March backwards in Time!

Viswamitra · Apr 9, 2012

Dear Cheeniya Sir,

I am not sure whether it is the body telling the mind that you have become old or the mind telling the body, you have become old and you need to slow down. But it is true that mind has the potential to think it is young whereas the body can't do it. We can do it through dyed hair and skin lotions and so on but it is hard work. Moreover, the demeanor of people around us also reminds us that we are getting older. The people who were calling us by name starts calling us as uncle we come to know that we crossed the age of 40. When the people around us call us "Periyavare", then we know we had crossed the age of superannuation.

You are absolutely right about one thing. No one can make us feel old if we reject such addressing and keep our mind young in spirit. Our experience becomes valuable to others as long as we show it in action and when we begin the process of showing our experience in words, then we become an older person saying something that is not of relevance.

Viswa

Cheeniya · Apr 10, 2012

Dear Viswa
Till about five years back, I was asked to produce my proof of age by the TTE in trains since I was availing of the Senior Citizen's concessionary rates. I used to produce it with a triumphant smile on my face. Nowadays they do not ask me for my age proof any more. Someone suggested that if I shaved off my white beard, I might look much younger. So I did it once and happened to travel to Bangalore. When the TTE came, I was fishing out my Driving License to show him as my age proof but he just waved me away saying 'It is OK perisu!'
Now my beard has become an integral part of me!
Sri

rgsrinivasan · Sep 7, 2012

தனக்குள்ளாகச் சிரித்துக் கொண்டாலும்,
தாளாமல் கண்களில் நீர் நிறைந்தாலும்
நிகழ்ந்தது மாறிடப் போவதில்லை.
நாமிழந்ததைப் பெறப் போவதுமில்லை.

சில வருடங்கள் குழந்தை எனக் கழியும்.
இளமையெனும் துடுக்கில் சில போகும்.
நெடும்பாலை என முன் விரிந்திருக்கும்
முதுமையைக் கண்டு நம்முளம் நடுங்கும்.

வயதாவது உடலுக்கு மட்டும் தான்
என உணர்ந்திட, தெளியும் நம் மனமே!
மனமாவது இளமையில் நிலைத்தால் தான்
செயலாற்றிடும் தீவிரம் வந்திடுமே!

உரம் கொண்ட நெஞ்சம் உடையோர்க்கு
வயதால் ஒரு தடையும் நேராது.
"என்னால் முடியாது!" எனும் வாக்கு
அவர் மூச்சுள்ள வரையில் வாராது.

Nice one Cheeniya Sir. Just for a change, I posted one in tamil for this. -rgs

Cheeniya · Sep 7, 2012

My dear RGS
You won't believe this but just a few minutes back I was thinking that it was time that I stopped mulling over and masticating my bygone days and gave more serious thought to things that still needed to be done. I did have a feeling of complacency that I have completed all my duties but only now it struck me that how naive I was to think so. How could any man know what his duties are and how much of them are still left to be done?

Most of us think that duties related to our family and dear ones but there is a greater sphere to which we owe as much as we do to our family. We must continue feeling this debt of gratitude until we feel a sense of fulfillment. I can only cite the example of Einstein who refused to undergo a surgery saying 'I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.' Soon afterwards he died.
Sri

PriyaKathiravan · Sep 9, 2012

Just before logging in now, i was watching the news of "Amul" Kurien's demise . He was working with full zest and verve till he was 85 , never letting age hamper his enthusiasm. The Father of India's White revolution deserves a separate salute for this .

Its all in the Mind ofcourse. In our puranas, we find characters more than 400 years old chasing after apsaras in blythe abandon and the odd senior royalty borrowing his son's youth to frolick with his moll.....

Good health permitting, age should not stop anyone from skydiving if wished. But in our society, alas, there's always that nagging self-imposed reservation about "what others will say" . More so, in the case of women. Havn't we heard snide comments thrown at "maamis" wearing jeans ?

Cheeniya · Sep 9, 2012

Dear Priya
Kurien's demise is indeed a great loss for the country. The White Revolution is just one aspect of his stupendous achievements but there are many others. He is the architect of one of the most successful cooperative societies of India which we all know by the name of Amul. Besides the mouth watering milk products of Amul, it has acquired immense popularity for the tongue in cheek humour found in its ad hoardings. I was just going through a compilation of Amul ads titled 'Amul's India' covering 50 years of Amul advertising. It opens with the following message of Dr.Kurien:
"We have traversed a path that few have dared to. We are continuing on path that still fewer have the courage to follow. We must pursue a path that even fewer can dream to pursue. Yet, we must; we hold in trust the aims and aspirations of millions of our countrymen"

'Others' are always born to question our moves. They have no face, no guts to come in the open. In fact, they do not even comment on our actions. All their comments are all just a figment of our own imagination. We just need to banish them from our mind. This is a freedom struggle in which no Gandhiji will guide us. We need to wage it on our own. It is our personal struggle.
Sri