Happy to be old

When the first grey hair appears, one tugs at it, aghast. By the next one, one feels it is high time to initiate a clandestine search for th...

When the first grey hair appears, one tugs at it, aghast. By the next one, one feels it is high time to initiate a clandestine search for the best dye. The appearance of wrinkles under the eyes means a frantic search for the best available cream. This goes on a while.

Then, one has to accept the inevitable when knees begin to ache, the nerves cannot accept blaring music and reading calls for glasses. One avoids cliches like 8216;growing old gracefully8217; and simply wears the brightest of colours and sports the smartest possible look to eke out whatever traces of youth may still be left behind. Some deploy wigs to hide baldness and others meekly surrender to the superior wisdom of barbers.

Man8217;s life has traditionally been parcelled into various stages. These, according to the sages are: Infancy, childhood, boyhood, youth, middle and old age. However, we are never quite content with the slot we fit at a particular juncture. We keep pining for the other.

The young want to look old and vice versa. Young girls smear make-up on their faces, young boys use the razor8217;s edge to prematurely sprout beards. Parents sometimes proudly slip into multi-coloured jeans and T-shirts designed for children.

However, out of all the stages the rishis marked out, the passage from slot four to slot five is the most uncomfortable, the most difficult to accept. One just wishes that like in the game of musical chairs, the music would cease to play, while one remains glued to the chair of youth. This, because, life8217;s pleasant experience seem to have occurred only yesterday. Like the first teenage crush, the sleepless night after watching a horror flick, the nervous wait for the examination result, the first uncomfortable days at college, love at first sight!

As the signs of old age become more visible, so do the attempts to camouflage them. But, one wonders, who is fooling whom? Everyone is ageing alike. Having weathered the years, why not also share the ageing process openly rather than devising the elaborate ruse? Admittedly, the afternoon of life has arrived. But let us cherish the memories of dreams fulfilled, allowing younger generations to pick up the baton. As L.M. Child put it: 8216;8216;It is a rare and difficult attainment to grow old gracefully and happily8217;8217;.