RCB Launches an Elder Day Care Centre – Ananda Yaan

The Rotary Club of Bombay (RCB), launched its first Elder Day Care Centre for the underprivileged, “Ananda Yaan” (Mission to Happiness), in collaboration with Dignity Foundation at Byculla on 21st July.

As the time to start the first day of the Ananda Yaan day care centre came close by, senior citizens from the area started trickling in and within the first half hour there were close to 50 older adults who came in. The session began with a round of introductions by all the members.

The first structured session was the “wheel of life”. The wheel of life helps one to consider each area of their life in turn and assess what’s off balance. It also helps to identify areas that need more attention. All the members were given the wheel of life diagram and were asked to mark those areas that are taking a lot of their time and those areas that need their attention.

This was followed by a yoga session that was thoroughly enjoyed by all the members. Yoga for senior citizens helps them to stretch their muscles and also strengthen them and helps them to increase their blood circulation and concentration / memory.

Since it was the birthday of a member and also the first day of the centre, a small celebration was held to conclude the day. Members sang songs to wish the member and distributed sweets amongst themselves.

President RCB Ramesh Narayan said, “This is the first two such centres the Rotary Club of Bombay intends launching in Mumbai. The second one would be at Dadar. There is a great need for such initiatives. It is terrible to be old and poor in Mumbai. The sheer pressure on space results in our elders being treated very shabbily. We want to ensure that in the evening of their lives, the poor elders get a few hours of happiness. This is our objective,” he added.

Alok Sekhraria said, “We are happy to have Dignity Foundation, a pioneer in elder care managing this Ananda Yaan Centre. We intend to provide “We want to encourage people in the local community to take advantage of this free medical facility.” – Rtn. Christopher Bluemel Rtn. Christopher Bluemel interacts with AY members Guest of Honour Neena Kulkarni with the new members of Ananda Yaan (From L to R) Rtn. Alok Sekhsaria, Sheelu Srinivasan of Dignity Foundation, President Ramesh Narayan, Rtn. Manish Reshamwala, Rtn. Christopher Bluemel and Rotaryanne First Lady Devi Narayan the underprivileged elders with a nutritious drink, board games and a place to meet other people like them.

There would be much singing and laughter organised, along with health check-ups, and some entertaining visits. We are well on the way to our “Mission to Happiness.” Christopher Bluemel added, “The Rotary Club of has a full fledged medical centre at Cotton Green, that is close by. We want to encourage people in the local community to take advantage of this free medical facility, which has a dentist, an optometrist, a diagnostic counter and a Homeopathy clinic run by Dr. Batra’s.