Calcutta, Sept. 30: White sarees. Neat botuas. Pitter patter of frail feet. Balloons and streamers of every imaginable colour. Topping it all were twinkling eyes ? cataract clear ? and a smile on every wrinkly face.
For 40 dadus and didas, from three city old-age homes, Thursday would remain cherished for a long time.
Aboard the MV Sarvajaya, it was fun from the word ?go? at the Ferry Go Round organised by Helpage India on the eve of World Elders? Day.
Sushmita Ghose, regional director (east), Helpage India, said: ?The cruise down the river for the elderly and school children is aimed at promoting inter-generational activity, for ?a society for all ages?.?
And ?it was the best two hours in a long, long time? for both the groups ? the elderly from three old-age homes in Tollygunge and Chetla and the young ones, from eight schools including St James?, Christ Church School and CA School (Salt Lake). After the initial spirited waving at the banks, a mood of constant music, dance and recitation was set off by the Menzes Trio ? Anto Menzes and his grandchildren Angelo and Savio.
As Anton played Purano shei diner kotha on his synthesizer, Ila Dutta and Dipali Guha from Nabaneer?s Chetla home finally settled down to eat the chocolate cake, only after the assurance ?Mashima, cake-ey deem nei (There?s no egg in the cake).?
Later as little Savio and Angela played La Bamba, Grace Gomes of the Tollygunge Homes, seemed to have a tough time sitting still. Tapping her feet to the music, this former English teacher said: ?I can?t dance now because of asthma. But I remember all the times I had gone dancing with my first husband ? at the Grand Hotel, or on an overnight journey to Kharagpur.?
Keith Scott from the same old-age home, brought quite a few granparents to the centre of the boat, jigging away to his old English songs, each followed by ?one more, please?.
?I was a crooner with bands in Jabalpur and Mumbai, where I worked with the railways,? said Scott, signing off with Cliff Richards? Living Doll. ?I still make a great bathroom-singer, right??
As youngsters like Sreemoyee Roy Choudhury of CA School Salt Lake and the twins Deep and Jeet Basu from St James? School gave their all to make the elderly feel comfortable, the ferry cruised towards the Bally bridge. This reminded Nabaneer?s Nirmala Mitra of her trips with her mother and grandmother to Belur from Bagbazar ghat.
As the MV Sarvajaya turned around and neared the Calcutta end, Monika Dutta sheepishly produced a page-long poem thanking Helpage for their effort and Subodh Chakraborty had to pull himself away from thoughts of his journeys across the Meghna before Partition.
