REFLECTIONS OF A RETIREE – by Ms. Sashikala
“Sweet Sixty”. So read the green satin sash, painstakingly written in bold silver which adorned me on my sixtieth birthday at a grand surprise party organized by my family. Crown on head, I sashayed a la beauty queen, an honor I would never have deserved in my youth, given that stylish dressing and beauty parlors were never my cup of tea.
In reality I had a taste of the sweetness at fifty itself, when on 30th April I prematurely retired from service with a joyous golden shake. Not that I hated work per se, but I abhorred the routine of household chores and rush for work. My multi-tasking had taken a ridiculous level when I used to quickly finish small chores like doing my hair while one side of dosa was being done on the tawa and before turning the other side. Oh, what sense of relief it was on May 1st! I woke up lazily. No more putting pressure cooker on whistle the first thing after brushing teeth. I resolved to read the newspaper end to end, finish the Sudoku and crossword and then leisurely think about cooking. The days of mindless rushing came to an end.
Retirement helped me revive long forgotten interests. My passion for reading which I had cold stored resumed . For some reason French had consumed my interest at College. I joined Alliance Francaise and became a co-student of boys and girls one quarter my age!
I had neglected music at youth. So from decades of bathroom humming I moved to regular music lessons. Never mind that my long rested throat could not stand the strain of rigorous practice. Never mind that I was often admonished by my guru for misses in beat or lapses in shruti. I still enjoyed the classes. Likewise many more activities I found the time to engage in.
So many denied, little pleasures I reveled in. Weekday weddings used to be mechanical exercises involving hurried draping of kanjeevarams with appropriate accessories, quick handshakes with the hosts and making a beeline to the dining hall even before the knot was tied. All done with the aim of reaching office on time. Post retirement, these were great opportunities to reconnect with friends and relatives, witness the ceremonies and bless the bridal couple. For outstation trips I started avoiding night trains which entailed sleeping on suspected unwashed railway linen. Instead I chose day trains whenever possible, where I could relax with a book and enjoy the catering service, courtesy Indian railways. I enjoyed going out shopping with guests, rather than leave them to fend for themselves , giving them DIY instructions and be off to work. The list is endless.
Sixty brought with it additional respectability. Strands of silver peeping obstinately here and there from the coat of hair coloring, lines on face and wrinkles on hand gave me the unmistakable stamp of a senior citizen. So I was pleased to accept a seat surrendered to me by an obliging teenager or an offer from a co-passenger to lift my suitcase off an airport carousel. Separate lines for senior citizens at public places and a discount here and there for the elderly, gave me a cheap thrill. But it was embarrassing to see a north Indian boy or girl touch my feet when introduced or a little brat loudly addressing me “ patti”. It does take time to accept the reality of advancing age, you see.
However, there are downsides to aging. It takes two hours or more to retrieve from the recesses of my mind the name of the famous author or hero. I became the butt of my son’s ridicule when I used to swear I had not seen the movie showing on TV, but half hour later recognized familiar scenes. My legs were adequately activated in order to search for specs or any other object, or just for going into a room, forgetting why I went there and return. I had to accept what is now famously referred to as “ABC” (A for A1c or HbAic; B for BP and C for Cholesterol), as unavoidable consequences of aging.
….Now it is more than two decades since the onset of the euphoria of retirement. Life since has been a mixture of delight and sorrow. Marriages of children and birth of grandchildren were high points while death of dear ones, family setbacks plunged the spirit. In all these my belief in the Almighty grew. The courage to face difficult situations or make difficult decisions was given by the unseen Hand.
I slowly realized that life is not meant to merely bask in the joy of being liberated from the rigors of combining work and home making or to be frittered away in wasteful, fleeting pleasures for too long. I decided to give back to society in my own little ways. I was prompted to engage in “Paropakaram” whenever occasion arose. Participating in satsanghs gave me a lot of satisfaction. Keeping body and mind fit became a compulsion.
Hoping this attitude keeps me going for the remainder of my life.
