The Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust team hosted its first ‘NZ Senior Idol’ event for the seniors on the occasion of International Day of Older Persons 2017 (IDOP) but little did they know that this event would be such a massive success.
‘Senior Idol’, a talent hunt event to give each participating senior an opportunity to showcase his or her talent received rave reviews from community members and other visitors at the event.
“Our idea behind the senior Idol apart from the entertainment value was to increase their confidence and create the deserved respect in their families and community. I think we were successful in achieving our main aim to empower the seniors” Nilima Venkat, Managing Director of Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust said.
The event was held at the premises of Shanti Niwas in Onehunga, Auckland on Saturday, October 7, that ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“The enthusiasm amongst the seniors was phenomenal as we saw almost 70 seniors showed up for the auditions earlier last month,” Mrs Venkat added.
Sixteen finalists were selected from among about 70 in the audition who performed at the big event on Saturday.
The event saw parliamentarians, community leaders, representatives from New Zealand Police and other community members at the event.
Mr Dhansukhlal Jamnadas was the first NZ Seniors Indian Idol title winner who also received one-night accommodation from Sudima Hotel, food voucher from Little India restaurant and cash prizes from the family of Mrs Rukmani Ramakrishnan and Joginder Luthera. Meena Phondge, Jashu Bhai Patel and Kaushik Chandra Soni were awarded the first, second and third runner-ups.
“I was amazed by the six qawwali singers at the show. As they mentioned, they had penned their own lyrics, made the tunes and sang in front of 100 plus odd crowd,” another senior witnessing the event said.
“Their qawwalis were very funny, and it reminded some beautiful memories from our childhood,” the senior added.
The event had other multi-cultural performances and entertainment choreographed and executed by the seniors as well as stalls which provided information on health and wellbeing, face painting, henna, and a photo booth for the seniors.
Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust Inc. is a non-profit organisation and has a history of more than 23 years working with socially isolated senior citizens of Indian and South Asian origin living in the Auckland region. The Mission of Shanti Niwas is to make visible signs of hope, empower those whom society has neglected, and celebrate change and diversity.
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