The members of 40+ and single people share the joys and sorrows of their single status and talk about their twilight years Thirty and a divorcee,to top it all a woman,Dr Robina Frederick,now 60,faced the social unacceptability of her divorcee status with dignity. With little help from the social structure to dispel her old age blues,she built her own structure that was largely of loneliness,but not anymore. Club Evening Star a club strictly for 40 plus and single people is where Frederick,along with 12 other members,finds a respite. For them it is the place where the people in their twilight years come together to dispel their blues. "The status of being single for a woman in a patriarchal society like ours is tormenting. Sometimes it so happens that a servant working at your place looks down upon you because she has a drunkard husband and you don't have any. I have been through all that. But still I respect my single status whatever may come," says Frederick,who also runs an NGO for children of sex workers of Budhwar Peth. "I felt marginalised by every section of the society even at the church. I am a respectable,educated woman and such kind of treatment all this while was humiliating. I decided I will give my service to that section of society that needs it the most so I started this trust," she says. Joining the club and meeting people undergoing more or less the same traumas as hers,is like a revelation to the 60-year-old. "I met a woman who was abandoned by her husband because she had breast cancer. There are others who went through bigger traumas than mine," adds Frederick. Another member is working on shedding the past baggage of her life. Samina Boxwala,who just turned 40,did have some qualms about her single status. "After coming to the club I can only say I respect the ones who are living life on their own terms and conditions and have not given up because the society wanted them to give up," says Samina Boxwala,PhD in Mathematics and member of the club. Started by the principal of Ness wadia College,Dr Hemant Devsthali,the club for singles was given a new form when Sam Motafram decided to adopt the concept and give it a cosmopolitan touch. "We wanted to start a club for singles like Devasthali's club but we wanted English speaking people to be a part of it. So we came up with club Evening Star," says Motafram The club's symbol the five point star is the evening star none for its conspicuous presence amongst the stars. "The evening star remains the brightest one amongst the stars and the activities of this club aim at bringing that brightness to the twilight years of the members," he says. From counseling to outdoor activities to seminars get together and discussions,the club aims to dispel the blues of its members as much as it can.
