I AM SIXTEEN, GOING ON SEVENTEEN

 



“The key to retirement is to find joy in the little things.”

Susan Miller

 

Many a time, I use this line: “Teachers do not retire.”

That’s, probably, to remind myself that, one day, I may stop teaching students and earn money; but, I will, always, continue to ‘teach’, contribute, empower, inspire etc., etc.… and, yes, all free of charge!

Thus, once a teacher, always a teacher…

But, then, is it not true for all of us, irrespective of the role we play in life?

As humans, we seldom retire…

We stay tuned to life… receiving from it, and passing on to others… But, what we receive from life shall, always, outweigh what we ever pass on…

Frankly, I do not like the word ‘Retirement’… As the saying goes, we may retire from our ‘Job’, but never from ‘life’…

In fact, a new life beacons us when we step out from our paying jobs… There is so much out there to savour… so many little things, which we never had time – or never bothered – to stop and smell… appreciate… value… and celebrate…

A new life begins now, when you retire… So, embrace it.






When I had started teaching, for a short while, in Atomic Energy Junior College (AEJC), sometime in 1980-81, I was 22-something, and I was new in this big city, excessively raw and nervous. I had hair on my head like Puttaparthi’s Sai Baba, or some would tease me calling, ‘Larry Gomes’ after the West Indian cricketer… Whatever it was, I was simply not going about as a conventional teacher.

They were my formative years as a teacher… I was getting shaped, tamed and tempered… More by my own young students around, rather than the colleagues and authorities. I had decided, early on, to carve my own path and not to spend years teaching (and politicking!!!) in an institution. So, I had no plans to ‘retire one day’ from an organization…

In AEJC, I would come closer to several students from the Science stream, as well. One of them was Yojana Singh. She was zestful, full of life as a Junior-College student… She loved to talk, and, yes, loved to lead. I, always, loved this side of this young girl – and knew she would go places. As years rolled by, she joined BARC – the same place her Dad had spent years serving as a Scientist – and lead several projects in the organization… We lost contact, and got connected through FB, several years later. The first thing Yojana did, when she got connected, was this: “Give me your number; I want to talk to you.”

And, she did, that late evening… Nothing had changed with Dr. Yajana Singh…

Nothing has changed, even today, as Yojana is ‘formally retiring’ from BARC… She remains the same – a childlike soul…




                                   (Dr. Yojana, at the centre, in red, with her vibrant family)

 


“Dear Yojana, enjoy your retirement life… See more stars, smell more flowers, play more with your grandkids… Yes, play and pray more… Lots of love.”

That’s how I wished someone I had seen – more than four decades ago - who went around singing – “I am sixteen, going on seventeen”. And, today, I see her retiring from her ‘workplace’, singing the same song - “I am sixteen, going on seventeen” …






GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: Pixabay:  1. pasja 1000 

                       2. MonikaDesigns 

                       3. Dr. Yojana and family.


Video: The Sound of Music/Movie Clips


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