An Active Retired Life

 Starting today ,I need to forget what's gone, appreciate what still remains and look forward to what's coming next.

There was a thoughtful stillness in the group. I could hear my loud footsteps which slowly  faded as I slowed my pace, and subsequently I heard the wisest speaking in a drooling sound in Marathi. My curiosity made me glance at them. I saw a  group of elderly men  surrounding a man sitting on a bench near the man made lake .The sun was yet to rise but it was dawn ,the tranquillity of the lake ,the serene environment matched the poise of these gentlemen in their maturity. The members of the group varied in the age group of sixty to seventy. I recalled how they congregate early in the morning at the gate of the forest hills,Durga Tekdi. With the transformed pleasant weather, rousing and going for walks has become pleasurable, nevertheless the sun rises well past seven in the morning. A day begun well with an enjoyable fitness exercise well before a schedule no longer seems challenging for the enthusiasts and those who are passionate about their dynamism. Perhaps this is  why people throng to parks and other health centres to be in the pink of health . Most of  the Doctors and a few other professionals are regular for their walks at this time inspiring others to follow suit . Our family Doctor who has a malfunction in one of his legs is the first to complete his walk before his wife who is an anaesthetist. We can see him waiting for his wife at the gate as he listens to music with a beaming smile. There are two old women who relax for a while on the paved firmament before retreating home at this time. Many a times I wonder at their punctuality and steadiness  prevailing in their retreating years.  We reach well before six and feel sheepish if it crosses quarter past six in the morning.There are youngsters who run throughout the walking area , there are adults ,mothers and the elderly.

The  silent group near the  lake is a prominent group whose members are known to return back by seven. They love being kiddish playing football in one of the clearings near the temple. Their place of meeting and their silence intrigued me. They were aloof from the normal track, little away from the track which leads directly to the lawns. I had taken this course to reach back earlier than usual. They did not converse but their silence  tortured me. I moved ahead to hear one gentleman speak about angioplasty and bypass surgery ,a heart surgery.  He was advising the alarmed elderly person seated on the bench that an angioplasty was safer than the bypass surgery. The person seated was perhaps advised by the doctor. He seemed terrified and wished against hope that he should not have been in this state of torment. The others who were standing  were advising, a few nurtured the fear whether they would have the same fate but there was one elderly person known to me, who had great strength within him. He is  more than seventy three years old and has undergone a  coronary bypass  surgery but was back for his regular walks within twenty days. People say walking uphill is risky but this gentleman walks twice the track beating youngsters at this feat. He has only his wife for support with his children settled in America. He stood listening and looking at the others, it was as if the message was dominant, overriding and obvious to all others. They gathered themselves , changed the topic and as I left I could hear their normal laughter and chatter.Perhaps they had resolved to face the ups and downs of life with courage to say “Try me” rather than “Why me”. Probably the Republic day celebrations must have helped them resolve to lead Indians to a fitter India by being role models or they must have seeded inspiration to break the shackles of panic and apprehension by leading an active retired life.What ever was the reason it was an insight to advance in life. Wishing all the readers a very Happy Republic Day.