Monday, June 28, 2010

How to be when you are old


I'd hate it if people avoid me when I'm really old and craving for company(And yeah, wise guys, I'd hate it if people avoid me now as well. And no, I'm not really that old to begin worrying about this). But now I know that in order to get this wish of mine, when I get that old, I need to be an interesting person to younger guys. But how? Now I know - got to see a couple of role models a few days back.

These role models are 75+, have questionable health, and have lived long enough to repeat stories about pre-independance times and the like. Over dinner, I saw this couple swap such stories, quibble with each other endearingly, and chill out in general.

But most impressively, they saw the present moment as much better than their past. And there in I felt was the difference. They saw hope for a future that they may never get to see; I loved that about them.

We bear old people, shut out a few things that they say, because we don't want to get into needless arguments about how things were different and better then and in how golden everything was.

We want to learn from old people. We don't want condescension. I'm hoping this lesson I learnt from them does not fade away.

2 comments:

Sachin Gore said...

I feel each stage of our life is a learning stage. It hardly matters from whom you take the input. Old people don't come out with solutions but with suggestions keeping aside the mortalities of the present circumstances. It is worth admiring them to a point as they have unfolded their path on their own without following any one. So the moral of the say is "DO IT ON YOUR OWN and GET YOURSELF OLDER"

Cynics Twist said...

Well said. So when are you meeting more old people now? :P