The first step at Anugoonj...

The four day cultural festival Aungoonj of GGSIPU has come to an end. Here we all stand as a bloated & ever fattening YFO family. The first ever promotion of YFO has been more than encouraging.

On 1st Feb 2007, it was the first day at the fest. I was there at 10:30 am, as always half an hour later than my supposed time of arrival. I called up Rahul from the University School, a new family member & one of the main coordinators of the fest. He was also looking after the permissions & initial setup & promotions on the campus. I met him for the first time then, though we had interacted several times over phone & on the Orkut forum & through mails. He designed the logo for YFO & on reaching the campus found that his friends were even charged up.

While these guys went to attend a seminar for almost half an hour & I stood by the desk we were about to setup, I was feeling an unknown fear inside me that had erupted suddenly by looking at the enormous no. of youngsters swarming in, all dressed up in the most bright & youthful of attires, all seemingly in a party mood, probably waiting for the DJ to roll out the music. I wondered whether this was the best time & best place to promote the cause, when suddenly Puneet my school friend came over with Saurabh, a friend and a professional at ABN AMRO. Soon Aman too was here & the senseless fears began to melt down.

Initially we kept adjusting & moving around to finally figure out the best place in the main playground under a tree. We had two posters hand drawn by Kanchan & her friends from IGIT…great artists I must say. Soon the desk was setup, more printouts of posters taken, contact forms photocopied & we all were set to make the move.

Students kept pouring in, in different shapes & sizes… different colleges, different professions. Here were we explaining them what we were doing there, what we wanted of them… Those who showed interest were asked to fill up the contact info, showed the Directory of different homes in Delhi & were requested to visit a home near their place or near their college. The response on Orkut is being visible; now let’s hope it gets converted on ground too…

There were students from medical & law backgrounds who among other things offered medical & legal help. There were many who have already been visiting homes & are doing a great job. On the final day a slogan writing competition was also organized and chocolates given away as prizes.

Anugoonj came to an end; the word formally spread to over 150 students. But what I consider real progress is that many of our friends who were aware of the cause for a long time but were still not attached with YFO have come forward in praying for us & motivating us further, not to mention many shall visit the home with us the next time…
God Bless All…

Its time to Grow...

Hello friends... First things first, Wishing you all a very Happy, healthy & a prosperous New year...

My apologies for not writing for long, but I assure you YFO was not dormant all this while. Though slow, work was going on at the backend & we are now ready to take YFO to the next step.

Some of our friends at YFO have put their foot down and are working towards giving shape to the vision of YFO. These excellent web designers are working towards the website for YFO. We all have given our inputs & its time to throw everything to the house & handover the future of YFO to the community itself. I would request all of you who still have'nt joined the Orkut community (http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=21106011) & the yahoo group (http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/youthforold) to join the same. Your valuable suggestions are needed on these forums for visualizing our website. While the technical work of website designing is going on, the rest of us have to begin collecting some funds & sponsorships to buy space online. The domain http://www.youthforold.org/ is still available & we need to buy it asap.

Most of us are aware of the annual cultural festival Anugoonj of GGSIPU, & it is planned to start formal promotion of YFO beginning with Anugoonj as it attracts thousands of students from NCR. Friends lets begin discussions, work & most importantly LET'S VISIT A HOME SOON.... God Bless us all...

Let me leave you with a picture with our Ram uncle this Diwali... Though I have'nt written about that day; we all got emotional with him....

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...

The initial response, the silent support & an "I" turns "We"...

Today when I sit down to write this post, my faith is restored in the youth of today. We might be blamed for blindely following the MTV culture, being careless, for not realising our responibilities etc.. But when Youth for Old did'nt even exist, I somehow believed that the only thing that was required was that initial push & not hundred's or thousand's but millions of Us would take the plunge... All that was required was that little knocking...

And today, I stand by my belief with greater conviction, for I have seen it with my own eyes. I talked about YFO & its mission to a dear friend, someone I trust a lot, Mr. Vineet Nagrath, someone who is a major silent force behind me, though he does'nt like to be the face of things. Though I have named Vineet, it in no way undermines the support that has emerged from so many of my friends & other youngsters, whom you would know about from time to time.

Soon after my first visit, my exams started & I was not able to make my next visit fast. I deliberately did'nt force myself as at no point is it desired, that any individual associated with this mission should get a feeling that they are spending time here that they could have used elsewhere, otherwise the spirit shall die down. What is required that, we be in enough numbers that at no point a void is created in the effort towards the cause.

Now, I have come to know of so many people who have already been involved in community service of one kind or the other. The response I have begun getting from my friends, students from other colleges, seniors (some of whom have even moved into jobs) is simply overwhelming.

Friends, I need your support. Though the blog reads, "Granny, we do listen to what you have to say.....", I truely would from now on try and replace the word "I" with "We". Thanks to all those who have come up for this mission, but the journey has just begun, & loads need to be done. Letus all come forward & do the little we can for our earlier generations, people who worked when they were young to give us what we have today, the way we are working today for our future generations...

Just pay one visit to a home near you & we promise (We are the people who have paid visit) that you would not need any person to ask you to revisit, instead you shall get an army of young men & women to accompany yourself.

In the posts to come, future plans for YFO shall be shared, along with the experiences as always. Your suggestions & support is welcome here through comments, or through
email: youthforold@gmail.com. You can also join the open yahoo group http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/youthforold . Also is available a community on orkut: Youth for old. But people are requested to join these groups only in case you approve of the philosophy...

But the best way to support is to actually take action & make a visit to your nearest home...

God Bless everyone.

The Story of Swatantrata...

Hello friends, today I have something very special to share with you, something that will be there in my next post but as promised let me first continue with the story of Granny Swatantrata...

When I asked the supervisor at the home so as to what we could do at the home, one of the things he had suggested was to ask the elderly to spend time in the recreation centre at the home, watch television, read a magazine or two, or play carrom ( Do you people remember Munna Bhai MBBS..& Bappa...). Here I was sitting in the gallery with a few grandma's & I just raised the topic of watching television , quoting that my Grandma enjoys watching television & this brought a series of emotional reactions, strongest from granny Swatantrata...

She said that my own grandma enjoyed those because she was living with her family, was receiving all the love & care she deserved, but was not the case with them & to them all these recreational activities appeared to be superficial...

Here I was sitting in front of an 80 + retired gynaecologist, called Swatantrata. All those who are well versed with Hindi language would know that her name means "freedom". Her father was a freedom fighter & had decided that his next child whether a boy or a girl would be named Swatantrata. She talked about how as a young girl it was difficult for her family to make both ends meet as her father spent most of his years in the jail. She was married in a very young age to a person, who did little work on his own & was more of a liability on the family rather than a bread earner. It was here that somehow she studied homeopathy & as she said she was God gifted & many a parents were blessed with children through her hands. All these years she earned quite a praise & money for her good work, gave excellent eduaction to her children, who later excelled in life (her one daughter is a teacher & the other a police officer). She bought quite a property for her family, but when she grew old & was to benefit for all the hard work she had done in her youth, she was blessed with a daughter in law, who threatened her in various ways & forced her to live with her daughter. But even this was'nt to be the end of her woes as her daughter attemped suicide when her inlaws did'nt like her mother to stay with them( This after 3 yrs of staying together). Later Granny's daughter in law even left her husband & 11 yrs old daughter alone....

Here was a self made woman, & she decided to move to this old age home. I call people like her entrepreneurs in themselves, for she is one of those who create things single handedly, but not always does life return rewards in the same manner.

I talked & talked & tried my best to make her feel better, she took me too her room, gave me a banana & Tiger buscuits to eat, not to mention the blessings I received (One of them was a wonderful wife...).

I spent a wonderful time with so many granny's there in the corridor , & what was best was that I could leave so many of them with a smile on their faces & a wish for a revisit. My first visit at the home came to an end & I moved out with a bag of mixed emotions...Emotions I might not be able to express well, so I choose to create a picture from the series of events for all to see & experience themselves.

The story of Ram

He was the first person, I was introduced to. A person in his late seventies or eighties, he sat there on his bed, with a broad welcoming smile on his face. As I entered his room with the security guard, he asked me to sit next to him on his bed, while the guard sat on the chair facing us. He was really old, had no teeth, but had a big grin on his face. It seemed as if he was waiting for someone to be there, & today it was me. The guard introduced him to be as one of the most jovial & energetic of the oldies there & so he was...

The guard left us soon, & the grandpa (something I would prefer to use henceforth instead of the "Old" person) began with his story. He had recently had an operation, which resulted in his one leg being smaller than the other. A retired accountant, he had lost his wife some years back & was now the lone survivor in his family. As he was getting older each day, & found it difficult to take care of himself on his own with increasing physical ailments, he moved to the Kalkaji home, from where he was shifted to this home in Tilak Vihar, as this was a new one (This home was opened in Aug 2005). He had had varied experiences in life & one of them was that he was on Radio for some time too (something he felt too good about). He loved singing & was known in the home for singing on all occasions & festivals. Someone pretty popular among students who had previously visited the home from Delhi University & Jiims, especially for his singing. I spent nearly an hour with him & he had loads to talk about himself, infact he was full of self praise & simply loved it (afterall we humans dont change easily). I was enjoying the conversation without saying anything, just listening to him & felt sooo happy seeing him so happy. It was one great experience & what was to follow was quite mind boggling, the story of a grandma this time, the story of "Swatantrata"......