Senior citizens' marriage mela arrives, 25 couples step forward
The Senior Citizens Swayamvar event was organised by Ahmedabad-based NGO Vina Mulya Amulya Sewa. The NGO has been conducting similar events for the past 10 years, with 14 similar sammelans in Gujarat that can boast of 37 success stories.
At the 'swayamvar', male applicants outnumbered women. Close to 200 people attended the event, of which close to 50 were women. The event is designed to benefit women more and the organisations often arranges for food, accommodation and other facilities if needed by a women travelling from other cities. The events are organised free of cost and require the applicants to provide their basic information along with a photograph on a small form. Each participant is then given a badge with a number written on it which helps in identifying him when called to introduce himself on the stage. Chits of paper are passed around so that participants can note down the badge numbers of people they are interested in and approach the NGO for arranging private meetings. Many participants had come from places like Raipur, Bhopal, Usmanabad, Hyderabad, Rajkot.
The event began with a pep talk, designed to break ice amongst participants. The leader of this team and the main organiser is Natu Patel. "Don't be ashamed to be here, this is your right," he told the crowd on Tuesday. "Age is no bar for love or marriage and even legally there is no maximum age for marriage. No one can stop two consenting individuals from living-in either. There will be practical problems in this journey, even your children and relatives may not accept you. But these can be overcome."
The oldest man was 88 years old, while the oldest woman was 70. By the end of the session, 25 couples showed interest for private meetings.
V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,
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