Faded Jeans at 64!

I can’t believe I have completed 64 couple of months back! As I look at the mirror while trying to spread the few strands of hair equitably over the vast expanse of my head, I appear a lot older! But then throughout my life, I have always managed to look far older than what I actually was. Call it a gift, call it whatever! But I have a problem. The so-called gift just stops with my physical appearance and not where it really matters. I mean not in such areas where my being ahead of the ‘real time’ would bring me a lot of credit....

My attitude and my general view of life have stayed put for over four decades. Initially it was not much of a problem. At thirty, my near teen-age habits did not cause anyone much embarrassment but as I progressed in age, the gap became wider and wider and naturally caused my folks a lot of embarrassment. Like Galahad Threepwood to his elder brother Lord Emsworth and his distinguished family....At the age of 64, commonly referred to as the age of superannuation in this part of the world, a man is expected to adopt a certain style of life that has been in vogue for centuries.

You graduate from wrapping a dhoti around your waist to wearing it with a lot of folds around your waist and passing it through the legs. A few strands of hair at the back of the head are permitted to outgrow their counterparts in length. If you are religious, you make your caste marks a lot more prominent. Instead of saying ‘period’ after you have made your point, you mention the name of your favorite god like Ram Ram. You are expected to have an in depth knowledge of geriatric ailments and not only avoid such foods that are responsible for such ailments but also make sure that others do not eat them as well. Over a period of time you should become so committed to healthy food habits that you do not allow even such persons who may be just half your age to eat what is beyond you to digest....

In weddings and other social gatherings, you expect to be seated prominently in the front. You expect everyone to make solicitous inquiries about your health. If you happen to have some problem, you wish to narrate them in their minutest details and if you don’t find willing ears, you tend to get upset. In spite of your utter humility, you do not hide the fact that you are a pillar of strength in your family and nothing moves without your consent. Of course, you are extremely cautious about sharing such family secrets with persons who are close to your family. You are proud of the kind of education you received and never hide the fact that the seventh standard of your days is equivalent to post graduation of today.

Your tastes in music and other art forms are impeccable....Unless you have all these tell-tale marks of superannuation, people tend to look at you with raised eye brows. And that is precisely what is happening to me. I have told you of my problems in the opening para of this story. I just can’t fit myself into a typified category of men in their sixties. I love my faded jeans and Arrow shirts. I love my week end visits to Planet M and if ‘Appidi Podu Podu’ comes on the juke box, I sway wildly to its mad rhythm. At the clubs, the bawdiest jokes are invariably sourced to me. I know all the lanes and by lanes to drive back home without having to undergo the breathalyzer test of the Police stationed at vantage points. I love chatting on the net and if the majority of my friends are from the opposite sex, it is a mere coincidence, a fact my wife never agrees with.

My conservative peers purse their lips at my bohemian way of life. They all seem to be of the unanimous view that it is time that I do a bit of introspection and mend my ways which in short is an invitation to tow their line. ...Believe me, it’s a great strain when you have to continue nursing a youthful spirit as you advance in age. People just do not understand that the efflux of time can and should only leave its footprint on the physical body. The spirit is ageless!

Hello Cheeniya....

Ha ha ha......Yet a great write up from you. This one, I particularly enjoyed and how:)

Believe you me when I say you are not alone:) Your (our??!!) tribe is growing and hey, why complain?

Maybe this is what is called the real evolution. Today's 64 is yesterday's 46...Hmm, come again...maybe yesterday's 34?!

I live with one such 'young' man and the teenager in our hearts still seems to be kicking and alive.

Often, while driving on the streets, my husband is exasperated at the other uncouth drivers that seem to hinder the traffic. Finally, when we pass the culprit driver, we discover an 'old hag' at the wheels! A minute later it dawns upon us, maybe not 'so' old after all, we still may be older:)) Ha ha ha.

L, Kamla

Thank you Kamla!
Growing old is a delightful experience particularly in this computer age!
But for all this hectic activity in the cyber world where I loiter day and night, I would have developed bed-sores!
Meet you again!

Hello again,

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this piece. I wish there were more people from " the age of superannuation" like you.

Here in the US , I have always admired the older folks for their capacity to enjoy life, dress young, get into the car at the drop of a hat and go bowling, dancing, romping around the country.

I think some of are still victorian in thinking when it comes to " right conduct" by persons in a certain age group.

Look forward to reading more from you. Unitl next time.
Vandhana

Hi Cheeniya Sir,

Very nice post. I admire your perspective and your personal attitude on aging.
"Ennakenna kaadu vaa vaanguthu veedu po ponguthu"... this seems to be the demeanor of many people in India at the young age of 60. You seem to live your life to the fullest. Hats off to you...

Regards,
Jothi.

Hi Jothi!
Kaadu beckons me too but not the one they talk about but the unexplored forests of the Amazon and the like! I am like Robert Frost who so intensely feels,
'Woods are lovely ,dark and deep
But I have miles to go before I sleep!'
Incidentally I really dont know why they call it a Kaadu. None of them that I have visited so far has even a blade of grass in it!
Sri (cheeniya)

Vandhana
Tnx again for stepping in to see me!
I'm glad that there a few who could see and appreciate my point of view!
I think that the pitiful references to old age were earned by a majority of men who never had a clue as to how to cope with aging except twiddling their thumbs and complaining about everything all the time. This mindset has to change really. If at all, I can only blame my peers for this state of affairs!
Regards
Sri

hello

how right u r
faded jeans and all

my sister used to say..
there are angels in the sky..
and when they are passing by..
dont keep telling wrong things
like wish i could die...
they have just one wish common...
may whatever u wish come true...!!!

i have a slightly altered view..
even if i have to go the nearest shop
i like to dress right
and i love colourful shirts
on hubby and sons...
and of course friends and relatives too...
faded jeans i hate... conservative at that..
gives them a dont care attitude
but ofcourse jeans blue black and silver..

needless to say
i love rainbows
morning noon and night
day in and day out
yesterday today and tomorrow
who cares what age r u
today is the day..!!

sathya

Hi there Sathya
We meet again! (Wait let me change my faded jeans into something more in tune with your taste!)
Your comments are always very poetic and you seem to have the capacity to elevate even something very mundane into something of ecstacy! I now realise that there is a lot of poetry in everything that happens around us!
Tnx again
Sri

Dear Cheeniya,

That was a good one, with a lot of postive inputs.....i think many of us from this generation have altered our thinking to suit the modern era and be with the younger generation. I too live with one young man at home, and thats what i always say, that he has to start looking his age , for which i just get a dirty stare, and a quick rejoinder that he always looks younger than his age or some such thing!.. ..
But i appreciate the fact that it is good to feel young at heart and enjoy the Kaadu visits , and be a part of this world, than sit in one corner and complain all the time! I liked the visual picturisation your para on the typical older MAN from the forgotten era brought to my mind.....did remind me of my grandpa! ha ha ...but really do such old Men exist now.....i seem to have lost touch with such a generation.
Living here we come across older men, really having the time to do all the things that they could not when they were younger for lack of time!
good write up.....