Jolly Good Fellow

31st March 2023, a day which seemed so distant a couple of years ago, as though it was in the realms of future somewhere, but 'time and tide wait for none', so here I am all of 56, just celebrated my birthday  ten days ago. Human beings are strange we celebrate our growing age, balding pate enhanced girth of the belly and a fading memory. One is not sure whether people are rejoicing at this progressive decline or merely acting to boost your morale. 21 March incidentally is an equinox, the day when duration of the day and night are exactly same 12 hours, also it falls in the cusp as far as zodiacs go, between Pisces and Aries. One is supposed to be a dreamer, the other a typical Alfa male, prima donna. Wonder which category would I fit in or it is just a confused personality neither a dreamer nor a leader or a bit of both. 

In fact my farewell to arms has been a very special one, with not just the Army but the CAPFs also joining in this send off, I bet this is quite rare indeed. My Regiment the Airawat Signallers set the ball rolling by inviting me to the unit one last time in uniform and lo and behold, my Commanding Officer, Second in Command, three senior Company Commanders and two of my colleagues of my youngster days were there for this special occasion some travelling from as far as Chennai, Bengaluru and Mysore.  

My Rimcollian course-mates, eight of them trooped  in to Dehradun for our annual Reunion, as I was the last amongst them to say adios to uniform, with one of them making it all the way from US. Signals Directorate dined me out with fanfare, making me feel feel proud of belonging to such a professional fraternity and family. There were a few officers who had served with me  in these 36 odd years but majority hadn't, they had just probably seen me around or heard about me, but they were all equally enthusisatic in the rendition of traditional "Jolly good fellow" while being lifted physically in the chair cum palanquin with at least dozen of them extending a hand. Some of them may even be mumbling good riddance for all you know, after all every exit creates  additional vacancies in this steep pyramid of Indian Army officer cadre.With  'decolonisation' being the flavour  today, this 'jolly good fellow' too may be junked soon, enjoy it while it lasts.

 The Black Cats not to be left behind also hosted us for a very nostalgic evening with a senior lady crooning in such a mellifluous  voice, "Abhi na jao chhod kar ..!" Who would like to go away, after having spent a lifetime almost 45 years since I left home as a gawky skinny 11 year old with stars in his eyes, ending up with a lot of them on his shoulders, six to be precise and two sets of Ashokas too to boot. But "Waqt ki qaid main zindagi hai.." time and tide wait for none, so be it!

As if this isn't enough, my batchmates of Jun 87 commissioning have timed the course social on 1st Apr with fellow Jaguars from NDA slotting one in the coming week. I wonder whether so much of love and affection is which is showered on me can ever be matched anywhere else in the world or in any other profession or for that any other walk of life. Probably no! Indeed we are blessed, given a choice this is the life that most of us would choose yet again, despite all the cribs that we usually indulge in.

I am not sure whether we embark on the future ahead with caution as technology is simply sprinting at breakneck speed and it is such a heady potion that it is difficult to keep pace. If we decide to re-attire as most people describe life post superannuation, are we chasing lucre or just waiting for lady luck to smile on us, or is it time to indulge in some serious pondering on life in general or critically look at professional aspects now that one would not be bound by the strict regulations. May be it is time for your spiritual calling , sort of the Vanprastha ashram as described in the scriptures, after two of the ashrams are behind you, Brahmcharya and Grihasth, Sanyas may be some years away.

I am sure each one of us has to face this  decision dilemma at this juncture, when a long stable inning is over and one is fit physically, mentally (hope so!) and emotionally with no major responsibilities or liabilities, there is a lot of time before we finally call it quits. With regular pension and the retirement corpus, financial security is more or less assured, one can explore the world, may be travel to exotic lands, spend time with friends and pursue those hobbies or interests which one had buried deep in the recesses of daily humdrum of life. May be just laze around for a while till I get fed up or my wife does and boots me out to run some errands forcing me to look for things to keep busy. Frankly I think it is too early to get into a cocoon, whether we can build a second career or embark on entrepreneurship we will have to keep our grey cells ticking lest they suffer irrecoverable atrophy from disuse. In the Army parlance that would be a punishable offence "losing the property (my mind) by misuse and neglect".