Silver Streak

Ask Tina Ambani what aging gracefully means to her and the instant reply is,“I think Hema Malini has aged so gracefully. She’s at peace with her age —she dresses,speaks and comports herself as befits her seniority. But she’s still leading a productive and happy life and it shows in the glow in her face.” It’s this glow that Ambani wants to see in the faces of all senior citizens and is the reason why she started the Harmony Foundation in 2004—to help the elderly lead their sunset years more happily,healthily and safely. “It’s common knowledge that as people grow older,they get depressed and lonely as they feel increasingly neglected by family. Is it asking too much to spend some time with your elders and to just talk to them?” she queries.

At the foundation’s Interactive Centre in Girgaum,these problems are addressed by encouraging the elderly to meet up,play a few games together and maybe even indulge in some salsa dancing. “We made the mistake of organising an Art of Living class at the beginning,only to be admonished by our members,” the former actress laughs. “They complained that they knew the art of living as that’s what they’d been doing for the past many years and now all they want to do is have some fun.”

Right now the foundation is busy preparing for The Harmony Awards,to be held on October 1. “I can’t reveal the names of our winners of course,but they’re all role models for us. One is a doctor who vaccinates slum children for free,another has nurtured over 1,000 orphans. It just goes to show why we should value our ‘silvers’. They still have a lot to give us,” says ‘bhabhi’ as she fondly called.

The younger Ambani bahu says that addressing the needs of the country’s elderly has been a cause close to her heart for a long time. “It started with a friend of mine losing his mother and he had such deep regrets about not even having told her how much he loved her. It got me thinking about how we get so busy with our own lives that we tend to forget about our elders. We tend to forget that they’re individuals who also need emotional fulfillment.” She says that when she voiced her decision to form the foundation,people were taken aback. “Even my husband,Anil,was skeptical. He thought it wouldn’t go with my personality,” she laughs. That it clearly does,is now for all to see.