Laughter Session at the home....

Friends, I am sorry for not writing for sometime as I was out on a holiday, but today I have plenty to share....

That day it was thursday as always, on 5th Oct. Due to some reason or the other when it was time for all of us to leave for the home in the afternoon, we were left with only two people to leave.... Nayani & myself. She had been anticipating this visit for the past one week & what we experienced was truely phenominal.....

For the first time, it so happened that we had not taken permission from the supervisor at the home & on reaching the home we found that there neither was the supervisor nor our Grannies. They all had left for a function organized by an NGO & the Delhi govt. We decided to move around in the home & meet the few ill & disabled inmates who were still in the home. We went around the home & guess who was still there in the home....Ram Uncle, who else...

Nayani & I spent an hour with him, he was at his usual best, singing, laughing & having fun. Each time you meet him & you will be amazed by his powerful memory... He would remember names, places, dates like anything, something you wont expect of a 70 year old. We clicked pictures & Ram uncle was sooooooo happy...

We came out of his room & Swatantrata granny was there. We talked to her for a while, when suddenly there was a roar behind us. The whole family was getting in. Everybody laughing & shouting, were we in an old age home or a school playground? It meant that everybody was joyous & had enjoyed their day. Then it was the laughter session. These young fellows had gone through a laughing excercise & were taught the importance of laughter therapy. So we all stood there laughing our heart out....

After meeting everyone, we moved to Krishna aunty's room & somehow that laughter session did'nt seem to end. We had loads of fun, clicked more pictures & something even interesting happened. Krishna aunty took Nayani & me outside & gave special blessings to us as she thought we were going around & I had to quickly correct her & Nayani & I went back laughing. Something customary we had these huge glasses of mixed fruit juice & went back walking upto the metro station recollecting the wonderful evening....Nayani now fully agreed that the oldies had fun too....

Oldies are young too...

Last Thursday was very very special, for some of us. Some friends of mine & I had decided to pay a visit to the home. Most had never visited one before & were all excited (as we engineers normally are, whenever we move out of the college campus), but on a serious note, that day I had the company of some bright youngsters, who had by now decided to make the move. Most were those who knew that I was to visit the home today, but the surprise was Kartikey, who just heard of the visit & came along, & what was to follow that evening was something nobody had anticipated....

The six of us, five boys & a girl, reached the home & first met the supervisor. He was warm & welcoming as always. He talked about the basic instructions, like not sharing our personal information such as phone numbers with anyone, making the elderly happy, asking them to be involved in greater recreational activities. When he was told about the blog & plans for YFO, he was all the more excited & assured us full support. He talked about how it was important to start making contributions today, as it is easier for us, when we are students & young & infact wanted us to continue with different forms of community service all our lives, passing it onto our children too.

When we went to see our Grannies we first met Mr. Ghai, a very respected elderly there, well educated & is involved with many activities related to the welfare of the inhabitants of the home, & infact discussed with us plans for Diwali Celebration. We spent almost an hour with him, discussed on a wide range of topics & when we came out of his room, in the gallery we were to meet again the grandmas I talked about in my previous posts. Now what was to follow, was two hours of fun & laughter.....

We all cracked jokes, riddles were being fired on us by our grannies, especially in Punjabi, & we all were brainstorming to come up with some weird answers. It was difficult to imagine they were old, they talked very much like us, teased all of us about our girlfriends so to say & the most pampered of us all was Rachneet, a very sweet friend of ours, & the sole girl with us. She was the "Gudiya" of everyone, which means a Doll. Another attraction was the singing of Kartikey & Rachneet, & soon we all joined in chorus too. It was fun unlimited. We also happened to benefit from some moral based stories of Guru Nanak Ji, the reverend first Guru of the Sikhs. It was fun packed two hours, something similar to when old friends meet after sometime.

We finally came out, everyone with a unique glow of happiness on their faces, each one carrying bags full of blessings. I received a warm hug from a friend on moving out of the home, that said it all. If this was not all, we had these big glasses of fruit juice all for Rs. 10(they were huge, I promise). The visit finally came to an end & we all headed for our respective homes. Our happiness, can be judged from the fact that my cousin called me up the same evening & asked me, why I sounded so happy that day...

Now we can proudly say, we have an extended family, a wonderful extended family in Tilak Vihar home... You go out & find one of your own & do let us know of it too, we shall party together...