“Aajke special ranna hocche, ektu upekha korun .” (Today we have a special menu, please wait a little)

It was past their usual lunchtime but the ladies were patient enough. Today they were due for a special lunch courtesy members of Anavi.

The lady in charge of Nabneer Home for the old located at Tollygunge told us – “The commotion today is a lot more than usual. It is nice to see the inmates getting so excited and enthusiastic. You should try and come more often.”

The members of Anavi spent a wonderful afternoon at Nabneer Home on 25th June 2011. It has more than 50 inmates and a few hands to look after them. They yearn for company and someone to talk to in their old age. They have wonderful stories to tell. One of them told me, “My brother is a chief engineer, he calls sometimes. Next time he calls, I will tell him about this wonderful lunch that families of captains and chief engineer organized for us.”

The home has dormitories for the inmates and a common room where they get together for watching television. That afternoon they were watching one of their favorite serials while we were there. Some of them were so keen that they even explained the whole story to us. This is how their time is spent – gossiping, watching tv but they don’t have anyone to talk to except each other, so we were welcomed like celebrities.

“People donate money, but nobody has time – you all are different, please come again, it was wonderful having you here and the lunch was very good too”, Krishna di told us. She has been with the home for a long time.

“We are celebrating our 2nd anniversary, so this special lunch for you, hope you like it”, we told her. Anavi completed 2 years on 16th June 2011.

On the menu were shukto, dal,bhat, potol bhaja, parshe maach and aam chutney. Any meal during this season would be incomplete without the king of fruits – mango, an all time and all ages favorite.

Does not seem like a elaborate affair but for these ladies – it was like a shaahi daawat ! It was wonderful beginning to our 3rd year. Hope we have many more like this