Divyanshi interned with Wishes ad Blessings over the summer of 2019. As an office intern, she had the best combination of in-house assignments as well as field visits…

Read on to find out how her visit to Mann ka Tilak, the Wishes and Blessings old age home went!

  NEW YET OLD LOVE

     While trundling down the lanes of Maidan Garhi, I was made familiar with the backstory of Mann ka Tilak, the old age home we were visiting that day. Situated in a small village, Mann ka Tilak is as captivating as its name. Back in 2018, Wishes & Blessings reached out to every house in a quest for a new home. April 25 was the day when Mann Ka Tilak was finally opened for all elders. This was all I knew before visiting Mann Ka Tilak and little did I know that there’s a lot more to it.

As I reached the home, the first thing I saw was a huge black door with no hint of the inside. While entering, a huge garden in the middle of the home came as a little surprise to me. I had a weird adrenaline rush and was a bit scared. I had a few thoughts going back in my mind about them not liking me or if I would be able to adjust and get familiar with them or not.        

As I entered the room, all I could see was smiles and positivity all around the place. When we passed through the door, a few of them were sleeping on their beds but as they saw us coming, they were all pumped up and happily welcomed us in their room. Doing a total justice to how we address them as “Amma”, they greeted us as their own children. Inside this room, I went through another door which led me into a small room where a few Ammas were sitting on their beds. When you first meet someone, you don’t expect a hug as a part of the introduction. But again, Mann Ka Tilak is all about the unexpected yet warm feelings you are struck with.

For a while, I had a little chat with Gayatri Amma about our hometowns. She told me about the culture of Kolkata and I filled her in with the details about Lucknow. I came back to the first room only to see all the Ammas eagerly waiting for us to sit with them. There, Shravan amma was the most enthusiastic and had a lot to say about anything and everything.

 Shravan amma started addressing us as “my girl and my boy”. While saying the former, she had a huge smile on her face, which added a lot of emotions to these mere words. Usha Amma and Veena Amma, being their cute selves danced with me. Amongst all these incidents, my personal favourite was doing snapchat filters with Usha amma.

After a while, somewhere between all the chit-chat, Champiya amma got a bit emotional while talking about her family. Everyone in the room could feel the intensity of the emotions she was trying to let out through her tears. But then, all of us consoled her and tried to make her feel better. Through the tales of old times to getting a makeover with the new snapchat filters, it was all in all an amazing experience with all the ammas. I met a few uncles too. They were a bit shy, but greeted us warmly. As we were planning to leave, all ammas asked us to stay for a while and have lunch with them.

 The motherly gestures filled my heart and made me feel relaxed and at home. I cherish the love and care I received in abundance. I would love to go and visit them time and again. With this, I got new yet old ammas and uncles and I just hope they found a grandchild in me.