Mumbai – Maharashtra

Clara D’Souza, Spark of Life Master Practitioner

Clara is the Chief Operating Officer of Adhata Trust and founder of Adhata Community Centres in Mumbai, India.

Clara is an economics graduate from Mumbai University and studied Gerontology at the Tata Institute of Social Science, After a successful banking career serving in both public and private banks, she decided to follow her passion for working with the elderly community.

With over 5 year experience in the field of ageing she is determined to create an age-friendly society for people with dementia. Her passion and dedication saw her travel abroad to understand the needs of people with dementia and to introduce the Spark of Life Philosophy for people in Mumbai.

Clara believes that now is the right time and place to practice the Spark of Life Philosophy to move society’s perception of disability to ability. Through becoming a Spark of Life Master Practitioner, she now works to add heart and soul into each and every member of her NGO, the Adhata Trust.  Working towards adding quality of life in the lives of the elderly, she is supporting her team of 18 Social workers based on this philosophy of love, affection and care.

Click here to read more – In her own words >>

Silver Innings  – Nalasopara West & Virar West, Mumbai Western Suburban – On the Journey to Become Spark of Life Centres of Excellence.

Nalasopara West and Virar West are both residential care homes providing full time care for fifteen people with 23 staff members caring for them. They also have room for four further people on respite visits.

Sailesh Mishra, Spark of Life Master Practitioner

Sailesh is a Social Entrepreneur and is known in India for his social justice work for the welfare of Senior Citizens and people with dementia.

After 15 years of working in corporate marketing, he made a shift and dedicated his life to creating an elder-friendly world where ageing becomes a positive and rewarding experience. In April 2008, Sailesh founded his social enterprise organization, Silver Innings, to achieve this goal.

In August 2013, Sailesh set up Mumbai city’s first dedicated assisted living elder care home, Nalsopara West, and in 2016 the second home in Virar.

Sailesh is dedicated to embedding the Spark of Life Philosophy into the care of people with dementia in his homes to bring the philosophy to people in his local community.

The Spark of Life Culture Enrichment Program has given Sailesh a systematic way of providing ongoing and life-changing education on dementia care and he is looking forward to both his homes achieving certification as Spark of Life Centres of Excellence.

The First Public Presentation on the Spark of Life Philosophy in India

Nilanjana Maulik, Secretary Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), Calcutta has in the following commended Sailesh on his important contribution to her conference in 2017.

Sailesh Mishra gave the first public presentation on the Spark of Life Philosophy in Indian at the International Conference on Advances in Dementia organized by ARDSI September, 2017 in Kolkata.

The conference engaged with communities from around the world and included the participation of neurologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, geriatricians, other physicians as well as persons with dementia & their relatives.

The presentation by Sailesh included: What the Spark of Life Philosophy is, how the Philosophy is implemented, what outcomes could be expected in India, and finally showing Spark of Life Philosophy in action. Sailesh’ session offered the audience knowledge and understanding on how to foster kindness, compassion, empathy, respect and an attitude of unconditional love.

The talk was very well received and the audience felt the importance of the Philosophy and its need to be implemented in various parts of the country in all kinds of settings. They also could relate to the essence of the Spark of Life Philosophy with the Indian joint family values.

Watch Sailesh Mishra expressing in his native language Hindi & in English his reflections about the Spark of Life Philosophy:

Mona Mischra participating in the Rehabilitative Program: