They are old, but cheerful
Herald News Service (National Herald, Lucknow 1989 cutting courtesy Vernon Goss)
One generally associates an old people's
home with dreary surroundings and drearier people, but a visit to the Dorothy Crosthwaite Home in Ashok Marg proves to be a happy exception.
Built in a large compound with lots of sunny patches, the surroundings are, in fact, far from dreary and the people appear to be a friendly lot as they warmly welcome a visitor into their midst. If they're unhappy and lonely, then they hide it very well under warm smiles and cheerful banter.
The D.C. Home, as it is more commonly known, was established as far back as 1939 for Europeans and Anglo-Indians who had nobody in this world. Named after the wife of one of the last British commissioners of Lucknow, the home presently houses about a dozen residents, explains its general secretary, Mrs Sheila D'Costa.
Anglo-Indian all, these quaint people with names and accents that remind one of ye olde England are happiest when talking of the good old days when the foxtrot was still the in thing and old world courtesy and chivalry had not yet gone out of fashion.
There's Mrs Betty Young who laughs and says, "don't let my name mislead you" for she is, in fact, all of 76 years old. Indulging in nostalgia, she fondly remembers the days of her youth happily spent in Lahore.
While admitting that she is, obviously, much past her dancing days, old Mrs Young regrets that the younger generation has done away with ballroom dancing completely.
