At 60 To 85, Lucknow’s Elderly Find New Life Learning Music At Uttar Pradesh' Bhatkhande University

Lucknow: Post retirement, most people ponder on how to spend time. “We are old… what can we do now? What hobbies can we chase at this age?” are questions one hears from the elderly around. But for some in Lucknow, they have their goals set on how they want to spend the rest of their lives. A group of spirited seniors here is proving that age has nothing to do with passion. After retirement, instead of sinking into loneliness or routine, they have picked up something they had once buried deep inside their hearts - music.

At Bhatkhande Music University, these seniors, some grandfathers, some grandmothers, walk into class with pride, curiosity and excitement of schoolchildren. Their hands might not be too strong to hold a tanpura or a sitar, their backs may have bent a little, but their enthusiasm is razor sharp. Here, passion does not age.

Nearly 100 elderly learners, aged between 60 and 85, now attend classes at the university. Some tap rhythm on the tabla, others glide fingers across the harmonium, while many practice vocals, sarod or flute.

Step into any classroom and you will find seniors fully absorbed in music. Teacher, many in their 30s and 40s, are often stunned by the dedication the elderly show. These aged learners are eager to learn raag, taal, and practice schedules more than complaints about any household matter or health.

Arvind Gupta, 80, once served in the Food Safety Department in Kolkata and Mumbai. After losing his wife, when loneliness took over, he resorted to music and made it his companion. “When I sit in class, I feel like I am 22 again. It is exactly like a student, learning from own or others' mistakes,” he says.

Similarly, homeopathic doctor Naveen Malhotra always loved music but never found time to learn due to his busy schedule. “The regret stayed with me. I am aware that music is medicine for the mind, it is therapeutic," says Dr Naveen who now learns the harmonium and even encourages his patients to use music as therapy.

For 60-year-old Rajesh Gautam, the flute was a childhood love but his training began five months ago. “Work and responsibilities never left any time for me to do what I love. But now I am free and the flute is all mine. I am learning with new energy. When I play, my mind gets engrossed in melody,” he shares.

Former professor Rajesh Kumar Tiwari first enrolled at Bhatkhande University in 1988 but he had to leave after securing a government job. “I always carried the weight of giving up music. After retirement, God gave me a second chance,” he says.

For people like Dr. Leli Singh, who wanted to learn an instrument but could not because family did not allow, this age is a blessing. “My family did not let me learn when I was young. Now, at 66, I am into sarod lessons. When I told my children, the whole house was excited,” says Leli.

Their teacher, Dr. Dinkar, is just 35. But teaching seniors has been a different experience for him altogether. “Their passion is unmatched. They learn with more seriousness than teenagers. That is motivating for us,” he says.

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