This 80-year-old Poland granny has against all odds defied limitations and stereotypes surrounding old age by choosing to entertain crowds through her flair for deejaying.
DJ Wika, as she is known, dons her yellow trousers, shiny platform shoes, red lipstick and headphones to stand behind the decks, mixing party music in a huge Warsaw club.
The self-trained Wika has been deejaying for Polish retirees for two decades, earning widespread respect in the trade.
Every Monday night, she entertains about 1,000 people at the Hula Kula club, smashing stereotypes and empowering seniors as she plays everything from disco and rock to samba and ballads.
“I don’t care if someone likes it or not that I am dancing or jumping behind the console, because I cannot play and stay still,” Wika says, adding that she understand that she does not fit the stereotypes of her age and doesn’t see why she should any way.
Wika says she has previously worked with young people, and while they would begin getting jittery as they turned forty, she would keep on having a youthful mindset.
“My message to youths is that your life does not end when you are 70. They would say ‘Miss Wika we are already 40, we are so old’. And I am twice as old as you and … I am not old, by no means.”
True to her word, age has not deterred her from pursuing what she perceives. What do you see yourself doing at 80?