Age is nothing but a number.

This is what most of senior citizens, who took part in a car rally organised by Bihar Motor Sports Club (BMSC), believed, on Sunday.

The event had been organised on the eve of its silver jubilee celebration.

Fifty senior citizens took part in the rally in which they had to cover 38.1km in two hours.

Patna High Court judge Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi, also the chairman of Bihar Motor Sports Club, and additional director-general of National Cadet Corps K.A. Muthanna flagged off the rally outside the New Patna Club.

Sixty-seven-year-old Ish Kumar Malhotra, a publisher of law journals, who was one of the senior citizens behind the steering wheel, said: "Senior citizens feel isolated these days. They forget that they can do many things on their own. These kinds of events help them to rejuvenate and regain their mental strength."

Talking about the car rally, Malhotra said: "It was a very exciting rally. It was a zigzag route but that was the fun part. I was racking my brain all the time because I had to cover a fixed distance in a time frame. The participants were given four stops. They had to move from one stop to the next in a fixed time. If you reach the stop early or late, you would be fined. You have to be there on time."

For many elderlies, the car rally gave them a chance to meet their old friends.

Former deputy general manager of State Bank of India Abhay Ranjan Mishra, who was posted in Mumbai, was happy about his participation because he got to meet his friends, Ashok Sinha and N.C. Mathur (former SBI employees).

"I met both of them after a long time," said Mishra, adding that this was his first experience of participating in a car rally.

Senior citizens, who took part in the event, also asked the organisers to conduct the event on regular basis.

"The last edition of this car rally was organised four years ago. We asked the organisers to conduct this rally on a regular basis because this is among the very few events in the city which is mainly organised for the elderly. We share time with our old friends and at the same time, get recognition for something good," added Malhotra.

Diljeet Khanna, secretary of Bihar Motor Sports Club said the rally received good response from the senior citizens.

"In the last edition of this car rally, around 30 people had participated but this time, the participation of elderly people rose to 50. From retired army officials to doctors, businessmen to people from other professions, many took part in the event with zeal," said Khanna.