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It was a sort of upheaval in life, stoppage of monthly salary, loss of position and also my routine. Coinciding with the time when I was grappling with the empty nest syndrome, superannuation hit me like a double whammy. Initially, it was not easy to handle.

However, five years into my retirement, I am at ease with this phase of life. I have no big dreams, no great ambitions. I may sound unenthusiastic but the fact is I am contented, fully satisfied with my life. I have nothing but gratitude for all that I have. A beautiful family, no serious health issues and enough of resources, I couldn’t have asked for more. I don’t have a mansion to live in but have a house, my cozy home that gives me all the comforts. I may not be flush with funds but there is enough; in fact, more than I ever dreamt of.

I believe one is never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.  I dream, though my dreams are modest, seeped in reality. I do not aspire to touch the sky, to catch the sun and the moon but I seek small joys of life.  I have no lofty targets to achieve, but I set small goals for myself that keep me motivated. It may be walking ten thousand steps a day or completing a task. I am not in the mad race to attain more and more but that doesn’t stop me from striving for small accomplishments. Learning and doing something new gives me immense joy.

I may not have big dreams, but I do have a ‘choti si aashaa’, a wish to lead an active, reasonably busy life. As I speak about the need to stay engaged and occupied, I am reminded of the poem ‘Leisure’ by W H Davies, which famously begins “What is this life if, full of care,/We have no time to stand and stare.”

Well! Post-retirement, time is not an issue. I have all the time but I don’t want to just ‘stand and stare’. I want to remain busy and active as it is activity that keeps me pepped up and energized. Every morning there should be something to look forward to, some motivation to jump out of the bed. I must have a goal to constantly engage my mind, something creative to keep the spark ignited within. Of course, I do not want to be frantically busy, but love to be joyfully occupied. To remain busy without being over-ambitious is what I wish.

Also, I wish to be less critical, more accepting. I have come to realize that people don’t t always behave the way you want them to; situations are not as to your liking. It is better to ignore what you cannot change. Just chill, this ,I feel, is the best approach.

My mantra for a happy retired life is to remain busy, ignore what you can’t change and stay healthy.

‘Vyast raho , mast raho , swasth raho!

(Published in Hindustan Times on 27 January 2023 in Spice of life column )

 

Life is all about making choices, whether it’s to do with major ones in life like the choice of career or life partner, or to do with mundane issues like what to cook, what to wear, where to go, or which movie to watch. While most of us are diligent about taking a host of big-small decisions in life, there is one choice that we are oblivious of. We don’t even realize that Happiness is a matter of choice.

Continue reading “Happiness is a matter of Choice”

“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with ceaseless restlessness.” A profound statement on happiness made by one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century! Albert Einstein was touring Japan when he got the news of winning Nobel Prize in Physics. Overwhelmed by the sudden name and fame, he penned down his musings on a piece of hotel stationary which later came to be known as Einstein’s Theory of Happiness.

Continue reading “Exploring Recipe for Happiness”

 

I remember my paternal grandfather’s house near Chaura Bazar in Ludhiana, a small, triple storey house with a tiny room, a small kitchen, a courtyard on the ground floor and a toilet without sewage on the top floor. It was a queer-looking house that he got in claim in lieu of the property left behind in Pakistan at the time of the partition. No different is the story of my maternal grandfather who was allotted a house in Gurgaon in early 50s, much before it became a Millennium City. Both my grandparents, paternal and maternal, hailed from Multan, now in Pakistan. They were uprooted and had to leave behind their  home and hearth,  when they came to India as refugees. A huge loss! But how can I forget that the houses they got in claim were the ones vacated by Muslims who had to flee India under similar circumstances? Continue reading “Why relive the horrors of those dark days?”