Since childhood, I have heard and watched apathy towards senior citizens. Sitting in forlorn benches in empty parks, culverts or stopover bus stands, either alone or in pairs, watching activities around with almost blank eyes, they present a pitiable vision. Since childhood, I used to imagine my old age in a similar scenario. It used to give me shudders. Perhaps, from then on, I was harnessing myself with odds and means that would keep me useful at the other side of the age. Did I succeed? Let us share and exchange notes.
My separation from the employer of 33 year standing was nearing to an end. It had been customary to start packing up when there were only six months left. That included getting no further fresh assignments, handing over of files and inventory, readying papers for separation benefits and insurance etc., and enjoying the last days by adhering to official work schedule of 8 hours without overstaying or over-stressing. This included no promotion even if a promotion was due. But then, we had to manage a parliamentary affairs committees’ visit due within 30 days to appraise the safety, fire fighting and environment management status of the PSU that was the Heavy Engineering Corporation. I was the Corporate Chief.
Everybody was nervous since such committees were a nasty nuisance. The visit came off to our satisfaction. The Chairman commented in my annual appraisal-“He is a useful person.” This was a new and strange quip for me as well as my other colleague technocrats. My colleagues made fun of it. Appraisal of others contained far more words and sentences. I got only this much to ponder about.
The bombshell fell when I was found promoted in a list of only 14% promotees. This has never happened that too involving a non-productive discipline. Everybody started consulting dictionaries including me. At that time in 2003, we could get the Oxford dictionary which wrote the meaning of USEFUL -“Able to be used for a practical purpose or in several ways: such as aspirin is useful for headaches “. This did not help.
Soon after I retired. I was searching for ways and means to fill the gaping void. I began with researching upon that important word. I saw the best and most superlative meanings in the Collins. It was-“advantageous, all-purpose, beneficial, effective, fruitful, general-purpose, helpful, practical, profitable, salutary, serviceable, valuable and worthwhile.” I was dazed. The Chairman was a man of few words. But nobody ever thought of him to be so precise.
This impetus was going to change the way I was looking towards my other side of the age. I was to keep myself busy.
In my childhood, my father branded me as uncle Podger. I indulged in everything that came in my sight, right from hanging a picture to repairing a radio, most of the time getting bad results. But I never felt defeated. When I was of my own, this habit of “jack of all arts” accentuated. Like a spider, I tried my finesse at everything before assigning the spoil to the right technician. With time, I became somewhat of an expert in most of the affairs of life. Perhaps, this trait brought the above judgment. Perhaps this property kept me optimistic. Surely, I began to love my old age.
The biggest advantage that I have is that I am able to keep myself busy and hence insulated from the devil hacking my brain. I can diversify a lot.
I love keeping myself informed. The media, the books and other textual prints presents a galaxy of choice. I enjoy both fictions and non-fictions but the best sellers lure. I am attracted more towards English, Hindi and Bangla literature in the order written. I do not refrain from prose and numbers in other languages indigenous or foreign provided I get their translation in Hindi or English. These days, I go to the bottom of a story by comparing notes with the internet, film media, textual prints, audio books and vice versa. Recently, I was able to understand the meaning implicit in feature films like “ The Story of Everything”, "The Birdman",“The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, “Ada”, “Roshomon(Japanese)” , of course, the Bangla masterpieces of Satyajit Ray and last but not the least recently released Bangla film “ Jatishwar”. This film introduced me to Ian Stevenson who performed extensive research on reincarnation; that led to reincarnation sample Lugdi Devi/Shanti Devi; that interested Mahatma Gnadhi ; and particularly to the famous Portugese Anthony Firangee ( Hansmann Antony) turning into a Bangali genius. I read “To Kill a Mocking Bird” and “Pather Panchali (Bangla)” and later saw the motion pictures to my utter satisfaction and pleasure. These days, I am immersed in Tagore’s Gitanjali through English translation by the author himself. I have downloaded “The Wings of Fire” by the great Bharat Ratna Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam for future reading in depth along with his “The Ignited Minds”.
I get intoxicated while writing blogs and for electronic magazines such as Ezine, Hub pages and the likes. My blogs again touch a mosaic of disciplines. I dwell in spiritual, political, informative, technical, essays and fictions but what is to my heart are the memoirs that were interesting as well as shocking with flair of adventurism and icing of idealism to convey and conclude.
Cookery is my trump card. This is my stress buster. At the outset, I cook to relieve pressure from routine kitchen workers in my household or anywhere. I cook to get appreciation from people. This past-time includes every aspect related to food such as procurement of raw materials to washing utensils.
Like a child I love to explore in what comes in my way. Therefore, children become my good friends. Friends are the lifeline of a life. We resonate very well to the delight as well as a few annoyances of others.
At the end of a day, most of the times, I find myself short of time. That is because I love the infinite of which I am but a tiny partner.
I love with loyalty and integrity as riders. I always rear to draw distant to near, near to nearer and nearer to the nearest. I trust that without these features love loses its meaning. That is way forward from materialism to spiritualism, from duality to non-duality, to finally become integrated with the mother nature.
Mother nature overwhelmes me. I worship her, besides every known gesture, by publicly sharing what I behold through the eyes of camera. For example, my beholding of the sunsets get inspiration from the famous Tagore quote- "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." This indulgence seals tight any leakage in the time baloon.
I am confidently conceited that I am welcome in most of the places I reside, either with my children for a considerable period or with others for the shortest most period. I am anxiously awaited at the park bench where senior citizens get together for a respite after a healthful walk. Only few days back, my gainfully employed daughter insisted me to extend my stay for a few months more.
I wish everybody of you to succeed and enjoy your bonus period to the fullest. There are a few fortunate who see their old age.
Prove that old has always been gold and would remain so for ever.
Now celebrate your stay on this holy earth as a guest of mother nature !
My separation from the employer of 33 year standing was nearing to an end. It had been customary to start packing up when there were only six months left. That included getting no further fresh assignments, handing over of files and inventory, readying papers for separation benefits and insurance etc., and enjoying the last days by adhering to official work schedule of 8 hours without overstaying or over-stressing. This included no promotion even if a promotion was due. But then, we had to manage a parliamentary affairs committees’ visit due within 30 days to appraise the safety, fire fighting and environment management status of the PSU that was the Heavy Engineering Corporation. I was the Corporate Chief.
Everybody was nervous since such committees were a nasty nuisance. The visit came off to our satisfaction. The Chairman commented in my annual appraisal-“He is a useful person.” This was a new and strange quip for me as well as my other colleague technocrats. My colleagues made fun of it. Appraisal of others contained far more words and sentences. I got only this much to ponder about.
The bombshell fell when I was found promoted in a list of only 14% promotees. This has never happened that too involving a non-productive discipline. Everybody started consulting dictionaries including me. At that time in 2003, we could get the Oxford dictionary which wrote the meaning of USEFUL -“Able to be used for a practical purpose or in several ways: such as aspirin is useful for headaches “. This did not help.
Soon after I retired. I was searching for ways and means to fill the gaping void. I began with researching upon that important word. I saw the best and most superlative meanings in the Collins. It was-“advantageous, all-purpose, beneficial, effective, fruitful, general-purpose, helpful, practical, profitable, salutary, serviceable, valuable and worthwhile.” I was dazed. The Chairman was a man of few words. But nobody ever thought of him to be so precise.
This impetus was going to change the way I was looking towards my other side of the age. I was to keep myself busy.
In my childhood, my father branded me as uncle Podger. I indulged in everything that came in my sight, right from hanging a picture to repairing a radio, most of the time getting bad results. But I never felt defeated. When I was of my own, this habit of “jack of all arts” accentuated. Like a spider, I tried my finesse at everything before assigning the spoil to the right technician. With time, I became somewhat of an expert in most of the affairs of life. Perhaps, this trait brought the above judgment. Perhaps this property kept me optimistic. Surely, I began to love my old age.
The biggest advantage that I have is that I am able to keep myself busy and hence insulated from the devil hacking my brain. I can diversify a lot.
I love keeping myself informed. The media, the books and other textual prints presents a galaxy of choice. I enjoy both fictions and non-fictions but the best sellers lure. I am attracted more towards English, Hindi and Bangla literature in the order written. I do not refrain from prose and numbers in other languages indigenous or foreign provided I get their translation in Hindi or English. These days, I go to the bottom of a story by comparing notes with the internet, film media, textual prints, audio books and vice versa. Recently, I was able to understand the meaning implicit in feature films like “ The Story of Everything”, "The Birdman",“The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, “Ada”, “Roshomon(Japanese)” , of course, the Bangla masterpieces of Satyajit Ray and last but not the least recently released Bangla film “ Jatishwar”. This film introduced me to Ian Stevenson who performed extensive research on reincarnation; that led to reincarnation sample Lugdi Devi/Shanti Devi; that interested Mahatma Gnadhi ; and particularly to the famous Portugese Anthony Firangee ( Hansmann Antony) turning into a Bangali genius. I read “To Kill a Mocking Bird” and “Pather Panchali (Bangla)” and later saw the motion pictures to my utter satisfaction and pleasure. These days, I am immersed in Tagore’s Gitanjali through English translation by the author himself. I have downloaded “The Wings of Fire” by the great Bharat Ratna Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam for future reading in depth along with his “The Ignited Minds”.
I get intoxicated while writing blogs and for electronic magazines such as Ezine, Hub pages and the likes. My blogs again touch a mosaic of disciplines. I dwell in spiritual, political, informative, technical, essays and fictions but what is to my heart are the memoirs that were interesting as well as shocking with flair of adventurism and icing of idealism to convey and conclude.
Cookery is my trump card. This is my stress buster. At the outset, I cook to relieve pressure from routine kitchen workers in my household or anywhere. I cook to get appreciation from people. This past-time includes every aspect related to food such as procurement of raw materials to washing utensils.
Like a child I love to explore in what comes in my way. Therefore, children become my good friends. Friends are the lifeline of a life. We resonate very well to the delight as well as a few annoyances of others.
At the end of a day, most of the times, I find myself short of time. That is because I love the infinite of which I am but a tiny partner.
I love with loyalty and integrity as riders. I always rear to draw distant to near, near to nearer and nearer to the nearest. I trust that without these features love loses its meaning. That is way forward from materialism to spiritualism, from duality to non-duality, to finally become integrated with the mother nature.Mother nature overwhelmes me. I worship her, besides every known gesture, by publicly sharing what I behold through the eyes of camera. For example, my beholding of the sunsets get inspiration from the famous Tagore quote- "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." This indulgence seals tight any leakage in the time baloon.
I am confidently conceited that I am welcome in most of the places I reside, either with my children for a considerable period or with others for the shortest most period. I am anxiously awaited at the park bench where senior citizens get together for a respite after a healthful walk. Only few days back, my gainfully employed daughter insisted me to extend my stay for a few months more.
I wish everybody of you to succeed and enjoy your bonus period to the fullest. There are a few fortunate who see their old age.
Prove that old has always been gold and would remain so for ever.
Now celebrate your stay on this holy earth as a guest of mother nature !
