Age is just a number, announced the compere with a flourish of her spangled sari on stage, and all the 58 plus year-olds made it, ‘age is just a number, we can prove it by singing this number’. A group of seniors claimed the stage at a function with the self-assertive name, ‘Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin’ at a Andheri (W) venue on Wednesday evening. It was an effervescent evening of Bollywood songs, sung solo.

No time

Most of these singers were government or semi-government retirees, “they always yearned to perform on stage, in front of an audience. Full-time jobs meant they had little time to pursue a passion,” said K Kshirsagar, former joint commissioner, BMC. Kshirsagar was organiser of the programme, ‘Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin’. Said Kshirsagar, “I too always had a passion for singing. A career in the BMC and scaling the top rungs meant there was no time. Post-retirement, I  pursued this and now riyaaz (practise) is a feature of my life.  I have performed at a couple of stage shows too. Look at these singers here and their age, they will be singing the most peppy songs and many numbers are romantic too.”