Senior citizens of Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust on Saturday, September 21 along with members of the community and community leaders, celebrated the International Day of Older People and 25-years existence of Shanti Niwas.
Present at the event were National List MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar, Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Hon Consul of India Bhav Dhillon, Inspector Rakesh Naidoo representing New Zealand Police, and community leader Sunny Kaushal.
The guests present at the event were offered a 25-year-commemoration book that mentioned the achievements, programmes and memories of Shanti Niwas right from its start in 1994 till now.
“We encourage our senior citizens to participate in all our cultural events actively, and they are very enthusiastic about it, which is what makes the event a great success,” General Manager of Shanti Niwas, Nilima Venkat said.
Almost all the performances at the event were performed by the senior members of Shanti Niwas who have been practising in groups for weeks for the event.
International Day of Older Persons (IDOP) is celebrated across the globe on October 1 every year – a day dedicated to the senior members of the community for their contributions to society. It also creates awareness about the needs of the senior citizens of the community and the abuse they go through, sometimes, form their own family members.
Shanti Niwas’ event last week also hosted a fancy dress competition for the seniors to try new outfits and act on the particular character they dressed.
Acting as one of the judges on the show Rupal Solanki said it was a tough call to judge the best dressed as every participant did their best to embody a particular character.
Seniors in the fancy dress competition dressed as warrior Rani Lakshmi, a Kashmiri woman, a school going kid, an ethnic Maori woman, a housekeeper etc.
The Kaamwali Bai (Housekeeper) character won the third place; the Maori character second place and the kid character won the first prize in the event.
Shanti Niwas also presented the two videos prepared on its 25th anniversary at the event. One outlining the journey of the organisation since its inception in 1994 and second a short film on the abuse suffered by the seniors and an awareness about the growing issue.
The event also acknowledged the efforts of the volunteers of Shanti Niwas who at different days and intervals of the weeks contribute and serve in the organisation. Shanti Niwas presented plaques and certificates to its volunteers at the event lauding them for their time and service for the seniors.
Pictures Courtesy: Jasmin Sheikh Photography