More than 15 people gathered at Mcubed library on D'monte Park road in Bandra at 5pm to watch a documentary on Aarti Makwana, who was left paralysed in a car accident in 2006. Her boyfriend of 15 months at that point of time, Sunny Pawar, took care of her until she passed away in 2010. 'Caring for Caregivers' is the topic of the 'Last Sunday Meeting' club, where they called Sunny to share his knowledge on caregiving and social work.
Started by Ernest Fernandes and Neela D'souza 15 years back, the group meets on every last sunday of the month and calls various speakers to exchange knowledge. Till date they have had many authors, musicians, environmentalists, film makers, artists and the like to talk about their profession or a chosen topic. Fernandes, 75, and D'souza, 81, used to meet during walks in Bandra and talk about various issues. They decided to call their friends to meet and discuss their thoughts and views.
"We began the club in a flat with only 50 of us. Now, depending on the topic of the meeting, we get a good crowd. After the Gujarat riots, we called the humanity forum and tried to bridge the religious divide, where we learned the significance of Iftari," said D'souza, an author.
There is no membership or office bearers and everyone is free to join. "Once in a month, we make time to talk and exchange ideas about what is happening in our world. When an environmentalist told us that Mumbai is the most bio-diverse city in the world, we couldn't believe it. That day I started looking at nature around me with different eyes. Such reflections can only come from personal discussions. We get new knowledge and new ideas and meet new people with different thoughts," said Fernandes.
Sunny Pawar finished his presentation with group hugs and said that more localized groups as these will stimulate society as a whole. "There is something for everyone here. Many people from the group are senior citizens and they can teach the youth a lot. Youngsters can bridge the generation gap by creating a dialogue. We need to understand each other better and when such opportunities are available, you should grab them," said the social worker.
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