
BENGALURU : Come April 28 and elders around the city can feel like children again, thanks to Volunteering for a Cause (VFC). The city-based NGO is organising the third edition of ‘Hiriyara Jaatre’ – an event that serves as a platform for seniors to showcase their talents – which will be held at New Horizon Gurukul Marathahalli. This year, the event will also incorporate childhood games, such as passing the ball and antakshari, which will help participants relive fond memories from the good old days.
The first edition of the event was held in 2017 and saw participation from around 90 elders. Organisers hope that at least 280 elders from different old age homes will take part this year. Besides the games, the event will also include skits, singing and dancing. The volunteers also plan to recreate the ambience of a village fair.
“It’s not easy, but it’s going to be worth it,” said Surendran, the founder of VFC. The event comes under one of its causes ‘The Golden Heroes’, where they focus on aged citizens in Bengaluru. “It’s normal for people to donate resources and support old age homes with basic requirements, but VFC promotes quality time with elders.
This is done not only among volunteers and elders but also by getting elders from different old age homes to meet and interact. A lot of effort and logistics go into planning such an event,” said Uma, a volunteer with VFC.
For the past few weekends, the volunteers have been visiting old age homes in order to train the elders to put up singing, dancing and various other performances at the event. “They are thrilled to put up a show. Every time they prove to us that age is just a number,” said Santosh and Abhi, who are coordinating with the volunteers.
Anandha Murthi is an 80-year-old who took part in the singing competition in the event last year. “I won the third prize at the event. We all had a great time and are looking forward to the upcoming Hiriyara Jaatre,” said Murthi, who attends Nightingales Sandhya Kirana, a day care centre for the elderly from lower socio-economic strata .
Savitha, on the other hand, is excited to meet inmates from other old age homes and reconnect with acquaintances she met last year. “The fest helped us connect with new people from different old age homes, which was a nice experience for us. I can’t wait to meet them again,” said the 75-year-old.
The volunteering platform has grown from three volunteers and one cause to 2,500 volunteers and 17 causes since 2012. Most volunteers are techies or students, who spend some time during their weekends involved in activities of VFC, such as spending time with underprivileged children, recording audio books for the visually impaired and creating voter awareness.