Romancing Old Age
At last I have been woken up from somnolence. I would like to pen some thoughts on a subject that is upper most in my mind.That pertains to old age. Has age got any significance in the modern age? It has been reported that by the year 2030 India's young population would be about 95 crores,ie. in a short while we can reach the billion mark!!Old people no longer behave like old people. Even in their dress and attitude they mimic the younger population.And why not?Improved health care and health consciousness coupled with a rigid exercise regime have to some extent delayed the onslaught of the advancing age.I would not call it a reprieve as I some times feel that age( I will not say old age) relentlessly pursue its prey and frustrate all efforts to keep it at bay.
When does old age begin? That is a debatable question as the marauding forces of age attack different people at different time keeping in view the health of their mental and physical faculties and emotional and psychological propensities.It is no longer rare to see centenarians standing upright and walking in swift strides. My opinion is that age is a matter of attitude. A person with a pleasant demeanour, non complaining and contended nature and ever obliging will go far in life smart and healthy despite the ravages of age.
My first brush with old age was when I was hardly 23 years of age.I was travelling in Delhi Transport Corporation bus. A smart girl got into the bus and addressed me 'Uncle, will you please move?' I felt that a thunderbolt has struck me and the ground under my feet was slipping. See her temerity!! Uncle indeed!! I hardly became a youth and suddenly metamorphosed into an ageing Uncle. I then realised that in Delhi all men are uncles and all women are aunties whatever may be their age or status. I counselled and consoled myself that since this is a regular if not acceptable practice I should pardon that impertinent girl. But what took the cake was when the bus conductor addressed as 'Lalaji'.' Lalaji where will you go?' Sorry, even though I had a corpulent figure, I should not be assigned to the category of lalaji. I was just 22 when I landed in Delhi and was completely ignorant of the ways of this historical city. I expressed my agony to a local friend. His reply was comforting though not very satisfying. He looked very serious and like an oracle pronounced that wealthy people are known as Lalas. I was confounded. A stripling has entered a higher social bracket without sweating or swearing for it. Years later after I entered wedlock and me and the apple of my eyes were on extended honeymoon, a vegetable vendor knocked at our door. When I opened the door to my utter consternation he said that he had brought some special vegetables ordered by 'your Mother.' My mother!! Gosh!! The ignoramus meant my wife , who still had dreamy eyes. To this day I have not revealed this unsavoury episode to my beloved wife who still treats me as her eternal Majnu. She refuses to acknowledge my age in spite of all tell tale signs of a crumbling physique if not spirit. I am on the threshold of becoming an octogenarian.I am a host to various ailments, some not very serious and some life threatening. My daughter and son-in-law, who are eminent doctors, have so far succeeded in thwarting all attempts made by fate to snatch me away from their midst and I am reasonably hale and hearty. My daughter-in-law does not spare any effort to keep my old age at bay.She went to the extent of shepherding me to a stylish beauty parlour, got an awesome haircut and special treatment to bestow on my dull and dark skin some brightness which may not last long.The sun God will ensure that. All this while my son was viewing this drama with an indulgent smile.Thus there is a combination of forces which keep me at a safe distance from the rigours and ravages of a senile and decrepit old age. The moot question is how far and how long we can fend off the inevitable. Man is an evolutionary and evolving being. Right from birth he evolves and changes. Infancy, childhood, youth, old age and the ultimate unspeakable truth are his characteristics.. But as the old saying goes ,old age is second childhood. I see God's beauty all around and a sparrow or a butterfly excites me. No wonder Somerset Maugham observed that"old age has its pleasures, which,though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth". My message, therefore, is so long as the show goes on, let us enjoy it.
At last I have been woken up from somnolence. I would like to pen some thoughts on a subject that is upper most in my mind.That pertains to old age. Has age got any significance in the modern age? It has been reported that by the year 2030 India's young population would be about 95 crores,ie. in a short while we can reach the billion mark!!Old people no longer behave like old people. Even in their dress and attitude they mimic the younger population.And why not?Improved health care and health consciousness coupled with a rigid exercise regime have to some extent delayed the onslaught of the advancing age.I would not call it a reprieve as I some times feel that age( I will not say old age) relentlessly pursue its prey and frustrate all efforts to keep it at bay.
When does old age begin? That is a debatable question as the marauding forces of age attack different people at different time keeping in view the health of their mental and physical faculties and emotional and psychological propensities.It is no longer rare to see centenarians standing upright and walking in swift strides. My opinion is that age is a matter of attitude. A person with a pleasant demeanour, non complaining and contended nature and ever obliging will go far in life smart and healthy despite the ravages of age.
My first brush with old age was when I was hardly 23 years of age.I was travelling in Delhi Transport Corporation bus. A smart girl got into the bus and addressed me 'Uncle, will you please move?' I felt that a thunderbolt has struck me and the ground under my feet was slipping. See her temerity!! Uncle indeed!! I hardly became a youth and suddenly metamorphosed into an ageing Uncle. I then realised that in Delhi all men are uncles and all women are aunties whatever may be their age or status. I counselled and consoled myself that since this is a regular if not acceptable practice I should pardon that impertinent girl. But what took the cake was when the bus conductor addressed as 'Lalaji'.' Lalaji where will you go?' Sorry, even though I had a corpulent figure, I should not be assigned to the category of lalaji. I was just 22 when I landed in Delhi and was completely ignorant of the ways of this historical city. I expressed my agony to a local friend. His reply was comforting though not very satisfying. He looked very serious and like an oracle pronounced that wealthy people are known as Lalas. I was confounded. A stripling has entered a higher social bracket without sweating or swearing for it. Years later after I entered wedlock and me and the apple of my eyes were on extended honeymoon, a vegetable vendor knocked at our door. When I opened the door to my utter consternation he said that he had brought some special vegetables ordered by 'your Mother.' My mother!! Gosh!! The ignoramus meant my wife , who still had dreamy eyes. To this day I have not revealed this unsavoury episode to my beloved wife who still treats me as her eternal Majnu. She refuses to acknowledge my age in spite of all tell tale signs of a crumbling physique if not spirit. I am on the threshold of becoming an octogenarian.I am a host to various ailments, some not very serious and some life threatening. My daughter and son-in-law, who are eminent doctors, have so far succeeded in thwarting all attempts made by fate to snatch me away from their midst and I am reasonably hale and hearty. My daughter-in-law does not spare any effort to keep my old age at bay.She went to the extent of shepherding me to a stylish beauty parlour, got an awesome haircut and special treatment to bestow on my dull and dark skin some brightness which may not last long.The sun God will ensure that. All this while my son was viewing this drama with an indulgent smile.Thus there is a combination of forces which keep me at a safe distance from the rigours and ravages of a senile and decrepit old age. The moot question is how far and how long we can fend off the inevitable. Man is an evolutionary and evolving being. Right from birth he evolves and changes. Infancy, childhood, youth, old age and the ultimate unspeakable truth are his characteristics.. But as the old saying goes ,old age is second childhood. I see God's beauty all around and a sparrow or a butterfly excites me. No wonder Somerset Maugham observed that"old age has its pleasures, which,though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth". My message, therefore, is so long as the show goes on, let us enjoy it.
