Entertaining the elderly

October 1, Senior Citizens’ Day, was celebrated at the F. S. Parukh Dharamshalla with children from the Society for the Education of the Crippled (SEC) coming to entertain the elderly residents. Children from the Agripada, Antop Hill and Santa Cruz units of SEC presented entertaining items of songs and dances that were immensely enjoyed by the residents, notes an email received from the Dharamshalla management committee. Some of the children who had practiced the dances for many days were wheel-chair bound, but they entertained and enthused the elders who clapped and cheered for them.

Committee members with chief guest Hilla Mistry, seated third from right

Children entertaining senior citizens

Members of the Inner Wheel Club of Bombay too joined the merriment with music and dancing to old Hindi film songs. The program was sponsored by a munificent donation received from Hilla Mistry who also presented steel lunch boxes to all present. Though Rashna Cooper, president of the Inner Wheel Club of Bombay was not in town that day, she had ensured that the Club was represented by ladies dedicated to the cause, the email mentions.
Past president of SEC Roda Khambatta gave a brief history of the Society and the work it is doing for the handicapped. Eleven of the 15 members on the executive committee of SEC are Parsis who devote their time and energy to educate underprivileged handicapped children mostly residing in slums.
Members of the Ladies Advisory Committee of Parukh Dharamshalla attending the event, Arnavaz Mistry, Zarine Chothia, Zenobia Adajania and Zarin Havewala, expressed gratitude to Hilla Mistry for her generosity.
The Parukh Dharamshalla at Khareghat Colony, Hughes Road, is a home for seniors of the community managed by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet. Nearly a 100 residents over 65 years of age are housed here and provided food, clothing and medical facilities. The day-to-day running of the institution is taken care of by a team comprising a resident manager, an assistant manager, a supervisor, nurses, ward boys and ayahs, ably guided and overseen by a Ladies Advisory Committee, explains the email.