Makar Sankranti/ Pongal Herald Good Beginnings
The Sun entering the Zodiac sign of Capricorn or Makaram (Crocodile as in ancient Indian astrology) is supposed to herald auspicious beginnings. There is a belief in the South that ‘Thai Pirandhaal, Vazhi Pirakkum’, meaning with Makar Sankranti or the birth of Tamil month (Thai or Makaram), new paths (way out of challenges) are born/ forged.
Of Age & Change
Speaking of new months/ ways being born, one realizes age is also catching up with one. Change is the only constant, The Enlightened One said. And AGE surely is a significant part of CHANGE. But yet, if we think about it, the change that age brings is still stark only if we juxtapose decades, not days.
Of 'Yester-decades' and 'Tomor-decades'
There may not be much of a change between Yesterday/ Yesterdays and Tomorrow/ Tomorrows as in those hours in the immediate vicinity of Today. But were we to lay side by side, our yester-decades and tomor-decades, we can’t escape the fact. Change is verily upon us.
Fifty, The Youth Of Old Age?
Maybe it had been Victor Hugo who said, ‘Forty is the old age of youth and fifty, the youth of old age’. As one, well and truly into the fifties, but still not wishing to feel old by a mile, we may rephrase with fifty and sixty too. Maybe the next decade, with 60 and 70. It may not matter as long as we, well, age well with age!
As I Age, I Become My Father
But age can be quite a funny thing in my opinion. It can change one beyond belief. One of the lines that is a ‘word-worm’ for me these days is, ‘As I age, I become my father’. This is more from a metaphysical view. Some of the books in his collection, I used to wonder at, when very young, seem so much more meaningful. Those books on philosophy/ Vedanta. Sadly, I lost him very young. It would have been a pleasure and a privilege engaging with him and picking his brain on various ideas.
Darshan & Philosophy
In Ramnarain Ruia College, a friend Darshan Kotecha, studying microbiology used to be heavily into philosophy. Reading books on the subject when there had been no material reason for him to do so. I wondered then about his unique personality. I mean you cannot impress girls in college by waxing eloquent on Philosophy! At least 99 p.c. of the girls around, however intellectual they might otherwise be. Very quaint that the word for Philosophy in many Indian languages is 'Darshan'.
'As The Intellect Matures, Evolves, It Gets Philosophical'
For some strange reason, he assumed those days I too would be keen on philosophy. Since I held Darshan to be one of those special intellectual types, I felt flattered. But the truth was I was far removed from Philosophy those days. I was frank in admitting the same to him in a way that also conveyed my appreciation of his interest. ’As the intellect matures & evolves, it gets philosophical’. By my own off-the-cuff 'aphorism' of three decades ago, maybe I had been (however distant) on the path to maturity.
Can't Fool The Lady Of The House
The Lady of The House would surely laugh at this. She does not seem to see much evidence of the maturity part. But she does get irritated with the You Tube videos of Swami Sarvapriyananda (explaining Advaitha Vedanta) that she often catches one at. You can be sure that I also dare not use the line I did with Darshan.
In ending, posting a few lines on ageing shared by Vaidhyanathan, a dear school friend and investment consultant on ageing
"The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened".
- Mark Twain
"First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up, then you forget to pull your zipper down."
- Leo Rosenberg
"At age 20, we worry about what others think of us… at age 40, we don’t care what they think of us… at age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all."
- Ann Lander
“It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.”
- Andy Rooney
“Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.”
- Larry Lorenzon
“Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.”
– Maurice Chevalier
Comments