RETIREMENT IS A STATE OF MIND

“Take few deep breaths” Dr. Sharma told me while moving the chest-piece of the stethoscope on my chest. He went back to his seat and took the bunch of test reports which I had brought with me. I could see the seriousness in his eyes while he was reading the reports.  

He kept them on the table and said “Gentleman, you are perfectly alright. All the test reports are good and you neither have high blood pressure nor any sugar related ailments. You are a fit person”.

“But Doctor why did I get dizzy the other day?” I questioned him.

“The reports speak well about your health. Maybe you had strained yourself more and had not taken sufficient food on that day” he replied.

With a smile on my face I started walking out of the hospital. After stepping out I turned back and walked towards the receptionist and asked her “How old is Dr. Sharma?”

“85 years old” she replied. I was taken by surprise. He did not look his age.

“Every day he walks almost one kilometer from his house to the hospital and does not eat anything from outside. He gets his own lunch box” she added.

“Coffee for you” my wife said looking at the clock “you become extra lazy on a Sunday. This is the third coffee since morning. It is already 12 noon and you have to meet your batch-mates for lunch. Hope you remember that”.

“How can I forget that and in fact I was about to get up” saying so I walked towards the change room.

About one hour later in the pub..

“Hey buddies it has been wonderful to catch up with you guys after almost two decades” Ranjeet said lifting his beer mug.

“Same feeling here dude” I replied lifting my mug.

Half a dozen of our engineering batch-mates were meeting in the pub as Ranjeet had come from the US on vacations.

Next one hour passed off as we had lot of matter to discuss and loads of laughter to mark our get together.

“So Ranjeet how is life in the US?” Satish asked.

“Life has been tough and I have been working very hard for the past decade or so and grown fast in the company” Ranjeet replied.

“You would have made lots and lots of money is such a case” Praveen added.

“I need not hide from buddies like you all. I have made good amount of money but it has taken its toll. I have come to a burnout sort of stage and am seriously planning retiring in a year’s time” Ranjeet said.

I was surprised and said “You are hardly 45 years old and want to retire?”

“Why not and how long will you work? I do not intent to keep working for many years. I want to enjoy life and spend time perusing my passion and holidaying with my wife” he added.

Later that evening I drove to attend a party.

“Welcome young man” Uncle Joseph said extending his arm to shake hands with me.

“Thank you uncle, it is always a pleasure meeting you” I said and looking around added “It is a wonderful party you have arranged and the ambience looks just perfect”.

“Make yourself comfortable with a glass of scotch and I shall join you in few minutes time” saying so he walked towards other guests.

“How is life young man” Joseph said sitting next to me. He finished meeting his guests and sat down to have his scotch. I knew that he liked my company very much though I was about 20 years younger to him.

“Since morning one issue is bothering me and am not getting proper understanding of it” I said.

“What is it?” he asked inquisitively.

“Retirement” I said and explained to him about Dr. Sharma who at 85 years of age is busy practicing medicine and Ranjeet who at 45 wants to retire soon.

“I know Doctor very well” Joseph said and laughed “He is a very boring person. He is always in his hospital. He never joins me for a drink. In fact he does not take tea or coffee. Jokes apart he is very disciplined person and treats work as worship. He has helped thousands of people by curing their ailments and does not charge his fees for poor persons”.

“Retirement has an age limit and he should relax at his house with kids and their kids” I added.

“You are right in one sense and not in the other” Joseph continued “I am still practicing law and handle many cases in the court. I have a different perspective of life. I am choosy now with the kind of cases I take up and do not stress myself. Half of the time I spend with friends and have my quota of drinks every night.

Your friend Ranjeet belongs to the new generation and you guys are on the fast track and want everything to get completed fast. Life is strange and things do not move the way you want. The life expectancy has improved. People now live for longer periods than the previous generations. Imagine a person retires at 45 years but lives for 80 years. One has to feed himself for the next 35 years from his reserves. Also the improvements in health care ensure longer living by medication which adds to the expenditure.

One need not wait for a milestone called retirement to pursue ones passion or enjoy but can do it all along the journey called life. Look at me, I do not ask my sons for money but earn my own and yet spend a lot on my friends and on my hobbies”.

I smiled at him and said “You are perfectly right uncle. Retirement is definitely not determined by age by it is a state of mind”.