Stigma Of Ageing

 “How old are you?” is a very common question that many people tend to avoid answering. Even if an answer somehow pops up, it will most likely belie the truth. Be it an entertainment celebrity, a member of the intelligentsia, or anyone else, the avowal of one’s true age is dreaded and has long remained a sore point.

But I fail to find any rationale behind this mere greed to appear young. I am of the view that the greatest and most sublime attraction always comes from the mind rather than from the thin veneer of physical beauty. Physical youthfulness is transient, yet people often seem intoxicated by its charm. Death is inevitable. So is old age. Therefore, there lies no wiser option than to acknowledge them with a certain sublime ease so that the bogey attached to them can be transformed into something worth cherishing.

Once, at a dinner party, in the course of casual conversation, my cousin was asked about her age by her younger brother’s mother-in-law. I could hardly stifle a snigger when my cousin made a silly mistake while mentioning her fabricated age, which turned out to be significantly lower than that of her younger brother's. My cousin would not have been left floundering for a proper answer had she not been bitten by the mean idea of appearing physically younger at all costs. 

I often wonder why we, like my cousin, become so obsessed with this age factor. Why do we fail to grasp the brighter side inevitably attached to growing older? What is even more absurd is that many people whose careers and life trajectories have followed the perceived pattern of what a human life is expected to look like at its successive stages still fall over themselves to appear at least a few years younger in age. So it is not a matter of earthly success versus the age one has thus far reached. It is simply the greed to look perpetually younger.

Experience has always been the best teacher, enabling us to battle the vicissitudes of life. Time flies as we learn life’s invaluable lessons, yet interestingly enough, it leaves behind the most precious gift—wisdom. It is this wisdom that sees us through the difficult moments of our lives. It is therefore futile to shy away from the avowal of one’s true age. If anything, acknowledging our age only shows that we are people seasoned by experience. In other words, nothing in the world should make us feel diminished by it. The fact of how old we are is interwoven with the elemental truth of our existence.

Growing old is part of the deal; growing old in spirit, however, is not. My view is simply about remaining young at heart even when age tries its best to insinuate otherwise. I recall how suggestible and naïve I used to be in the early salad days of my life. I am glad that now I am no longer one of those whippersnappers who think it macho to resort to extremes in everything. Timeless wisdom tells us that the extreme of anything is harmful.

The more we grow older, the more we begin to cultivate a mellow attitude towards life. And then everything in the garden is rosy. This warmth of feeling gently ushers us towards the kingdom of heaven that undoubtedly lies within us.