Therapeutic Fun

The visit to Cheshire Ladies Old Age Home went far better than planned, in no small part due to enthusiastic participation of its residents. A trip that was supposed to last an hour or two was extended to almost six hours. Every single activity was received with a liveliness most children lack. Of course, we called it a participatory workshop, rather than therapy.

From ear to hand

After the preliminary introductions we dove straight into the first activity: listening to music and translating it into a painting. Once started the ladies were unstoppable, churning out several paintings in a matter of minutes. The glee derived from this simple task was alone sufficient to warrant the four hours of travel.

From ear to heart to tongue

Our next activity was the expression of emotion. We played short clips of music. The inmates then stated the emotion they associated with it and proceeded to portray the feeling through facial expression and sounds. Soon this evolved into a dramatic enactment of every imaginable sentiment; this soon evolved to a display of impersonations and funny faces.

The one, the all

The ladies of Cheshire spoke Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, English, Hindi or some combination thereof; a good portion of time was spent translating and most of it was a melee of words of varying origin. The outstanding exception to this trend was the group singing session. As the ladies sang in unison their backs noticeably straightened, their head an inch higher, their chins angled upward. Pride in community.

From ear to

The quiet listening session was the least appreciated part of the event, probably because sitting quietly and listening fills up far too much of the inmates’ days (speculation). The women of Cheshire seemed relieved when we were ready to move on to the next activity.

Dance, Baby, Dance

Not everyone joined us on the dance floor but everyone was involved. Clapping, hooting and cheering, I couldn’t believe these were the same old sheep I had spied from the front gate on my way in.

After hours of painting, singing and laughing and so much more, we finally had to leave. The grinning faces behind me broke my heart as I remembered the dull mugs I had first peered at. Promising to return, we left.

Healing Melodies

We all know that our environment is conducive to our state of being in terms of one's mood and health. Music therapy takes advantage of this correlation; it is the use of sound to improve and/or maintain health. With the advent of our final years there is a natural depression that creeps into our minds; music can naturally combat this, as well as, reduce stress and anger.
Environment is particularly important in hospitals;  a simple vase can brighten up the room. As can music. Research shows that ambient music can speed up recovery and help relieve pain. I propose incorporating this into as many hospitals as we can, especially in convalescent wards. The difference may not be felt immediately but I am sure there will be a marginal improvement, and as we all know, every quantum counts.
Music therapy is not just about feeling better; I firmly believe that music that induces fear, sadness and other emotions generally categorized as negative can still have an overall positive effect on the listener. This can be a cathartic experience that rids his or her system of these feelings.
The most important part of music therapy for the elderly (in my opinion) is the creation of music by the subject. Although this may not appeal to everyone, the minds of those who do take part will be kept active, preventing mental stagnation.
Altogether, the various facets of music therapy extensively cater to the needs of the healthy and the sick, across the ageline.

Slideout Table

I noticed that many people seem to have trouble performing the last motion of seating oneself at a table: the part where one slides their chair partially under the table. This can be particularly painful in old age due to arthritis, rheumatism and other problems. As an indirect solution, aimed not at the root of the problem, but intended as a measure of some small relief, I have (designed is the wrong word) modelled a table with a slide out platform for dining, writing and a number of other purposes. The effort required to ease out the platform is much less than that required to slide the chair and oneself.

The table

The table with the platform etended

Media Influence

Nightingales Elder Day Care Centre is located in Malleswaram, Bangalore. On 26th July 2011 we took part in a meeting about media. Although the subject of conversation was not directly related to our project we still learnt a lot in the few hours we spent there.

Firstly, the seniors seemed well prepared with their speeches beforehand and intent on speaking for its own sake. Funnily, the discussion lacked a single path of logic and the speakers appeared to attend to be heard rather than to listen, respond and discuss (opinion).

Secondly, the elders we spoke to were vehemently opposed to being referred to as "old", and protested with such cries as "we are young at heart!" This begs the question, what is wrong with being old? This rejection of self-image probably stems from the abundance of negative stereotypes associated with aging. Moreover the natural deterioration of mind and body is nothing to be ashamed of, yet the consequent dependency chagrins or burdens.

Media influence is likely the culprit. It, particularly advertisements, are designed to make us feel inadequate and insecure about balding, wrinkles, age spots and grey hairs, all of which were symbolic of wisdom in days not long gone by.

Although most stereotypes regarding senior citizens are harmless and fact-based, some
misconceptions perpetuated by the media can be offensive and misleading. Furthermore, many
advertisements and television programmes are designed to make the audience feel insecure about
wrinkles, age lines and spots, balding, grey hairs: the physical manifestation of a natural process.
Incidentally in most countries senior citizens watch more television than any other age group.

However a disproportional number of leading characters are of the same. This is contrary to the
obvious train of logic that dictates that the majority of viewers should be able to relate to the
majority of protagonists. This discrepancy indicates an underlying assumption that there is an ideal
age that all – if not most – people desire to exist at, and more importantly that this age is well below
65.

Visit to Nightingales

On The Other Hand...

Physical and mental deterioration – among other things – make aging a daunting process but it is not all downhill. There are, of course, the provisions made by the government and other organizations such as seating privileges in public transport systems and the right to seek allowance from one’s children and increased welfare benefits.
More importantly there are the social benefits that accompany elders. In India (and many other Eastern countries) it is a social practice to respect our elders regardless of their intellect or physical prowess. Moreover one finds that there is a leniency towards senior citizens in matters of the law (I do not mean to slight anyone; in fact, this might teach us something about our own perception).
In my opinion, the best part of being old is that having lived for as many years one invariably accumulates a wealth of experience and knowledge. Therefore one can hardly avoid gaining a modicum of wisdom.

To Those Who Came Before Us

Every senior citizen I have spoken to (and forgive me if I seem presumptuous) has seemed intent on giving me advice in varying strengths and fields. This is what I have to say in return, from one generation to another:

To Those Who Came Before Us

We value your experience and its offspring wisdom,
As you must yourself.
But recognize the value in repeated learning;
learning again for oneself.

To instruct us is to incite rebellion,
To inform us is to provide guidance.
The difference is simple;
You see it in our stance.

And do not expect to pass opinion
Without recieving in turn
We are here to express,
Discuss and mutually learn.

Force not upon me
your rules and demands
try instead to see who I am
One cannot hate what one understands

Temporal Projections

To start off we visualized ourselves as senior citizens to try and achieve a more complete picture. This led to some interesting insights about ourselves and our peers and produced more than a few intriguing visuals.

I added age lines, a receded hairline and tufts of ear hair to indicate age. The emaciated figure and sunken cheeks represent unemployment. I manipulated the proportions of the body to better display the ratio of functioning.

Outlook

People say that the youth are our future, but the statement leaves out the obvious counterpart: our elders are our past, our culture and traditions and everything else that defines us. We are shaped by them in ways we can cannot begin to understand. This is a space to express our respect and gratitude for those that came before us. In the next five weeks we intend to intimate ourselves with the seniors in our community so as to understand their way of life and if possible, improve on it in what little way we can.