Published in The Hindu Open Page
60
is the new 40
Just because it’s the time of
retirement, the sixties should not be considered the end phase of one’s life
August 21, 2022 01:42 am | Updated 01:42 am IST
Life, as they say, begins at 60, and it is a fascinating beginning.
The other day, I came across an
advertisement for the commercial launch of a large cluster of apartment blocks
in the suburbs. The marketing blurb gushed about the superbly designed layout
and the amenities: play area for children, games enclosures for teens, and for the
other age groups, a jogging track, a tennis court, a swimming pool, a gym, and
so on. The USP was that there was something in it for all age groups.
Having exhausted that laundry list of
amenities, their marketing team probably sensed something amiss. They seemed to
have looked about for any group that had been left out. So in their very last
line, they announced there were some features even for those above 65 — the
peace and quiet of the wooded surroundings, for one. And then they seemed to
have run out of ideas for things that people in their sixties may want to
engage in. I read that sentence again. “Even at 65…,” it said, and went on with
other supposedly kind words for the senior citizens. Wait a minute, I thought,
what is the word “even” doing in that sentence? It meant normally the senior
lot couldn’t expect to be catered for much, besides the few park benches and a
sedate walkway around the building. That raised my hackles — at the
condescension in the concession that “even” at 65, you can have a life!
That kind of certificate the seniors don't
need from the opinionated future seniors. The prevalent presumption is that the
sixties, just because they are the age of retirement in many organisations, is
somehow the end phase of one’s life. Or if not the end, then probably the
beginning of the end. Wrong again. The sixties are the end of one’s service in
an organisation, not the end of anything else. If there has to be an end of
anything, it could only be the end of the beginning. Life, as they say, begins
at 60, and it is a fascinating beginning.
First, the retirees can’t begin to believe
the day is theirs to spend as they like. For the first few years post their
retirement, many a senior citizen wakes up every morning with a foreboding
ingrained over 30-odd years of service, of things that need to be done, the
long to-do list at office that never ended, the deadlines that had to be met,
the things that should have been done yesterday, the business targets that one
almost always fell short of, and a hundred other things. It takes a blurred 15
minutes in the morning darkness to realise that the hectic days are over, and
one can get back to sleep. That, in fact, enthuses the senior to get out of bed
with a newfound sprightliness. The clincher is when the senior undertakes the
morning walk, and sees the crammed buses, hundreds of cars and backpack-laden
office-goers on their two-wheelers thundering past on their way to get their
to-do list started for the day.
And later, he walks back home, and a cup of
coffee later, he enjoys a moment of self-congratulation when he pauses by the
mirror and says, “You've come a long way, baby,” and frozen-shoulder
permitting, pats himself on his back for having made it to this stage of life
in one piece.
While in service, one’s eternal complaint was
there was no time to stand and stare. The image of caged monkeys eyeing distant
trees wouldn’t have been much off the mark. One sang with feeling the
song Dil Dhoondta hai, fursat ke raat din, the yearning for a
quiet day, and the hankering for a quality time some day. Well, that someday is
here, awaiting fulfilment. The advances in medical science have expanded our
lifespan, and 60 is the new 40, or whatever number one might assign to one’s
current biological calendar. The fun starts now, and it is time to seize the
day!
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/60-is-the-new-40/article65785011.ece
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