Old Age Blues

Santosh Tyagi

Khatoon Baig

Tara Chand Seth

Sitaram Hivarkar did not come today (ref yesterday’s post). Something would have got in his way or else, he had clean forgotten. He wasn’t taking calls in the morning to say if all was well with him.
At age 79, Sitaram is no longer in control of his life. Like Shekhawat, he is a Navy veteran and draws a handsome pension. But domestic pressure, doctors’ restrictions, personal insecurities, etc. have robbed him of the ability to decide for himself – something that affects us all when we hit the threshold of dotage and dependence.
Take Khatoon Baig, another senior who has stopped showing up for some time. We are told that she is undergoing physiotherapy and on doctor’s orders, must not continue with her morning routine in the Garden. So even as she wants to (incidentally, she used to be among the most punctual) she cannot join us these days.
Tara Chand Seth offers another case in point. Nudging 90 years, he used to be the fastest walker on the walking track till recently. A nasty fall

Naseer Putani Shah (l) celebrates the birth of his 'chokre
ka chokra' with aflatoon

in the bathroom earned him a walking stick. But he remains cheerful as ever and had even made a trip to Delhi last week. He has however, lost the strength in his legs to climb the incline of the road bridge that leads to the Garden. Still, every other day, he promises to visit us.
There are several others in the same boat – all victims of circumstances with age catching up slowly, but inexorably. This is a reality forced upon us, without exception. Some are able to successfully fight the blues, as Santosh Tyagi did. She had developed an inexplicable mental block that kept her homebound for months on end. She even wanted to discontinue her Big Laaf membership.
“I used to dress up every morning, all set for the Garden, but change my mind midway and take the lift back home,” Santosh would narrate. This continued till one fine day, she “forced” herself to break out of the inertia. Much to her surprise, she was welcomed with open arms and upon being invited to play an active tole in the Club activities, a sense of belonging set in.
Today, Santosh stands out as not only a regular, but more punctual than most of us.

Bihari Milwani:
Someone should arrange surprise parties early morning. All will become youngsters then and be present in the Garden before the start of the exercises.