Abhi Toh Hum Jaawan Hai
By Praveena Lakshmanan
Last updated: March 20, 2009

HOUSTON: Saturday morning, was special for more than 100 Indian senior citizens in Houston. It was an occasion for double celebrations for the members of the Indian Senior Citizen’s Association (ISCA). Not only did they get a permanent place to gather regularly, but it was also the 84th birthday of Padmakant Mehta, Current Trustee of the association and also his 51st wedding anniversary.

This occasion was celebrated at India House with great enthusiasm. Members from different community organizations were present at the gathering, to celebrate and share the happiness of the senior citizens. Some of the prominent attendees included ICC President - Keshu Patel, Gujarati Samaj of Houston President - Prakash Desai, Dr. Subodh and Sonal Bucchar, Dr. Sindwani and his wife, Publisher Emeritus – Indo American News, Col. Raj Bhalla, Secretary of India House Board and his wife.

Vice Consul Neel Kamal Ghai was also present, representing the Consul General of India’s office. India House has extended help and offered the association permission to use its facilities for all the future meetings and gatherings. On behalf of India House, Col. Bhalla in his address emphasized that serving senior citizens is a dream come true.

This dream took a while to materialize, however, it has developed and evolved over the years and it is so good that finally the dream has come true. He said, “ I commit to you that you will get all that you need for us and will have your way in the years to come.”

The program started with a candid address by keynote individuals to the audience, followed with a musical performance. The musical performance grabbed the attention on one and all in the room. An enthusiastic senior citizen said, the performance is fantastic, it took me back to my young college days. Shekhar Phatak played the harmonium, Surendra Mistry the tabla. Other performers were Hemant Bhavsar and Tejaswani Phatak.

Jugal Malani sponsored the stage for the classical musical performance. Naren, Padmakant Mehta’s grandson performed on the guitar. He dedicated his performance to his grandparents on their anniversary. The Indian Senior Citizen’s Association gather every second and fourth Saturdays of the month. Praful Gandhi, President of the association informs that ISCA has various events throughout the year. Upcoming events for the next two months are a picnic to NASA and an annual five-city senior citizens meet.

This year, we plan to hire a cab service for our members who cannot attend our meetings, as they do not know how to drive, he says. He also adds, we encourage every senior citizen to join us in the various activities that we organize. This is a forum that will provide you the platform to get together and share your happiness and sorrow with each other.

For more information on Indian Senior Citizen’s Association e-mail Praful Gandhi at prafulsudha@ yahoo. com or call 281-983- 0869