Ms.  Madhu Khare, Washington Virginia- - - - 

I am very happy to know that Professor Dr. Uttam Karmacharya is publishing shortly a book as his 37 publications in Nepal entitled 
“Development and Promotion of Elderly Concept and Promotion in Nepal with Special Reference to Highlights and Exemplary Memorial Days with   Dulles South Senior Center, Virginia (DSSC-VA) 2023.
As I discussed with Professor Karmacharya the book is designed into four parts. In one part he is very interested to cover articles from elderly persons of their valuable experience from different countries. I am writing this article to furnish this part of his incoming book.
I was so glad to meet Professor Dr. Uttam Krishna Karmacharya from Nepal joined Dulles South Senior Center Virginia this August 2023 for the first time. I found him very interested in joining DSSC VA. I came to know that Professor Karmacharya was working in Nepal for several Elderly organizations of Nepal. 
So, he was so fond of taking keen interest in the senior center VA. As a registered member of the center, he started to participate in every activity of the center. His keen interest made us good friends and we have lunch together every day to discuss each other. 
On his request I am writing this article to share my experience with DSSC VA for the promotion of Elderly People Community in different countries.  I came to know that Professor Karmacharya was working in Nepal for several Elderly organizations of Nepal. He was so fond of taking keen interest in the senior center, Virginia . As a registered member of the center, he started to participate in a few activities of the Senior Center. His keen interest made us good friends and we have lunch every day to discuss various matters with each other. I live in Northern Virginia, USA as a retiree. I migrated to the USA with my family over 45 years back. I am a graduate of Lucknow University. Ex-logistics analyst for twenty-seven years here in the USA.
After my husband passed away, I relocated back to South Virginia. I didn’t like to sit idle so I joined Dulles South Senior Center (DSSC), a very popular senior center near my home in South Riding, VA. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of my fellow countrymen and women at this Sr. Ctr. The membership fee was below $30 for the whole year. I immediately joined and started taking advantage of many programs offered here such as yoga, memoir writing and book club etc.
I’ve been a member of DSSC (Dulles South Senior Center) for over five years. I joined the cultural committee and have been an active participant in the four programs that we do each year. I was elected to be the Cultural programs Coordinator at my local Senior Center last year. I feel good serving my Indian community. It gives me satisfaction that our members enjoy the programs and feel connected to their original country and it’s culture.
Slowly but surely, I made several friends here within a short time. Being with your age group, people is the best medicine for all age groups. I go to this DSSC every day. In the DSSC our Indian Community members celebrate India’s major festivals, Holi, Diwali, Independence Day and Republic Day. Later, I was given a chance to become part of the cultural committee. I enjoyed having this responsibility and took initiative to engage and participate in the cultural programs. As part of the cultural team, I played the role of a participant as well as an anchor at times. This definitely broadened my horizon and has been rewarding in many ways. This unique experience helped me to feel better and not feel lonely.
After two years or so during Covid-19 lockdown it was quite boring to sit at home. I engaged myself in some online courses with Chinmaya Mission. But I still missed seeing my friends. So, we requested DSSC management to give us access to online yoga classes and other meetings with a staff member via Zoom. This helped us to remain connected. We conducted all four festivals on Zoom. In other words, we didn’t stop any programs during the lockdown.
Finally, two years ago the DSSC reopened for members and we resumed all previous activities and more. As of today, there are approximately seven hundred members but less than two hundred only visit the DSSC on a regular basis. The monthly Birthdays and some other celebrations are exceptions, close to two hundred members attend. Indian members are in majority, approximately 75% of total membership is definitely Indian.
This DSSC celebrates thanksgiving and Christmas every year, besides celebrating Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Talent shows, Regional Fashion shows, Hawaiian dance shows, Korean and Vietnamese festivals. We try to attend all these festivals. It helps enrich our outlook and expands our horizon.
Last year in November, 2022 there was an election to choose two new Coordinators, I was elected alongside Mr. BhimJi Patel as the new coordinators effective January, 2023. It definitely increased my responsibilities to be overall in-charge of the all-Indian programs that we do four times a year. We have successfully completed three programs and are now working on the third program, Diwali, our biggest festival of the year. 
This year I was elected as the president of DSSC advisory board members aster my participation as a board member as a senior reorientation in the board for several years.
One in a similar stride or better. It takes a lot of coordination between the staff management, and the coordinators. A lot goes on behind the scenes, in order to facilitate a program. The cultural team meets to decide what items to provide based on the festival theme. Then we select the participants based on their talents. I try my best to diversify our function by presenting different types of programs to provide full entertainment to the audience.
I must admit that I do get full cooperation from our members otherwise it won’t be possible to organize a program for such a huge audience.
At this DSSC there used to be a Bollywood music program for the Indian Community but it was never restarted after Covid-19 lockdown. Mr. Mathur and I started this program last year in June. In a small conference room with up to 25 members due to space restrictions. Then I requested our management to give us a larger room. They shifted Friday’s Yoga to the dance studio to accommodate our request. For the last several months this program has been anchored by Bharat Bhushan Ji and Jagdish Joshi Ji. We have almost 100 plus attendees for this very popular program.
There are many other programs for the members such as English classes (Basic and Intermediate), Dance classes (Line dance, Hawaiian, Latin etc.), Art & Craft, Bible Study,
classes for Chinese, Korean Computer classes etc.
They also provide so many game tables in most rooms where people could play various types of games including ping pong, pool table, rummiKub, Card games, Scrabble, Carrom Board etc.
They provide wellness services also; a nurse comes to check blood pressure each month. Other programs include, Senior Services for Medicare related questions and most importantly launch services in-house and delivery as & when needed.

(Ms. Madhu Khare, authored two Hindi poetry eBooks “Kavya Suman” & “Priyamvad”, printed book “ Shimmering Thoughts” and President of  Advisory Board member at DSSC.)