Barinder Saluja, Chandigarh,Feb 13 : Who says that senior citizens have nothing to do? No geris; No loud honking; No police-dodging; So, is there no romance left in the lives of the greying fraternity? Banish the thought for they are as ardent, as touched by Eros as their grandchildren except that their feelings are deep-rooted rather than superficial. For them, love is a round-the-year celebration and not just confined to a single day in March. That was the prevailing mood among nearly 200 senior citizens, gathered in their holiday best at the Auditorium of Govt Museum in Sector 10, this morning. Most of them preferred to refer to the event as Vasant Utsav rather than the Valentine day. The only concession made to current day culture was in the form of some buntings and balloons.
The programme included impromptu recital of geets and ghazals, and singing of romantic songs from yester-year films, to spur nostalgia.
Today was special for another reason, too, present among them was Pandit Yashpaul, for the first time after being conferred the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar- 2010 for his contribution in the field of Hindustani Vocal Classical Music. He received a tremendous ovation from fellow members who gave him a memento and a scroll. On his part Pandit Ji agreed to give a special recital for the senior citizens in the coming months. That would surely be an occasion to cherish.
Association President, Brig. Keshav Chandra, said that the Association has a number of interesting events lined up in coming weeks. There are table tennis and Yoga competitions on 16th and 22nd February, a picnic on 24th and the Women’s Day function where Kumari Selja will be the Chief Guest. Holi, Raising Day, Socio-Medical Camps (for the not so privileged sections) and some indoor game contests will follow.