A different day for senior citizens

It was a different day for around 400 senior citizens as they took part in a Prabin Mela (fair for senior people) on Kulbaria High School ground at Kulbaria village under Meherpur Sadar upazila on Friday.

The people, aged between 50 and 100 years, came from several adjacent villages including Kutubpur, Gangni, Kathuli and Kulbaria.

A large number of young people also came to the fair to hear the life experiences from the seniors.

Khairul Islam, 45, a businessman of Kulbaria village, has been organising the fair every year since 2015.

The senior people spent the day gossiping, singing songs of their times, cutting jokes and sharing their experiences with each other.

The organiser invited a physician who talked about some old age complications and ways to deal with those properly.

“I have come to the fair for the second time. Such a day is not comparable with my usual days,” said 70-year-old Fazlul Haq of Kulbaria village.

“I will try to attend the yearly fair as long as I live,” said Doat Ali of Teghoria village.

Organiser Khairul said, “Only 50 senior people took part when I arranged the fair first in 2015. The number of participants sees increase every year.”

“They enjoyed the get-together and had some knowledge about how to pass the advanced age gracefully through sharing with each other. It was also an interaction between young and elderly people,” he said.

At the end the participants were entertained with a feast.