Shashtiabdhapoorthi

 Sharp at midnight the door bell rings…Who can it be now?

A young man walks in with a big packet which I realized must surely be a cake. This person has had a very long day at office. He had stayed up the night before in office to decorate my work station for it was my last working day in service. In the morning he had arrived very early to make sure the decorations were in place and the flowers looked fresh. From 10 am onwards started multiple rounds of farewells and cake cuttings and heaps of good wishes with gifts galore. After I left for home in the evening, this person sat down to complete the office work for it was month end and quarter end for business. Finally, before calling it a day he landed at my house to celebrate my birthday along with my family who too had arranged for a cake. So two cakes were cut and almost devoured.

Next morning, at 7 am, the darling daughter wakes up and comes straight to the table where I am having my morning tea with the newspaper in place. She is carrying her laptop and opens up the screen. Lo and behold what do I see… a ten-minute video of six decades and six facets of my life captured in pictures and songs so aptly woven into the storyline.

And then the floodgates of WhatsApp messages started coming from all quarters. One colourful friend texted…Welcome to Swinging Sixties…I quite liked this…not the usual HB2Y but somehow made me feel young and not a retiree. The other one from US of A said… Welcome to the sexagenarian club… I immediately replied to him…Not sexagenarian but a ‘sexy-genarian’ for now and many more years. I just do not wish to be called a senior citizen except when it comes to getting 0.5% extra interest in the banks…not even for cutting the queues at railway booking counters and post offices. I have worn enough of white and pastel shades of shirts at work for long and now I shall wear colourful things… to being with, how about wearing a red T-shirt?

Then came a message from an old time friend at Chennai, Rukmini. She sent her ‘asheervadhams’ in the form of a poem she wrote titled Shashtiabdhapoorthi, telling me, in simple words, what to do in the days ahead. Reading this, all my dilemmas disappeared and I found my rightful terminal at the busy and confusing airport of life. Before narrating the poem, let me share with some, like me, who did not know of this term as to what is Shashtiabdhapoorthi.

 Shashtiaabdhapoorthi in Sanskrit means: Shashti- sixty; Abda- Years; Poorthi- Completion. In short, it is a ceremony to celebrate the sixtieth birthday of a person. It marks the completion of half the years of one’s lifetime as in Hinduism, 120 years is considered the life span of a human being. The sixtieth year therefore assumes a significant milestone, a memorable turning point and a touching reminder of the rich, mellowed life that would unfold in years to come.

Shashtiabdhapoorthi

Shashtiabdhapoorthi it is
The stars align much as they did when you came into this world
An infant, a baby, a child, a boy, a youth, a man…
Sixty that is…is that 2/3rds?
Nah.. It's just one half
The second half is dedicated to spirituality, togetherness, understanding, compassion, companionship, camaraderie, nostalgia, humour, relief, seeking new parties, wanting to give back to the family, one’s partner, spend time with children, siblings, maybe grandchildren,
Have the joy of watching life go by and swim along with a gusto
Knowing, you can relax
It's not always Spitz
You can crawl, float and have the luxury of just dreaming
Gazing at the stars
Visiting friends from various phases
Childhood friends to share funny times,
Friends who have some secrets to laugh about
Friends who indulge in debate and simply some crabby friends…
Time to try the things your life has made you more capable of handling now than when you learnt it
Taking with wisdom and knowledge
And maintaining a circumspect silence sometimes
Penning your thoughts
Being astonished at all that you did
Being tickled by all the things you got away with
Wallowing in some self-satisfaction
Caressing some regrets
Floundering a while with changes
Then suddenly finding that one thing that makes you and others happy
Filling your days and thoughts with ideas
Talking to young daring children
Sometimes amused
Sometimes astonished
Sometimes respectful
And most of all happy
Make that list of things that didn't get done
Because you were busy doing things that had to be done…
Complete your list
In joy, fun cheer good health, togetherness.
After all you are just stepping into the second half of your life
Keep that child in you
Hold close those mischiefs
Relish being caught and being punished
Relive that joy of doing something new again!!
May your next years be as fun

Moving, joyful, happy and exciting as the first 60 were!I am sure my good friend Rux has a halo behind her head for who can pen such a beautiful charter of life for a friend… I read this a number of times and said to myself, this is how I shall strive to live my second innings of life. The fog is now clear and I must tread this path herein after.

If morning shows the day then January One, when people keep texting till their fingers start paining and all happy emojis and forwards have been forwarded multiple number of times, I began my tryst with destiny post-independence from the daily routine of office, phone, mails and travel for work. With my accomplice in life, bought a second class ticket for Mumbai local to go to VT…oops..CSMT! D had worked for eight years in an office situated in the Sterling Cinema Complex and took trains from both VT and Churchgate.In those days, it was always a rush to get to the station to board the train home or get off and reach her workplace. Never had she ever admired the beauty of this heritage building. So today she took time to see this magnificent structure built in 1880. At the main entrance to The Central Railway headquarters there sits on one pillar a lion representing the British and on the other pillar, is a tiger representing India. Every window is intricately carved with a different motif from flowers to peacocks, the gargoyles and other animals on pillars and walls make this structure one of the finest rail stations anywhere in the world. If you ever notice the roof of the central structure and the glass paintings on the side where the ticket bookings are done, you will see a wondrous sight no less beautiful than the inside of the cloister of the Westminster Abbey or the St.Paul’s Cathedral in London. She even got time to admire the heritage buildings of Brihan Mumbai Corporation and the office of the Old Lady of Bori Bundar, a newspaper that  has been landing at our house every morning at 6.30 am for years now.

Since I had already done a full tour of VT earlier, I went across to the Mumbai GPO to pick up stamps. This is a dilapidated structure which you may otherwise shudder to enter but when you get closer, you realise how majestic it would have been in its prime. Built in 1913, this is an example of Indo-Saracenic architecture and modelled on the famous Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur in Karnataka. It houses one of country’s five philatelic bureaus. I looked through the files containing the stamps for sale and picked up a few. But the one I dearly wanted was shown to be out of stock. I asked the person there saying, I am from Delhi and an alumni of Hindu College. My main purpose of coming was to get the centenary and 125^th anniversary of Delhi University and Hindu College respectively. He took pity on me and asked his senior in the room who pulled out the two stamps from a steel almirah kept under lock and key. My joy knew no bounds holding the two stamps. I even started a deposit account in the GPO and will now start getting all new stamps mailed to me periodically…. What fun… an old hobby revived and aflame!

Our final heritage walk was to Pancham Puriwala. Started in 1840, this small shop which has recently been renovated serves delightful puri bhaji and if you do not reach here before 12.30pm, you will have to wait anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. We spoke to the sixth generation of owner sitting at the cash counter on what to eat and when our turn came, we ordered just as he had suggested, masala puri chholey and mixed puri alu bhaji and topped it with a glass of butter milk each. Each of the five puris in the plates had different stuffings served with piping hot alu and pumpkin sabzis and chholey, all equally tasty, which made this lunch truly special. And  guess what ,all this for just Rs. 275!

When compared to the old structures and institutions that were all over a hundred years old, I felt Young&Sexy@Sixty.

SS