Retirement- Possibly for Good

 I have contemplated retirement, often. Of course, life does not always turn out the way you think it will. So it was that I came to work in Kolkata. But circumstances have forced me to relook at life's priorities. And it is very likely that I will soon retire from full time work. 

It gives you enormous freedom to think, and indulge.. in things that you could only dream about, and occasionally partake of. This may include some travel, some reading, some Golf, meeting people at various places, or in town, doing new things, and listening to music. Of course, family responsibilities, as they are, will be a part of it too.

I am of course, open to occasional forays into teaching if there's any demand from an institution. But mostly, not admin. positions that are devoid of student interactions.

Pune will be the base, or adda- not the Bong version, but the Marathi or Hindi one- as far as I can tell. Mumbaikars, beware. You might see more of me in the months to come!

It has been good while it lasted, through corporate jobs in Advertising and Market Research, and teaching through my Ph.D. to post-Ph.D. days, in the US first, and then in India.

Some great colleagues and students who turned into friends along the way, are my billion-dollar wealth.

What Retirement Might Mean

This is a predictive look at retirement. You

-Travel less, because there may be only discretionary travel.

-Eat less, because appetite reduces with age- this is fact, not fiction.

-Talk less, because not too many listeners are around, particularly if you repeat yourself. Exception-you can talk to yourself. It's not weird, it may be the only option if you want to.

-Have an opinion about everything- with little to do, you become more opinionated, just because you have the time..particularly, about the young and the stupid!

-Become more British..I mean, talk about the weather.

-stop learning, because you are no longer sure you can use that anywhere. 

It was to prevent some of these, that there was a practice of old people in India going on a Kashi yatra, in olden times. Or vanavasa, maybe. The equivalent today could be going on a never-ending world cruise..if only someone would buy me a ticket, I'll consider retiring early..

Ticking Ticket Bomb

There are tickets where you pay for them, as in plane, train, bus or tram tickets. Also some entry tickets like to a movie, or circus, or concert. Or a parking/speeding ticket, which is your contribution towards speeding up a slowing economy.

But what I am referring to is a bonanza that enables you to holiday at taxpayers' expense-if you win. The ticket to contest an election, I mean. Kids whose lollipops have been snatched between 'the cup and the lip' don't throw such tantrums as we have seen seventy-plus politicos throw in the last few days. When these oldies were denied tickets.

At an age where you either retire to a forest in keeping with the Hindu tradition of sannyas, or play with your grandchildren at home, these worthies aspire to a kingdom of their dreams. They scream louder than their grandkids, or go into a sulk that would shame a Kaikeyi who sent Rama wandering for fourteen years.

Whether they have their faculties intact to do anything useful if elected is tough to figure out. In a nation of young people, as they keep reminding us all, aren't they totally out of place?

Why not buy a bead chain (rudraksha mala) and count the beads until it's time to permanently retire? But they'd rather count the greenbacks of whatever colour in the Swiss Alps, I presume. Oh, for a colourful life in the cause of THE PARTY! Maybe the party should buy them a one way ticket to the moon, as in the once-popular pop song. (Bappi copied it into a Hindi one sung by Usha Uthup).

On the God of Cricket

This is about the hype about Sachin retiring. I am an admirer of his cricket, and enjoyed watching him bat in many a game. Being a fellow 'kar', I was proud that he was doing ('karo'ing) something not many others were.

But so many others have done wonders for Indian cricket. Starting with the stolid Sunil Gavaskar, the silken-touched Gundappa Vishwanath, the greatest catcher (according to me- you will be shocked if you see some of his catches in close positions) Eknath Solkar, the solid Abid Ali, the patient Mohinder Amarnath, the flashy Srikkanth, the great hitter Sandeep Patil, the wonderful leader Kapil Dev, the caresser of balls Laxman, the deadly 'in-swinger' Javagal Srinath, the shrewd captain Ajit Wadekar with his 'best in the world spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan, who won us two series in England and West Indies.

And some others like Dilip Sardesai, Syed Kirmani, Azharuddin, and the great wall of India, Rahul dravid who saved us from the blushes in many a foreign series. Zaheer and Harbhajan, who together bowled their hearts out. Kumble, who overcame the tag of 'non-spinner' to take so many wickets. Dhoni, who has led from the front.

I think the hype is a bit much, considering that he is one of many in a team game who did (a bit more than, maybe) his bit to make India proud.