Seniors fund-raise for themselves

The Marana hall at hurstville was full. Seniors from the resourceful australian Indian network (raIn) were seen everywhere welcoming guests along the foyer, selling tickets to the last minute arrivals… and also experiencing flutters of nervous excitement as the show of their first effort in fund raising was about to start.

Ushabehn Sanghvi sat at the front desk, inviting people to buy little hankies embroidered by seniors; the very useful booklet of Yoga and Yoga Mudra written by Veda Srinivasan, and an array of greeting cards which are the handwork of the seniors group. They had worked tirelessly for this event, planning, holding meetings once a month, organising the menu for the snack pack and discussing various ways to make their dream come true… to buy a place for the Senior Care Centre.

The Mayor of Hurstville Cr Vince

Badalati launched the program with his speech, congratulating the group of seniors who meet regularly in the Hurstville Senior Citizens’ centre on Thursday afternoons. Seniors were VIPs for the day and they went on stage to perform their various duties of assisting with the function. It was amazing and touching, the way the whole program focussed on encouraging, honouring and respecting our seniors.

Smita Bhagat, the evening’s Master of Ceremonies took the audience through the varied moods of the evening, not only inviting everyone to enjoy the musical program but also to participate prayer song for her grandma Vasantha amamurthy who is currently not so well, sang with such intense feeling that it brought home the fact that we do need a place where older people can be taken care of. Young students of Thrayee dance school delighted the audience with the first two dances; Karan who did the Shiva dance gave a fantastic performance. The highlight of the occasion was bollywood dancing by a senior, Gargi Shah who proved that the resourceful Seniors are capable and entertaining and fully deserve the appreciation they were receiving. extremely well done, team!

Mrs rita Dev Murari who coordinated this event should be congratulated for an excellent job done. The volunteer team of raIn was there, silently giving a hand and making the event successful beyond expectations.

Sudha Natarajan RAIN