Life is neither very easy nor very difficult. My best period was school which was followed by college. After studies, it was the office. After a few years of performing office duties I got married and took care of the two kids, their education, their wedding and then one fine morning I got an order on my table that I was going to retire on January 31st.
My life went past like a machine and as it is said in any new car advertisement “0 to 60 in 10 seconds”. Yes my life was just like that. In 10 seconds I was 60 years – retired but not tired, still possessed the zeal and stamina to live it all over again, if permitted. I am a human being; I have my desires which are still unfulfilled. I wanted to learn the guitar and play the drums, join the gym, but could not due to the paucity of time and lots of duties.
Even after my retirement, now that I had the time at my disposal, I wanted to join music classes, watch my favorite TV programme, read lots of books, fiction only, read newspapers. Life after retirement appears that I have to pay the electricity, water and telephone bills, put food on the table, fill gas in the car and work like a driver for my wife 24×7.
Recently I joined the gym, went there for 4 or 5 days when I overheard two boys talking about me “This baldie asks too many questions”. I didn’t go thereafter. I pray even those two should become bald one day. I didn’t even go to the music school either.
Where did my life go? What wrong have I done that I could not enjoy it the way I wanted it to be? Responsibilities piled on and now after retirement I have a different boss – my wife, eh! “Go get this, go fetch that”, and I have to do much more than I had to do in the office. Still waiting for the much needed thrill in enjoying my life the way I wanted. I wanted perfection and wanted to live by my rules but could not.
I was more interested in reading newspapers and watching BBC and CNN news. And then one day Barrack Obama said “My countrymen – we need change” and, “Yes together we can change the world.” That one sentence was quite effective and I memorized the word ‘change’ in my mind and started thinking to implement it.
Then suddenly one day my son tells me “Pa, why don’t you write blogs”. “What’s that?” I enquired. “Go sit on the net and find out for yourself”, was the reply.
I started reading other peoples blogs and still wondering in the back of my mind that if I write a blog, would people read it or like it. This question always haunted me. I knew that it is always the reader who is more important.
So I took up writing about what life is, about happiness, contentment, and have always tried to make people laugh or at least smile.
Should I write more – what do you say?
Ravi Matah