, which we can cherish and refresh during our moments of solitude.
PS: As part of the community service @ Aspire & Inspire, if we collect any amount to carry some snacks, gifts, etc. for the beneficiaries, no amount is used to meet any of the expenses towards our travel, food, etc. Those are borne by us individually.
Sukumar Jain, a Mumbai-based finance professional with global experience, is also a passionate traveler, wildlife enthusiast, and an aficionado of Indian culture. Alongside his career, which includes diverse roles in international banking and finance, he's working on a wildlife coffee table book and enjoys sculpture and pottery. His interests span reading non-fiction to engaging in social and global networking.
