Ajit Singh Nagar
Retirement—a bonanza with a rich compensation
Old order changeth yielding place to new
God fulfills himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the mankind.
Retirement means a healthy change in the social set up where the old fossils are obliged to vacate the niche to make way for the young generation to supplant them as the worn out cells in our body are replaced by the new ones. As the blossoming and blooming flowers fade away and fall and the over ripe fruits decay and the spring season loads them with new foliage and succulent fruits. Similarly old generation is silently removed otherwise the wonderful fountain of life shall become stagnant and pungent. The mystery of life gets revealed to a person and the hidden treasure are disgorged after retirement when he repents and regrets over his blunders of youth in idle pursuits and turned a deaf ear to the wisdom- laden advice of his parents ,well- wishers and best-elders and lost the golden chances to better and brighten his career.
People shudder at the name of retirement and get panic as some incubus is coming to strangle them in its grip. Some turn sick and sulky, their faces look pale with fear, eyes sunken with despair and dejection, breathe long with groaning sighs and sobs as if they were being goaded like dumb driven cattle to an abattoir. Some conceal their date of birth from their friends and colleagues that others may not detect the time of their retirement and they forget the fact that they are mortals and their doomsday written in the book of fate is irrevocable and cannot be obliterated. Whenever they are questioned about their superannuation, they prefer to evade the question by slipping away from the scene or deliberately turn contemplative. Some grow violent to tear away the clothes out of frustration and pounce upon the questioner to fly to his neck.
But retirement pays a rich compensation not in pecuniary benefits but it brings a catharsis with mental tranquility and ample leisure to enjoy the fun and festivity of life with care free mood and cheerful disposition. It provides deliverance from the appalling bugbear of punctuality and the sword of Damocles turns blunt on our head after retirement. A voracious bibliophile can devour the master pieces with avidity to widen his horizons of knowledge by exploring the vista to whet his curiosity to imbibe more and more. A social butterfly is enabled to attend family functions, convivial parties and convocations with ease. A lover of Nature can gladden his eyes with wonderful scenes and sights. The fragrance of flowers soothes the nerves. One can enjoy long walks before Sun rise and after Sunset to keep oneself hale, hearty and healthy. A devout finds all time to sit in meditation or genuflect before the image to get his culpable sins absolved and rub off all dust and dross of worldly allurements.
It is a matter of sad and bitter experience that most of these snobbish and self-styled heroes do not survive long after retirement and get the state of rigorous mortis and their names figure atop in the newspaper column of obituaries as they fail to acclimatize with the situation.
Retirement is always a welcome for a teacher or a lecturer who gets relief and respite from the monotonous job of stereotype teaching. He gets manumitted from the yoke of thralldom imposed by ignorant seniors simply qualified `and decorated with degrees but without education that hinges on humility and humanity, simplicity and sensitivity and decency and docility. There is no need of setting unit tests, marking papers against will, applying for leaves, sit idle in the office to flatter the chair to slip away for an hour or two or champoo his feet for a trifle after retirement. One becomes a crownless king in his own house and lives a free life at his sweet will without anybody s, dictation, direction and dread. The ringing of school bell can neither shatter the nerves nor the rod of punctuality can cause nauseating nuisance. One feels thrilled with bubbling vigour and vitality like a young fawn provided one has shielded his health by observing abstinence as well as continence through self -imposed taboos. After retirement a person recalls and reminisces
What is this Life, full of all care.
There is no time to stand and stare.
Some retirees are led by irresistible hunger for wad of notes and love to work in the private institutions at paltry wages where they have to endure humiliation but their dead conscience keep them tagged with their mammon – worshipping master. Some high officials retired from lucrative posts spoil the zest of retirement life by joining politics to pick up the victuals from the dining table of the public money.
After retirement an experienced person should render meritorious services by wielding his pen to purge the society of its deep- rooted ills and evils. Retirement harbings a period of vintage to sit in solitude with ones, life partner to share the plethora of sweet -bitter memories of the service period. It makes completely immune to frets and fevers, din and noise of hectic, busy schedule and one can pen down the reminiscence of the past on the paper to bequeath to the posterity for their guidance. Retirement decorates a person with wisdom and makes him socially acceptable, spiritually awakened, intellectually prudent and educationally discreet. With a sense of nostalgia he reflects with retrospection and he realizes that
Life is a mirror of King and Slaves
It is what we are and what we do
Then give to the world the best you have
And the same best will come back to you.
(The author is former Principal)
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