Of turning 82!!

I have a thousand little silly nicknames at home (although I wont divulge any more embarrassing nicknames than what the picture reveals); and they show up in random order on my birthday cakes at home.


Not this time.


I turned a million recently and was indeed made aware in a not so subtle (yet funny) way by my Mom.
The cake was addressed to 'Rajat' - I used to fight when I was actually younger when the cake was addressed to some 'Babloo' or other thousand people I didn't know of.
'Rajat' felt odd. And,also I was now turning 82 and not 28 ! Yikes!.

I always joked on my birthday- that I'm getting real old - that I will retire soon - that I need a new health insurance, knowing all too well at the back of my mind that I AM NOT actually getting old and I indeed have loads ....loads of time left....left for what?.ANYTHING!
Until now....

I dig back and find this post of mine(damn near 6 years back).
"
If you get up and don.t feel a nagging pain somewhere or dread, either you are young or better yet dead!.
That meant I was OLD.And I am 22 years OLD , not young.!

Coming back to MY bed(which prompted this web log)....
When I wake up (which i eventually do) from MY own bed I no longer feel dread or a nagging pain anywhere(which I never did ,fortunately).
So what could be the explanation???
Bed bugs of-course!! Friendly ones at that!

Shashi Taroor said he took stock of his life on his 30th B'day......hmmmmm...maybe I still have time.Or maybe I should read the book 'Life begins @ 40!'. Whatever the case I have time .
Like I care , need I?
"
Dated: 3/8/08. ( http://rajatscribbles.blogspot.in/2008/03/of-bed-bugs-and-beds.html )

This makes me happy that this blog is serving its purpose....its sole purpose .....for ME...to remind ME of ME ...
I digress.

So...Here I am...all of 28 ...thinking ....(not exactly worrying -not yet)....thinking....would things really be 'sorted' out by 30?.
Would Jose Mourinho hire me as his assistant by then ?
Would my debut novel be out and be an instant hit and I would land a 7 figure new book deal?
Would I be my nephew Yash's manager and he goes on to be this great football player?
(mind you , he already plays for a football club ..... I could be his Uncle Tony ...he just needs be be my Nephew Nadal....)
Would be stuck in the same job...in the same floor...in the same cubicle.....?
Would I start to care of about earning money?
Would I not care much about my job and run home early to my Wife......?
wait ....its getting scarier...again I digress!..I rather stop.

A part of me (a very large part) 'thinks' it still has a got loads of time. But a small part is beginning to have doubts....
Doubts...forced upon by:

Married Friends - yes ,most of the 'gang' no longer exist in singular form.
Married friends to me : " Come on man , what are you running away from! You have to get married sometime ...there is a shortage of good girls..."
Large part of my brain to me: "Haha ...morons ....they are trapped ...they want to trap me as well. I am a free bird, and this bird you cannot cage!"
Small part of my brain to me : "Dude....what if they say is true ...listen to them ...they are your friends after-all"

Single friends- oh the ever shrinking population.
Single friends to me- "why aren't you biting the bullet yet..what are you waiting for ? to become CEO of your company? "
Large part of my brain to me : "Idiots...don't know how to relax being alone ....look at me - I work when I want,how much I want , play tennis,spend on expensive watches ...I am awesome."
Small part of my brain to me: "listen douche! These people are getting married and settled before you and you know it...you are going to die alone!"

My neighbors to me: "Did your mom find you a nice girl eh?Till when you will make them live alone"
Large part of my brain to me :"Tell them some story of you in a live in relationship in Bangalore,that'll shut 'em up!"
Small part of the brain to me : "Just smile and wave boy.....just smile and wave."

Work Friends to me- "you bought a house? when you getting married?"
And I have to invent a story of heartbreak and a fake past which ended in me being betrayed by her. This lame attempt impresses no one.
Fake?Real? I am not going to admit anything ....keep guessing.....come on we all know the truth...or do you really???

Although I have joked aplenty on me quitting (retiring!) from my job...I always meant it...I do seriously think of retiring early.
(retire into what? - read some of the above lines again for what I hope to retire into....)

Based on my calculations,on the amount of money, I would need for I don't know what, I can retire in about 5 years after I would have been officially made to retire at 65 !
hmmm....bummer....

Old age is fifteen years older than I am.-
Oliver Wendell Holmes







I have done a lot of stupid things but being an adult is probably the dumbest thing I have ever done.

Yet,By and large I still can indeed make fun of myself.

Until 29.......!

The times they are a-changin' .... perhaps not

'Do you want cell with warranty or without warranty?' enquired the watch repairman. It was the same man sitting in the same shop for what seemed like forever. It seemed to me like this shop always existed and the person behind it was always there to repair watches. I've been coming here to this shop from what 15 years?!?.
With the same customary exchange of lines , I collected the repaired watches ( with 1 year warranty on cell).
Only this time I enquired 'Your name sir?'.
'Dhaani' he responded
I wanted to ask him of his experience , of his patience of being in the same service , in the same shop ,repairing watches . Did he love watches ? had he changed the color of the wall of his shop ? and why of all hadn't the period of the warranty for the watch cell not changed ? (still only one year )
'Thank you' was all I could muster. 

Perhaps our minds are meant to perceive change very easily. We look for change. We crave change. We seldom do appreciate something that stays the same. There must be a catch surely !. Was he a government spy gathering information on the surrounding businessmen?......my thoughts drifted away.

Later in the day I observed the guy who serves soda /ice cream near the market - yes, same guy that has always been there.
The local librarian - same. His assistant - same!

There are so many things that I would like NEVER to change. Not that we are powerless to change them and have accepted the way they are. But because it is so much easier that way. The things that are taken for granted. These are things were we notice the change very easily.

'Baa Baa black sheep , have you any wool' rendered my niece to me over the phone.
I didn't wonder whether the nursery rhymes industry has changed or not. I just took comfort that I could respond back to her
'Yes ,sir. Yes , Sir. Three bags full!'

There are some things that does not change for a large part of our lives.
And thank heavens for that.!

Cheerio !