Twilight Years
Shakespeare has rightly sung while comparing age and youth:
‘Crabbed Age and
Youth / Cannot live together: / Youth is full of pleasance,
Age like winter
weather, / Youth like summer morn, / Age like winter bare:
Youth is full of
sport, / Age’s breath is short, / Youth is nimble, Age is lame:
Youth is hot and
bold, / Age is weak and cold, / Youth is wild, and Age is tame.’
On account of increasing average age of a man in our country, the
population of aged people is increasing and the ratio of aged population is
also increasing in proportion to the overall population. According to 2001
census the aged population was 7 crore which was 6.9% of the total population.
It is believed that by 2025 the population of aged people will be 17 crore
which will be 12.4% of the total population. Evidently, this is a reasonably
large portion of the population and a special attention should be given to
area. Now India is a young country but soon it will be an aged
nation. My conviction has become stronger to it when I see more and more senior
citizens for morning walk rather than the young India who prefer to
be awake all night and lie down during pleasant morning hours.
Old age is life’s inevitable yet unlikable truth. This stage of
life needs special preparations. A time comes in life when most of constructive
and productive activities are stopped. The weak and fragile body needs a strong
support. The life during youth flies happily and swiftly but the last
phase of life goes as slowly as our old body. Motions become slower, reflexes
become dimmer, and movements become lesser and lesser. The fever of loneliness
grips harder and harder. This is the stage of life when you have surpassed all
the adventures of youthful journey. You have immense amount of experience and
wisdom. But on the other hand the body vigour starts diminishing. You face new
problems and challenges on your way. You have lot of leisurely hours but no
specific work to finish.
Your children have started their own life and settled down
comfortably with their children. You are alone. If your spouse is alive, he or
she will give you company in this acute phase of boredom. Those who get
retirement after successfully completing their respective jobs lose their
respect and prestige as soon as they get retirement and feel being ignored and
insulted. A wide vacuum is created in their life. They feel cheated. The most
glaring problem which is erupted after retirement is financial crunch. Your
source of income is redirected and depends upon your savings.
It is not only financial front where you find yourself weak, but
it is also your physical strength and health which needs to be taken care of.
Many old and new ailments grip you and shack you to the hilt. You expect your
children to look after you at that time but they are busy in their family and
children and hardly spare time to look after you. It is quite natural that in
such situation you become harassed, despondent, and depressed.
Coleridge laments:
‘When I was young! Ah, Woeful When!’
When youth and I lived together,
Flowers are lovely; Love is flower like; Friendship is a
sheltering tree;
Of friendship, love and Liberty,
Ere! I was old!’
It is funny how everyone wants to live long but no one wants to
grow old. Old age is viewed as an unavoidable, undesirable problem-ridden phase
of life that awe all are compelled to live, marking time until our final exit
from life itself. Perceiving old age with fear is actually a rather recent
phenomenon. It seems to increase as each day passes and the world become more
complex and less comprehensible. Earlier, when life was simpler and values
counted for more, those who reached a ripe old age held an enviable place in
society where they could really relax and enjoy their twilight years, secure in
the knowledge that they still commanded attention, respect and affection,
and that though they were well past their prime, all that they had given their
best for was still important and so were they.
But now with the twist of
time and destiny the life becomes more challenging as you are turning towards a
new childhood when people want you to become more serious. New childhood means
revived interest in delicious dishes, new places, fresh visits, new friendships
and trying new things like a beginner. Anthony Powell was not very far off the
mark when he wrote, “Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a
crime you haven’t committed.” This is a grim reality though the contrary should
have been true. The twilight years ought to have been the best years of a
person’s life, freed from the responsibility of having to make a living one
finally has all the time to actually live – “Sit in the shade, Reliving the good
old times, Letting bad memories fade.”
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