Ageing gracefully

Perhaps compare to the rest of the day, the Sun looks most beautiful in the twilight when the cloudy wrinkles enhance its aesthetic features making it glow with the trueness of its colours.

Hi Shishir;

Surprised? Oh! Don’t be. My voice sounds a little shaded yet so familiar. you should look at my picture, the lines have grown so beautifully and bold to colour the crepuscular hue, juxtaposing me in you. Yes, I am you on your seventieth birthday. Twenty-two years from now you yourself will have the insight to see the revelation I am about to make. But today, you have the right to choose a path that leads on to me or paint a completely different picture of you. Because, while the process of ageing is mandatory by the eternal rule ageing gracefully, on the other hand, is a mere matter of choice.

Let’s start by knowing thyself -past, present and future. I have known you since the time you used to roam in your knickers in the macadam maze of lanes and bylanes down east in a small town where the resources were scarce but the spirit of joy was high. I can see you enjoying the ride on your uncle’s bicycle that was so tall that you could only scissor under its bar yet the joy it gave long outlived the boast of your present-day chauffeur-driven sedan.

From there on, I know, the journey had been tough with ups and downs. sometimes the dark clouds of reality had made the entire canvas look almost ghoulish yet your wit could paint a clearer outline of your path, at other times. I am glad you marched through all this with flying colours.

I wish I could give you the insight to make the journey a little less serious. Wish I could tell you about the girls that found you cute and were only waiting for you to smile back at them maybe you could have dated a few of them. Wish you could have carried on with your stint of laughter with buddies a lot more before being struck by the mundane calling.

But no sweat that was you till forty-nine, I had a different style thereafter. I was busy writing down my dreams and I am just too glad I did. With an adorable wife by my side, I watched my two sons grow up in style. They needed a bit of time and I gave them what was their due, after all, they had a destiny of their own to write.

Never gave a shit to the insurance guy bugging my neck for extra coverage, never really bothered saving for property and who the hell is this admin in charge eating up my quality time causing the adrenaline to shoot up and my the vitals to shrink. I fired him. I fired myself, just to adorn a long sabbatical. Travelled where my feet took me, mountains, valleys, deserts cities and wherever adventure bee could take me..

Sitting in my recliner

with kindle and a glass of wine,

waiting for friends to show up

for fun and dine.

treasuring my grey beard

I am not shy,

and that natty goggles

I sure look fly.

Today I don’t have the energy to shout but I love having the patience to hear. I don’t have to rush for the job but I cherish decking up my garden. I may not have the muscle to run but I love having the appetite for the party.

so, on the eve of your forty-ninth birthday this twentyone something of life, is a gift to you my sear self.

Age gracefully and live for thy self.

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