The Rainbow of the Setting Sun

Dear Chithra
It is amazing how love can keep the heart young even in a withering body of many a summer. A guy called Dan Trupin broke into poetry at his 92nd year about his wife for 65 years! Listen to this:

Softly, as groping fingers
Clasp, enmesh, entangle,
Each into each arthritic palm,
Unspoken is the affirmation,
The wordless message transmitted,
Never to be unsaid.

Amazing indeed is the power of love and even more amazing is its resemblance to a river. At its infancy, it is full of fast moving rapids with the currents strong enough to break even huge rocks. As it gets older and flows smoothly without noise through the plains on its final phase of merging with the sea, it is such a serene sight that poets like Tennyson wax eloquence over it.

The feeling of companionship that love at old age produces is worth waiting for 65 years!
Sri

 

Dear Santosh
The pleasures of love at old age are as unique as the sight of autumn leaves. It is a pity that one has to wait for over six decades to savour it! But having said that, I must add that the quality of love at old age must be in keeping with the decorum expected of an old person. If it takes the same old pattern that he enjoyed as a young man, then there is certainly the risk being branded as 'one track mind' even at old age!
The idea of life in reverse gear often engages my thoughts too!
Thank you for your participation Santosh
Sri

 

Dear Mindi
We must add 'love' to the list of things whose value increases with their antiquity. Most of us think that the existence of love between two individuals must be evidenced by the level of interaction between them. I have come across quite a few couples who love each other very fiercely but in total silence! I still remember an old couple whose love for each other could never be seen outwardly until the lady died. The old man followed her in death in less than thirty minutes. Such was the intensity of bond between them.

Our mind has been conditioned by all the spoken and written stuff about love. Love cannot be typified like that. What constitutes love is a purely personal matter between the lovers. If Laila bore the injuries on her back when Majnu was whiplashed, it cannot be taken as the benchmark of true love. The love that Gandhiji had for Kasturba was not very expressive but when we read his 'My experiment with truth', we can feel the depth of his love.
Love,indeed, is a strange but a many splendoured thing!
Sri

 

Dear oj
It is amazing that you remember every frame of one of my most favourite movies, Fanny. I am glad that I can relate to someone in IL who has seen Fanny and loved it as much as I did. Charles Boyer as the hero’s father did an excellent job. Talking of Charles, I recollect my reply to your FB on my thread The Vintage Love. Both of us have discussed bulky heroes there. Charles Boyer was short, balding and had a paunch to boot that made some Hollywood heroines feeling reluctant to be cast against him. But then, when a man is as extraordinarily talented as Charles Boyer, a little paunch and balding head could hardly have any adverse effect. Incidentally, the film in which he portrayed Napolean and teamed with Greta Garbo was Conquest. Mary Waleska was the name of the character that Greta portrayed.

Your comparison of an old and active mind to mature wine is very apt. An old mind is useless unless it is active. The wine too cannot claim a place in a starred cellar merely because it is old. It must be ‘active’ too! I totally agree with you that learning new things as we grow older is a lot more exciting than when learning is mandatory as in youth. Though we say that the process of learning continues till our dying day, it invariably ceases to be of much interest to most of us as the evening darkens into night. But then the choice is ours whether to look forward to the mysteries of the star studded nights or shrink at the thoughts of what would lie in wait for us on the morrow. I too sway to the tunes of AR Rahman much to the delight of my grand children!

My past failures leave me with a smile while the few successes that I had fail to elate me as they did years ago! Zorba is very right about women. I would love to hear Anthony Quin say those, nay spit those, words, ‘They give you everything they have got’!
Sri

 

Dear Usha
What a fabulous poem that you have quoted! And it fits into the context of the discussion here like a glove!
Ojaantrik and I have discussed so much about Fanny that I am sure every one would want to see it. It is certainly a 'not to be missed' movie.
I can say a lot about love at youth having passed that way years ago but to hear someone of your age talk about 'senile' romance is indeed amazing. What a clear vision that you have of what life would be years hence!
Sri

 

Dear Kamal
I knew all along that beneath your jolly good disposition, you hide emotions that can run very deep. If this post has moved you to tears, what more proof is required to show what a humane person you are?

Age relates to only our skin but as you say, the feelings are the same for every one. Age has nothing to do with it. Perhaps a highly introspective man can literally become a recluse with advancing years but every one else needs a human being to share his feelings. Birds and bees, stars and trees can be a source of joy only when there is someone to share it with
Sri