The Rotary Club of Bombays' (RCB) widely acclaimed Ananda Yaan program was launched as an elder day care centre for underprivileged residents of central Mumbai six years ago with one centre at Byculla.
Says RCB President Manoj Patodia, "This program was launched with the singular objective of providing happiness to our underprivileged elders in the evening of their lives. In the last six years we have spread the program to two more centres, one at E.Moses Rd. and last year we launched a centre at Mazgaon. I am delighted that this third centre is celebrating its first anniversary, and that the membership at the centre has doubled from 40 to 80. It shows not just the popularity of the program, but also the real need felt in the area." The anniversary celebration saw one of the elders, Smt. Aruna Patekar narrating how this program had helped the members in various ways.
The Shankar Mahadevan Academy (SMA) had organized for two of its teachers Anushree Datar and Kshitija Joshi to regale the audience with their songs, as a labor of love. The RCB Ananda Yaan program which is conducted along with its partner Dignity Foundation not just provides the elders a place to meet five days a week, but also organises a structured regimen of yoga, zumba, Antaksharis and the like.
Members of the centres are taken on picnics, to movies and to music shows. Health check-ups are also organized and cataract surgeries are done for them. Dignity Foundation Chairperson Sheilu Srinivasan also spoke at the event, recounting the partnership that had blossomed over six years.
