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Life
begins at 65 for theatre cast
Newindpress, July
28, 2003
|
NEW
DELHI: Life begins at 65. Just ask the mixed crew of amateurs, ranging
from the ages of 65 to 96, who entertained audiences here with a rib
tickling play to promote their key message -- active ageing.
The senior citizens of the Chittaranjan Park Morning Club, gathered under
the banner of Helpage India, staged Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's well-known
play 'Kamalakant ki Gawahi' on Friday evening at the Bipin Chandra Pal
auditorium.
"The main purpose of staging the play is that one can make one's life
as productive and meaningful as possible, even though the people have
crossed many milestones," said Helpage director general Inderjit S
Dhillon.
Living out the message of active ageing, 96-year-old Krishna K
Bhattacharya, who is also president of the morning club, began the show
with a song.
The play was a courtroom satire based in British India, where ignorance
counters intelligence and rural wit emerges on top.
Although originally a Bengali play, the Bengali-speaking cast made extra
efforts to present it in Hindi.
The seven-member cast was led by S M Deb, 75, a practicing physician, who
played the role of protagonist Kamalakant.
The youngest actor in the cast was 65 years old.
"We just want to show people how we spend our leisure time,"
said one of the actors, A K Guha.
Helpage India has been playing an active role in dealing with the issues
and improving the quality of life of the elderly through its various
programmes and events such as these.
The organisation aims at highlighting not only the physical and the
economic aspects of ageing but also the emotional element.
"Eighty-one million of the world's population comprises the elderly.
There is a definite void in healthcare in this country," said Dhillon.
He added: "Elderly people are neglected, abused and their rights are
violated. We just want to help them."
Tejendra Khanna, member of Helpage's governing body, gave away the
trophies to all the actors. "By remaining active they will have
healthier minds in healthier bodies," he said.
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