Pune: The morning aarti had barely faded when the courtyard at Swarnagiri Old Age Home’s Baner centre turned into a dance floor.Eighty-one-year-old Mangala Keskar and 78-year-old Nisha Dhar broke into a spontaneous performance, and within moments, their energy drew the rest of the room in. Around 70 residents found themselves laughing, clapping and swaying to the music. Soon, more women, young at heart, got up to join them.Dhar, originally from Kashmir, is delighted. Her eyes light up as she talks about her love for dance and sports. “I have always been into sports and dance, all sorts of activities, since childhood. I was my school’s captain. This comes naturally to me. I am very happy,” she said, the pride of a lifetime still evident in her voice.A few feet away, Suvarna Chavak (84) smiles mischievously.“I can’t dance — but she makes me,” she said, pointing towards Keskar. “She is always up for these things. She is a fantastic dancer.” The two burst into hearty laughter. They have been friends since moving to the home four years ago.Founder Rashmi Dedhe said most residents came to the home after losing their husbands, with their children grown up and having moved on with their own lives. For many, the home offers a place to find companionship and a sense of belonging once again. “They are active and always so happy,” she said.The festivities continue with painting sessions, antakshari and games over the coming days. And for the eventual winners? A small, sweet modak.At the Shirdi Saibaba Old Age Home for visually impaired women, celebrations take a different form, with bhajan, aarti, craft-making and storytelling bringing the residents together.Meera Joshi moved to the home from Goa four years ago. “We do dhoop aarti during the festival, go to the temple for bhajan and wear different clothes. We women have a lot of fun. We make crafts, and I have become an expert at making toran,” she said.Nirmala Nanda was part of the home’s decoration team. “I feel very happy. Volunteers come from outside and read the Gita and other texts to us. They sometimes take us out for bhajan, and we feel included. We also make lanterns together,” Nanda said.At the 163-year-old Niwara Old Age Home, residents live together like one family. The festival days are filled with bhajan, kirtan, aarti, playful banter and a strong sense of togetherness.“We spend our festive days playing games; sometimes we are all naughty. We sit together for bhajan, and this year too, like every year, we are sent 30 autos from Dagdusheth Ganapati Mandal and taken there for darshan. We feel loved,” the residents said.Then the chatter takes over. Nirmala Nagurpillai, Chitra Dopate, Usha Bopare, Shanta Kabaddi, Shobha Gavande, Pratibha Gurmitkar, Vimal Kadam, Arvind Purandare, Basanta Joshi, Jagannath Deshpande, Rajaram Jadav and around 120 other residents of Niwara laugh, swap stories and tease one another — celebrating Ganapati not just through rituals, but through companionship, laughter and the joy of being together.
