Chapter 66
I called up that
teacher who had left the children’s NGO for an old age home. But she is
currently in her native place in Trivandrum. She said she will be back in a
week or so and then she will take me to the old age home to see how I can
contribute there.
So as of now I
am enjoying this relaxation phase where I don’t have to get up early for
office. I don’t have to worry about catching a seat in Mumbai locals or which
bus to catch from Kanjurmarg or which train to catch while coming back home! I
am fully enjoying all the recommended sitcoms and romantic comedy movies and I
am reading a lot nowadays. I still haven’t reached that place where I can start
writing a book. I just write small articles and poems and about some
experiences here and there, but not at all the kind of stuff that Abhishek sir
writes. I need a little more time to reach there and of course a lot of
practice.
As of now I am reading Dominique Lapierre’s “City of Joy”. Brilliant
book it is. Absolutely loving it. If I ever write a book, I would love to write
something along these lines.
I had also gone
to a resort in Karjat with my family last week. After working in the IT
industry for so many years, I had kind of forgotten what enjoyment is. I am
taking this time to find the real me.
I so damn want
to hear the compere at an International Literature festival call out my name
and say, “Ladies and gentlemen, this year’s Booker goes to Ms Sneha Kulkarni”.
Ohhhhh wow! It would be so awesome!
I have lots to
share with you dear diary. I have sort of become the apple of the eye of these
dear grannies and grandpas here! I am not trying to boast or anything, but yes
this is the truth! I now know almost everyone by their names and their life
stories. I shudder to even think how children can be so so so ruthless to leave
their parents to spend the rest of their life in a secluded place where you are
surrounded by people who have met the same fate as yours. On one hand I feel
bad for these people and on the other hand I feel good for them, because here
at least they get love, respect, space and above all freedom to follow their
heart.
Some have
hobbies like reading books. Some love photography. The trustee here leaves no
stone unturned when it comes to keeping options open for the oldies. There is a
lovely park in the midst of the whole campus. On Saturday nights there are
events like singing or dancing sessions. I have been asked to come up with a
small funny skit. As a guitar player since many years, I have also been asked
to give guitar performances and then such musical sessions for all. People who
have the wish to take up guitar at this age are welcome. Next week that very
famous love author, Abhishek Agarwal sir, is going to come and meet everyone.
It seems that he had come for a motivation session a year ago and had asked
everyone to come up with a nice story or
painting or
some artwork. He is now going to award the best ones. It is sessions like these
that the dear grannies and grandpas look forward to. Amidst this chirpy and
positive picture, there is a lot of pain and sadness hidden too.
Nowadays I wake
up at 7.00. Every day I see the same thing from my room.
Mr Sharma, aged 64, stares at the small rivulet opposite the old age
home.
Mrs Patil, aged 73, keeps looking at and keeps fiddling with the
fence made of barbed wire and thorns.
Mr Gupte, aged 69, talks to the 10 year old mango tree planted in the
lawns of the old age home.
Mrs Gupta talks to cute puppies strolling around in the lawns. She
even runs and makes those cute puppies follow her in the campus. It’s good for
their health, she says.
The above scene is a small sample of what the old people of Aangan
Hamara do every day.
By around 7.30 AM, everybody is ready for the prayers in the hall.
They sing “Itni shakti hame dena daataa, man ka vishwaas kamjor ho na…” and
“Allah tero naam, eshwar tero naam…” I love waking up to such beautiful and
positive thoughts.
By 8 AM,
everybody is ready to have their breakfast. Newspapers are placed on the tables.
Day before yesterday I tried my hand at making upmaa for everyone. I had tried
making it 4-5 times as a bachelor. Almost everyone relished the upmaa that I
made. In fact, the cook, the
Varanasi guy,
had never tried making upmaa. So, when I made it, everyone loved it very much
and so my enthusiasm to try new things is growing day by day. More touching was
the fact that after having made the upmaa for the first time, that sweet
Kavitha Amma came up to me while I was having my breakfast. She smiled at me
and said, “Upmaa bahut accha banaya, beta. My daughter used to make such tasty
upmaa,” and handed me an ink pen. It looked like a very old one and so I asked
her why she had preserved an ink pen for so many years and why she was giving
it to me. She said, “This ink pen is very special to me. I had won it as a 1st prize in a
story writing competition held in our society. Out of all the 40 year olds who
participated in that competition, my story was adjudged the best. I had written
a story on an old couple who spend their last days in an old age home. At that
time, I never realized that I had written my own story. At this ripe age, that
story became a reality for me and my husband who passed away a few years ago…”
Tears started
flowing down her cheeks. She didn’t utter a word after that. Each tear was like
a scream, a silent scream. That pen is going to be with me till I die.
Good night!
Saahil’s Diary
4th March 2012
Last week I had
gone to that old age home where Abhishek sir had a small motivation session for
the uncles and aunties. Last time when sir had visited the old age home, he had
told them to write poems or short stories or draw some cartoons and such things
and then share it with him when he returns. He was supposed to go for a session
a few months ago, but he didn’t get time and hence he went last week. I also
accompanied sir and shared my experience of becoming an author in an anthology.
The old age
home called “Aangan Hamara” is situated in Sion. I know that it sounds more
like a children’s home than an old age home, but the trustee, a Gujarati
diamond trader, believes that old people are like children – they need care,
pampering and more love. I second that. It was the first time that I had been
to an old age home. It was a very humbling experience. There were a lot of
things that I could learn there. The old age home is spread over some 3-4
acres. There are around 90 women and 100 men there. The caretaker there – Mr
Sanjay Patil Bhau – took us to the hall where the motivation seminar was held.
It is during such times that we realize the importance of motivation. Imagine
how difficult it must be for an 80 year old woman to be thrown out of her own
house by her dear son and evil daughter-
in-law to spend
the last days of her life at a place where the company you get is of such
similarly distressed souls.
Abhishek sir
tried his best to fuse humour with motivation. I know it might seem like a
waste of time trying to motivate the old people to take up writing or some such
creative pursuit, but it’s very important for them to keep themselves busy with
something that will take their minds off of their haunted past. In fact, Sanjay
Bhau told us that they have hired some creative guy who stays in their guest
house and conducts creative and fun sessions for everyone. Nice guy he must be.
Didn’t get a chance to meet him as he was out for some personal work. I will
meet him some other day.
Out of 90
women, around 15 had written small one page articles and there was one aunty
who had written a short story of 6 pages. I better call her Granny instead of
aunty as she is 70 plus. She had written in Tamil and Hindi. Kavitha Pillai was
that granny’s name. A sweet old lady with dimples on both her cheeks and fitness
that one cannot expect from a person of that age. She is 72. This was the information
that I could gather about her during the brief meeting with her. Abhishek sir
praised her work and that made her really very happy. There was a sparkle in
her eyes when she was told that her short story was really good. Her story was
about an old couple thrown out their own house by their children and how that
old couple rediscovers the life that they had wasted looking after their
children and grandchildren. It was a story showcasing love, hope and
co-dependence. I totally loved it and no wonder she won the first prize. She
has kind of become an inspiration for me.
While leaving
for home, I went and met the person in charge of the old age home and promised
him that henceforth my weekends would only be for “Aangan Hamara”!
So from next
weekend, my time will only be for the oldies at the old age home. At least till
I get someone to spend the rest of my weekends with!
Sneha’s Diary
That teacher
from the NGO who then joined the old age home is still at her native place and
now her in-laws don’t want her to come back to Mumbai. So, she gave me the
number of the manager of the old age home in Sion. The name of the old age home
is Aangan Hamara. Sounds like a nice name. More appropriate for a children’s
home, though.
I called up the
manager and he told me that he had been informed that I would be calling and he
would see how I could contribute to the old age home. He told me that they have
around 200 people. The whole trust is run by some Gujarati diamond trader.
Recently they hired a creativity and fun teacher who has brought a lot of
brightness to the old age home. That teacher stays there full time. So they are
okay if I go during the weekdays and talk to the old people and figure out
myself what I can do for them. Maybe make a better website for them. My IT work
ex will come to use here. But I will work there only on weekdays. That’s for
sure. I want to spend my weekends with my family. Who knows when I’ll meet the
love of my life and then get married and be away from my family my whole life L
I shared this information with my dad and he is pretty cool about it.
He said that I can surely go and contribute to society, but make sure that I
come back home on time. Such a cutie lovely dad he is J
So, that’s it
Georgie. I will go to the old age home coming Tuesday, it being Ganpati’s day.
Hope to have a good time there.
Rahul’s Diary
Last week was
kind of both awesome and disappointing. Awesome because I participated in a Gay
Pride Parade at Azad Maidan and it was a totally different experience being a
part of such rallies and fighting for our own rights to be allowed to live our
life on our own terms. And disappointing because I missed meeting Abhishek
Agarwal sir. He had come for a motivation session for everyone at the old age
home. My plan of participating in the Gay Pride Parade happened all of a sudden
on Saturday night. Vrajesh Bhavnani, a gay friend who I had met at the party in
Bandra a few weeks ago, told me about this parade and so I thought it would be
good to participate in such rallies and support our own brethren.
Vrajesh, I and
his friends reached the venue by 9.30 AM on Sunday morning. I had made a few
posters and a few slogans. Being the ex-ad guy, I was entrusted with that
responsibility. I had come up with a cute character like that famous Amul Baby
in the print ads. Everyone adored it. Many came up to me and complimented me on
my idea. It was a nice ice-breaker to meet many cute guys! hahaha…
I had also
taken my handy cam to make a sort of documentary. As the crowd started swelling
up, I started shooting the whole parade. I first started with people standing
on the footpath and watching the whole parade. I got their reactions on a
person being gay and how they would
react if they
came to know that their son or daughter is gay. Some were too camera-shy.
Others were those insensitive assholes kind of people who said that they would
kick the ass out of their children or siblings if they were “afflicted by this
American disease”. Then I shot the whole rally, which was a peaceful one. I
also recorded myself and declared on the handy cam that I was gay and what I
felt about the whole section 377 issue and how the basic universal right of a
person is being violated if gay marriages are not recognised in India. I have asked
Vrajesh to put up the video on Youtube after a little bit of editing. He said
he will do it by next weekend.
I have started
loving the peaceful atmosphere at the old age home. A nice, simple, slow life.
I am loving it. Now I get ample time to read more books and write more poems. I
have made a funny romantic skit on how a grandpa falls in love with a granny at
this old age home and how they are happier than ever before. I am going to
audition for the leads and see who can do this skit in front of all on Saturday
night. It will be fun!
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