Last of the Narrow Gauge

The Indian Railways decided that from 1 November 2015  the Narrow Gauge trains will be a thing of the past (like all things the shutting down was delayed to December). The places where people will be privileged to travel on these choo-choo trains will be in Darjeeling, Shimla and Ooty. The Narrow Gauge is collateral damage to the chug of progress - Broad Gauge Conversion.

Getting to the Narrow Gauge  platform in Nagpur is similar to getting to the 9 ¾ platform from which the Hogswart Express leaves. Walking on Platform 1 of the Nagpur station one comes to a pillar that separates this platform from the path to the narrow gauge platform. On this pillar is a little board that announces 'To Narrow Gauge'. You could easily miss it. Walking past the board, one gets a view of the Narrow Gauge track. There is a soon to be extinct Narrow Gauge train on the platform, it is heading to Nainpur in Madhya Pradesh.

The Narrow Gauge line in Central India began in the 1900s. The Gondia – Nainpur line was opened on the 13th of April 1903, there was the Chindwara-Pench Coalfield line that began in 1906-07. The 2ft 6 in (762mm) gauge line extended to just over 1000 km.

In this railway division the conversion to broad gauge began in the December 1992.When I heard that the remnants of the Narrow Gauge line was being finally shut down I decided book myself on a rain travelling between Nagpur and Nainpur.  This being the longest route, I hoped it would  give me a full experience of travelling on this line.

I booked my tickets on-line and chose a sleeper class seat, the idea being that I would be able sleep and also walk to the general compartments between stations. The sleeper bogie on the Narrow Gauge line is very different from what the passengers of the Broad Gauge line are used to. Here the bogie seats 38, there are 10 sleepers that hang above the benches.

This means that only 10 of the 38 onboard this compartment can buy the privilege of lying down. The only difference between the general compartment and the sleeper is the absence of these overhead berths.

The train left on time – 12.45 pm. As the train headed out of Nagpur, we passed through shanties that were at arms reach from my window. The tracks are part of peoples courtyards suggesting that people had encroached on railway land or the railways had usurped land from the people. One of the first things one appreciates on travelling by the Narrow Gauge is that speed of the train does not match its sound and fury.

The Narrow Gauge connects the less developed areas of this region. This fact was brought home by the stations we stopped at. Many were just signposts, others had a little concrete shed which also served as ticket counters. Being  a single line, there were a few  stations that were a little more elaborate to ensure oncoming trains could pass each other on parallel tracks and then get back on the single track.

As these tracks were built to connect the hinterland there isnt much distance between stations. The train stopped every few minutes, my fellow passengers were all of the short haul variety. As I was travelling before Dushhera many were headed back to their villages/towns.  

 There is not much to eat at these stations. Any lone snack stall at these halts does quick business. Many villagers sell fruits and vegetables here and Sitaphal seemed to be the fruit of the season. While sharing a piece of this fruit with a student headed home he told me that the best of these fruits are found here and that the tastiest Alu Bondas are found at the Karaili station on the Beena line.

When I asked one of the passengers what he would do once this line was shut he replied that journeys would become a luxury undertaken on family emergencies and to answer government notices. The fare of a bus ticket is double that of a Narrow Gauge train ticket.

Before becoming part of the Indian Railways behemoth, this Narrow Gauge line was known as the Satpuda Railway which was developed by the Bengal Nagpur Railway. Nainpur was the hub of this section. The train passes through the Maikal ranges of Satpuda hills and we covered some densely forested areas. Once in the hinterland, the train chugged past mud houses surrounded by green fields bordered by jungle. In the forested areas  there was a lot of gauge conversion work in progress. Stones dumped in huge piles, cleared areas deep in the forest, concrete sections that would soon become part of a station or a bridge popped up at frequent intervals on this journey.

Some railway gangmen got on board a few hours later. They said that even though this line would soon be shutting down the Railways would ensure that they worked for their money. 
 We reached Nainpur on time – 2.30 am the next day. The Nainpur station was lit and there was activity. Like in other stations people were sleeping on the platform, porters carried the trunks of guards and drivers to rest areas. However, there was a sense that this place had seen a far greater rush in earlier times. I walked into town to find a place to stay but at this early hour the hotels/lodges were shut and their attendants fast asleep. I returned to the station to chat to the owner of a tea stall there. Just then a near empty passenger train rolled in. While pouring me a warm cuppa chai, Babloo Kushwa, the owner told me that the station used to be packed at all times of the day. He reminisced that this train that had just rolled in used to give him a business of more than Rs 600/-. But with hardly any people using it, it was difficult to make even fifty rupees. He said that as train operations had been slowly whittled down people were forced to use buses.

He said that Nainpur was a railway town and its economy revolved around the presence of the railways. When I asked him what he would do once the station shut he said he had not thought of it as yet. My question was answered by another passenger who said that in all probability the tea stall owners would take their business to the bus station.

After a snooze I hired a cycle rickshaw to see the town. The importance of Nainpur as a rail hub could be gauged by the many British styled large railway offices and residences that were shut. 

The ordinariness of these trains could not  take away from the important role they played in the socio-economy of this region. Students, migrating families, regular passengers, vegetable sellers, tea stall owners  were all linked to these  Narrow Gauge tracks.  

The essence of time is  change, gauge conversion is an example of this. In this transformation many are going to be left out. What's going to happen to those little stops that had no station building to their name?  Would people collecting wood in the forest be able to hop on and hop off at the next station?  Or are they going to be swept aside as the Broad Gauge  trains thunder past?

Read about train journeys in my book '1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People' available on Amazon, flipkart and book stores.

Review of 1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People in Business Standard

India off the tourist track

Rajiv Shirali 

June 29, 2015  

 

1400 BANANAS, 76 TOWNS & 1 MILLION PEOPLE
A journey along the Indian coast with interludes of history, food and conversation
Samir Nazareth
Leadstart Publishing; 378; Rs 399

1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People is a record of a journey that Samir Nazareth - after resigning his job in a multinational non-governmental organisation (NGO) involved in protecting the environment - undertakes from Bhuj in Gujarat, down the west coast of India and up the east coast to Kolkata, and thence to Darjeeling and Nathula, on the border with Tibet. He starts in the first week of March and is back home (in Nagpur) by late September, though, oddly, we are left to guess the year. The manuscript was ready in 2007 and it took Mr Nazareth seven years to find a publisher; the frequent references to the tsunami that ravaged the coast of Tamil Nadu in December 2004 and conversations with survivors indicate that the journey must have been made in 2005 or 2006.

The idea, the author says in the first chapter, was to visit the lesser-known towns of coastal India and explore the regional foods in all their variety. What drives him is the prospect of ending each day with "feasts for both the eye and the palate", but, given his budgetary constraints, bananas become a dietary staple - he gorges on eight bananas a day, eating a total of 1,400 (the figure mentioned in the book's title) in six months. He makes up for the lack of variety by eating large quantities of the inexpensive local street food, describing in great detail how vendors prepare each dish and only indulges in a mini feast on his 33rd birthday, which he spends in Diu.

Describing himself as a "travelling gourmand", he is surprisingly unaffected by all the street food he eats. The reference to "76 towns" is not explained, but one infers that it must have been the number of towns he drove through, while the reference to "1 million people" remains a mystery. Could he really have met so many people? Oddly again, hardly any dates are mentioned. The only map is a most unsatisfactory sketch, and the tiny sketches of scenes that the author comes across tell the reader little.

Mr Nazareth's sheer inquisitiveness gives the book the level of detail of an hourly maintained diary. The tone is a curious mix of wry humour and stiff and formal Victorian English. (Sample the following sentence, in the section on Jamnagar, where he mentions his decision to use the postal service to communicate: "With the intention of living up to my epistolary resolution, I enter the school post office.") One would have thought that a travelogue needed a more relaxed and conversational style.

However, there are insightful observations about those he meets on his journey - both local residents and fellow tourists - and his encounters are both amusing and a revealing comment on his fellow countrymen. There are detailed conversations with rickshaw-drivers, priests, itinerant salesmen and especially fishermen, some of whom he accompanies when they go out to sea. Mr Nazareth soaks up information about their lifestyles and the techniques they use to make their boats and nets. His interest in all things nautical is a mystery until he explains that before taking up a desk job he had "travelled the oceans as part of a crew engaged in protecting the environment" and had once also been a deckhand on a converted North Sea trawler. He tells us little else about himself.

Mr Nazareth is blessed with an equable temperament. He finds that grabbing a seat in a bus is akin to fighting his way through a wrestling ring, and most budget hotels are far from ideal in hygiene and cleanliness. He is often denied accommodation because he is travelling alone, and language is a barrier in several states - but to him all these are par for the course. He merely records every experience, mostly in a non-judgemental way. A mild sense of irritation is all that he allows himself - at infrequent intervals at that - at the far-from-ideal conditions or the idiosyncracies and intrusiveness of his co-passengers, who ask him the most personal questions and freely offer advice, including on how he can improve his marital prospects and why he should stop being a wastrel and take up a job instead.

Mr Nazareth often goes off at a tangent, interrupting his narrative with private musings and epiphanies. Sample this: "Being in perpetual motion, the Mumbaikar has evolved into a species with blinkers. They only look ahead and cannot deviate from the path the city chooses for them. To do so would make them dysfunctional." Again, overhearing one man tell another matter-of-factly that a cheque for Rs 10 lakh has not bounced, he concludes: "In Mumbai, privacy has nothing to do with proximity, but with the knowledge that people are too busy to pay attention." And on the subject of technology, he writes that "there is no truth to the statement that technology enhances freedom. In fact, technology creates an unnatural need to communicate". Such musings are merely minor distractions.

With his eye for detail and descriptive ability, Mr Nazareth has produced a tour diary that makes for absorbing reading. It is a welcome addition to the genre, for travelogues - as distinct from travel guides - on India by Indians in the English language are a recent trend.

 

On the streets of Nagpur 25 June 2015

Review of 1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People

Review of '1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People'

The Subtexts in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy

I recently spent a few hours watching 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy'. The movie successfully captured the Calcutta of yore. Additionally the use of heavy metal as the score served to highlight the disjointedness of the characters involved. The Tarantinoisque fight sequences accentuated this further.

All in all the movie was very well packaged. For me the takeaways were not the maturing of Bollywood or the attempts to juggle many experiments within one movie – successfully at that. What stood out was the role of the moustache in the movie. The other thing that found resonance was the plot about making a deal with the devil ie getting the Japanese into Calcutta in exchange for 'freetrade' of sorts.

You could say that there was scent of more than just a movie in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy.

It is believed that the moustache is a symbol of machismo and virility. It is supposed to embody manliness and the male qualities of courage, valour – most kings who ruled this land and or parts of it wore these hirsute principles. The moustachioed male twirling his moustache adds gravitas to the moment of contemplation while also showcasing his manliness.

Byomkesh has a moustache too. However, unlike the characteristics of the moustachioed, the hero comes across as someone with a gentle soul. This is first put across to the cinema goers when he is slapped by Ajit Bandhopadhyay in the first few minutes of the movie. The slap floors him and he remains one with the floor as the camera pans the smoke heavy room with the carom playing crowd. The next time we are accosted by his sensitive spirit is when he turns his face to avoid looking at the ghastly wound on the leg he is holding. This persona is constantly brought to the fore in the movie - when he does not come to the aid of Ajit when they are accosted by a group of men who begin roughing them up. His flinching when Ajit raises his hand even though a slap seems to be furthermost from Ajit's mind.

Though the gentle demeanour hides a brave and enquiring spirit the value of the mooch on him is watered down by the heroes actions or want of them.

This watering down is complete when one compares the actions of Ajit who is not only clean-of-face but wears spectacles, is short, a tad rotund and wears a look of constant wonder. This man slaps the hero, exercises vigorously, shows off his boxers and fights a gang of men. These are the exploits of a hero, of a go-getter ie of someone who many would like to see with a moustache.

This hero's sidekick does not wear wear a moustache but displays all the faculties of someone who is moustached. So, is the common refrain 'mooch nahin tho kooch nahin' false? Yes there have been movies where the hero is clean shaven but he acts like a hero, bashing up villains and what have you. However, one has not come across a movie where the clean shaven 'side-kick' ostensibly performs this function of the moustachioed hero which is so popular, widely accepted and ingrained in people.

The movie clearly assigns the role of the thinker and of the action man to two different people, usually the hero does both. In doing so the director has also subverted the much held hirsute principles.

Dibakar Bannerjee, the director, also speaks of the dangers of acting on the ' enemy of my enemy is a friend' philosophy. The young freedom fighters who join Anukul's plot to get the Japanese into Calcutta and so rid the city of the British realise much to their dismay that they are pawns in a far greater conspiracy. Their desire for independence had made them puppets to a drug laced conspiracy and had blinded them to the perils of opening the gates of the city to another imperial army.

Though Byomkesh saves the day with some dexterous planning and quick thinking there is much food for thought at the end of the day. What would have happened if the Japanese did finally control Calcutta? Would Anukul have become the drug lord he wanted to be under Japanese rule? Would the freedom fighters have realised their dream of freedom under the rule of another imperialist? Would the Japanese have diluted their imperialistic ambitions for the dreams of these people?

Thankfully, the answers to these questions will remain conjectures. However that being said the movie does bring to light the pitfalls of blind nationalism of any given time. Such fervour catalyses decisions and actions that on the surface seem correct and justified, but in fact may only bring horror on an unsuspecting population.

Samir Nazareth is the author of '1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People'

‘Old and Boring!’ one gets to hear this very often, not from the lips of the old nor those in their teens but from those in their mid-thirties. The manner in which it is said is very matter of fact but in it there is a tinge of palpable apprehension.

Shakespeare has written about the seven stages of man, Hindu texts have kept it simpler and deigned them to be only four.  But, whichever version one looks at, there is an understanding of what each age brings to the table. There is a to-do list, there are inherent goals which society recognises and which the individual works towards. Each stage prepares the individual for the next.

It would seem that past a particular age group getting ‘old’ has become profane because it suggests an inability to be what one was. There was a time when the young wanted to grow up because accumulating the years meant freedom, independence and shouldering responsibility for the self. When someone brands a particular age as ‘old and boring’ and is unable to see the two as separate then there is a problem.

Those who are newly middle-aged are at a threshold of two very disparate ages. They bridge the ages of youthful daredevilry of the young adult with the more serious pragmatic, responsible age of the just pensioned and elderly.  The future looks uncertain but the past, which was known, sure looks rosy.  For many, after a point, age is no longer just a number; it suggests less options, a slowdown caused by the shackles of health, lack of earning capacity and seemingly less opportunities to, for want of a better term, have a good time.

Though one would like to come across as experienced and worldly wise there is now need to hide the rigours of the process which brings it. Many speak of the ‘child in me’, there is constant research on the ‘Peter Pan Complex’, while a billion dollar industry has risen from the desire to look, if not remain, young.  This façade gives people an option of straddling two very disparate worlds.

We try to look younger, behave younger and find opportunities to do so in our attempt to retain the things we derived happiness from in our younger days.   Evolution is a natural phenomenon that feeds of the surrounding environment. This phenomena is not only biological, but cultural, social and psychological.  So, the idea that the manner in which we attain happiness and the form of our happiness will remain unchanged over time is juvenile to say the least. It not only ignores our progress as individuals but the advance of society.

Even as we middle aged work with our turmoil of finding ways to remain young, what of the young who see us? Are we encroaching on a space that is theirs? What goes on in their mind when they see us at a pub screaming along with Bryan Adams as he swears ’18 till I die’? What do children feel when

mothers look young like them or their father’s become a ‘dude’? Do youth feel claustrophobic and xenophobic with the presence of the new young? Is the fear of getting ‘old and boring’ passed on to an even younger generation who will define middle aged as old?

‘Old and boring’ is a desire to not accept what experience brings – maturity. Isn’t wanting to remain young disregarding and even disrespecting the self’s progress on all level’s? Would an engineer choose to use his skills to solve second grade mathematics?  The need to remain and even act young is something similar to a child’s first day at school- he clings to his parents, afraid of what is out there. We, the middle-aged are comfortable acting young because we have been there. Also, now that we have the money, can rationalise morality and have no one to answer to we are trying to make up for what we believe are the lost opportunities of our youth.

The fact remains that we could be boring at any age. There seems to be a lack of faith in oneself when one assumes that with age one becomes boring.  Why should we choose not to build on a life time of experience and instead opt to regress? Why should an interesting life become dull when one grows older? When we find an answer to this question, we will realise that ‘old and boring’ have a dissonance to them that only maturity understands.

Published in Free Press Journal

(Samir Nazareth is the author of ‘1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People’)

‘Old and Boring!’ one gets to hear this very often, not from the lips of the old nor those in their teens but from those in their mid-thirties. The manner in which it is said is very matter of fact but in it there is a tinge of palpable apprehension. 

- See more at: http://www.freepressjournal.in/old-and-boring/#sthash.xNqxWRJC.dpuf

Old and boring…

— By SAMIR NAZARETH | Apr 26, 2015 07:15 am

SAMIR NAZARETH says that increasingly being old means being boring and redundant in today’s youth oriented society.

‘Old and Boring!’ one gets to hear this very often, not from the lips of the old nor those in their teens but from those in their mid-thirties. The manner in which it is said is very matter of fact but in it there is a tinge of palpable apprehension. 

Shakespeare has written about the seven stages of man, Hindu texts have kept it simpler and deigned them to be only four.  But, whichever version one looks at, there is an understanding of what each age brings to the table. There is a to-do list, there are inherent goals which society recognises and which the individual works towards. Each stage prepares the individual for the next.

It would seem that past a particular age group getting ‘old’ has become profane because it suggests an inability to be what one was. There was a time when the young wanted to grow up because accumulating the years meant freedom, independence and shouldering responsibility for the self. When someone brands a particular age as ‘old and boring’ and is unable to see the two as separate then there is a problem.

Those who are newly middle-aged are at a threshold of two very disparate ages. They bridge the ages of youthful daredevilry of the young adult with the more serious pragmatic, responsible age of the just pensioned and elderly.  The future looks uncertain but the past, which was known, sure looks rosy.  For many, after a point, age is no longer just a number; it suggests less options, a slowdown caused by the shackles of health, lack of earning capacity and seemingly less opportunities to, for want of a better term, have a good time.

Though one would like to come across as experienced and worldly wise there is now need to hide the rigours of the process which brings it. Many speak of the ‘child in me’, there is constant research on the ‘Peter Pan Complex’, while a billion dollar industry has risen from the desire to look, if not remain, young.  This façade gives people an option of straddling two very disparate worlds.

We try to look younger, behave younger and find opportunities to do so in our attempt to retain the things we derived happiness from in our younger days.   Evolution is a natural phenomenon that feeds of the surrounding environment. This phenomena is not only biological, but cultural, social and psychological.  So, the idea that the manner in which we attain happiness and the form of our happiness will remain unchanged over time is juvenile to say the least. It not only ignores our progress as individuals but the advance of society.

Even as we middle aged work with our turmoil of finding ways to remain young, what of the young who see us? Are we encroaching on a space that is theirs? What goes on in their mind when they see us at a pub screaming along with Bryan Adams as he swears ’18 till I die’? What do children feel when their mothers look young like them or their father’s become a ‘dude’? Do youth feel claustrophobic and xenophobic with the presence of the new young? Is the fear of getting ‘old and boring’ passed on to an even younger generation who will define middle aged as old?

‘Old and boring’ is a desire to not accept what experience brings – maturity. Isn’t wanting to remain young disregarding and even disrespecting the self’s progress on all level’s? Would an engineer choose to use his skills to solve second grade mathematics?  The need to remain and even act young is something similar to a child’s first day at school- he clings to his parents, afraid of what is out there. We, the middle-aged are comfortable acting young because we have been there. Also, now that we have the money, can rationalise morality and have no one to answer to we are trying to make up for what we believe are the lost opportunities of our youth.

The fact remains that we could be boring at any age. There seems to be a lack of faith in oneself when one assumes that with age one becomes boring.  Why should we choose not to build on a life time of experience and instead opt to regress? Why should an interesting life become dull when one grows older? When we find an answer to this question, we will realise that ‘old and boring’ have a dissonance to them that only maturity understands.

(Samir Nazareth is the author of ‘1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People’)

- See more at: http://www.freepressjournal.in/old-and-boring/#sthash.IsANOKnb.dpuf

Old and boring…

— By SAMIR NAZARETH | Apr 26, 2015 07:15 am

SAMIR NAZARETH says that increasingly being old means being boring and redundant in today’s youth oriented society.

‘Old and Boring!’ one gets to hear this very often, not from the lips of the old nor those in their teens but from those in their mid-thirties. The manner in which it is said is very matter of fact but in it there is a tinge of palpable apprehension. 

Shakespeare has written about the seven stages of man, Hindu texts have kept it simpler and deigned them to be only four.  But, whichever version one looks at, there is an understanding of what each age brings to the table. There is a to-do list, there are inherent goals which society recognises and which the individual works towards. Each stage prepares the individual for the next.

It would seem that past a particular age group getting ‘old’ has become profane because it suggests an inability to be what one was. There was a time when the young wanted to grow up because accumulating the years meant freedom, independence and shouldering responsibility for the self. When someone brands a particular age as ‘old and boring’ and is unable to see the two as separate then there is a problem.

Those who are newly middle-aged are at a threshold of two very disparate ages. They bridge the ages of youthful daredevilry of the young adult with the more serious pragmatic, responsible age of the just pensioned and elderly.  The future looks uncertain but the past, which was known, sure looks rosy.  For many, after a point, age is no longer just a number; it suggests less options, a slowdown caused by the shackles of health, lack of earning capacity and seemingly less opportunities to, for want of a better term, have a good time.

Though one would like to come across as experienced and worldly wise there is now need to hide the rigours of the process which brings it. Many speak of the ‘child in me’, there is constant research on the ‘Peter Pan Complex’, while a billion dollar industry has risen from the desire to look, if not remain, young.  This façade gives people an option of straddling two very disparate worlds.

We try to look younger, behave younger and find opportunities to do so in our attempt to retain the things we derived happiness from in our younger days.   Evolution is a natural phenomenon that feeds of the surrounding environment. This phenomena is not only biological, but cultural, social and psychological.  So, the idea that the manner in which we attain happiness and the form of our happiness will remain unchanged over time is juvenile to say the least. It not only ignores our progress as individuals but the advance of society.

Even as we middle aged work with our turmoil of finding ways to remain young, what of the young who see us? Are we encroaching on a space that is theirs? What goes on in their mind when they see us at a pub screaming along with Bryan Adams as he swears ’18 till I die’? What do children feel when their mothers look young like them or their father’s become a ‘dude’? Do youth feel claustrophobic and xenophobic with the presence of the new young? Is the fear of getting ‘old and boring’ passed on to an even younger generation who will define middle aged as old?

‘Old and boring’ is a desire to not accept what experience brings – maturity. Isn’t wanting to remain young disregarding and even disrespecting the self’s progress on all level’s? Would an engineer choose to use his skills to solve second grade mathematics?  The need to remain and even act young is something similar to a child’s first day at school- he clings to his parents, afraid of what is out there. We, the middle-aged are comfortable acting young because we have been there. Also, now that we have the money, can rationalise morality and have no one to answer to we are trying to make up for what we believe are the lost opportunities of our youth.

The fact remains that we could be boring at any age. There seems to be a lack of faith in oneself when one assumes that with age one becomes boring.  Why should we choose not to build on a life time of experience and instead opt to regress? Why should an interesting life become dull when one grows older? When we find an answer to this question, we will realise that ‘old and boring’ have a dissonance to them that only maturity understands.

(Samir Nazareth is the author of ‘1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People’)

- See more at: http://www.freepressjournal.in/old-and-boring/#sthash.IsANOKnb.dpuf

Old and boring…

— By SAMIR NAZARETH | Apr 26, 2015 07:15 am

SAMIR NAZARETH says that increasingly being old means being boring and redundant in today’s youth oriented society.

‘Old and Boring!’ one gets to hear this very often, not from the lips of the old nor those in their teens but from those in their mid-thirties. The manner in which it is said is very matter of fact but in it there is a tinge of palpable apprehension. 

Shakespeare has written about the seven stages of man, Hindu texts have kept it simpler and deigned them to be only four.  But, whichever version one looks at, there is an understanding of what each age brings to the table. There is a to-do list, there are inherent goals which society recognises and which the individual works towards. Each stage prepares the individual for the next.

It would seem that past a particular age group getting ‘old’ has become profane because it suggests an inability to be what one was. There was a time when the young wanted to grow up because accumulating the years meant freedom, independence and shouldering responsibility for the self. When someone brands a particular age as ‘old and boring’ and is unable to see the two as separate then there is a problem.

Those who are newly middle-aged are at a threshold of two very disparate ages. They bridge the ages of youthful daredevilry of the young adult with the more serious pragmatic, responsible age of the just pensioned and elderly.  The future looks uncertain but the past, which was known, sure looks rosy.  For many, after a point, age is no longer just a number; it suggests less options, a slowdown caused by the shackles of health, lack of earning capacity and seemingly less opportunities to, for want of a better term, have a good time.

Though one would like to come across as experienced and worldly wise there is now need to hide the rigours of the process which brings it. Many speak of the ‘child in me’, there is constant research on the ‘Peter Pan Complex’, while a billion dollar industry has risen from the desire to look, if not remain, young.  This façade gives people an option of straddling two very disparate worlds.

We try to look younger, behave younger and find opportunities to do so in our attempt to retain the things we derived happiness from in our younger days.   Evolution is a natural phenomenon that feeds of the surrounding environment. This phenomena is not only biological, but cultural, social and psychological.  So, the idea that the manner in which we attain happiness and the form of our happiness will remain unchanged over time is juvenile to say the least. It not only ignores our progress as individuals but the advance of society.

Even as we middle aged work with our turmoil of finding ways to remain young, what of the young who see us? Are we encroaching on a space that is theirs? What goes on in their mind when they see us at a pub screaming along with Bryan Adams as he swears ’18 till I die’? What do children feel when their mothers look young like them or their father’s become a ‘dude’? Do youth feel claustrophobic and xenophobic with the presence of the new young? Is the fear of getting ‘old and boring’ passed on to an even younger generation who will define middle aged as old?

‘Old and boring’ is a desire to not accept what experience brings – maturity. Isn’t wanting to remain young disregarding and even disrespecting the self’s progress on all level’s? Would an engineer choose to use his skills to solve second grade mathematics?  The need to remain and even act young is something similar to a child’s first day at school- he clings to his parents, afraid of what is out there. We, the middle-aged are comfortable acting young because we have been there. Also, now that we have the money, can rationalise morality and have no one to answer to we are trying to make up for what we believe are the lost opportunities of our youth.

The fact remains that we could be boring at any age. There seems to be a lack of faith in oneself when one assumes that with age one becomes boring.  Why should we choose not to build on a life time of experience and instead opt to regress? Why should an interesting life become dull when one grows older? When we find an answer to this question, we will realise that ‘old and boring’ have a dissonance to them that only maturity understands.

(Samir Nazareth is the author of ‘1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People’)

- See more at: http://www.freepressjournal.in/old-and-boring/#sthash.IsANOKnb.dpuf

Old and boring…

— By SAMIR NAZARETH | Apr 26, 2015 07:15 am

SAMIR NAZARETH says that increasingly being old means being boring and redundant in today’s youth oriented society.

‘Old and Boring!’ one gets to hear this very often, not from the lips of the old nor those in their teens but from those in their mid-thirties. The manner in which it is said is very matter of fact but in it there is a tinge of palpable apprehension. 

Shakespeare has written about the seven stages of man, Hindu texts have kept it simpler and deigned them to be only four.  But, whichever version one looks at, there is an understanding of what each age brings to the table. There is a to-do list, there are inherent goals which society recognises and which the individual works towards. Each stage prepares the individual for the next.

It would seem that past a particular age group getting ‘old’ has become profane because it suggests an inability to be what one was. There was a time when the young wanted to grow up because accumulating the years meant freedom, independence and shouldering responsibility for the self. When someone brands a particular age as ‘old and boring’ and is unable to see the two as separate then there is a problem.

Those who are newly middle-aged are at a threshold of two very disparate ages. They bridge the ages of youthful daredevilry of the young adult with the more serious pragmatic, responsible age of the just pensioned and elderly.  The future looks uncertain but the past, which was known, sure looks rosy.  For many, after a point, age is no longer just a number; it suggests less options, a slowdown caused by the shackles of health, lack of earning capacity and seemingly less opportunities to, for want of a better term, have a good time.

Though one would like to come across as experienced and worldly wise there is now need to hide the rigours of the process which brings it. Many speak of the ‘child in me’, there is constant research on the ‘Peter Pan Complex’, while a billion dollar industry has risen from the desire to look, if not remain, young.  This façade gives people an option of straddling two very disparate worlds.

We try to look younger, behave younger and find opportunities to do so in our attempt to retain the things we derived happiness from in our younger days.   Evolution is a natural phenomenon that feeds of the surrounding environment. This phenomena is not only biological, but cultural, social and psychological.  So, the idea that the manner in which we attain happiness and the form of our happiness will remain unchanged over time is juvenile to say the least. It not only ignores our progress as individuals but the advance of society.

Even as we middle aged work with our turmoil of finding ways to remain young, what of the young who see us? Are we encroaching on a space that is theirs? What goes on in their mind when they see us at a pub screaming along with Bryan Adams as he swears ’18 till I die’? What do children feel when their mothers look young like them or their father’s become a ‘dude’? Do youth feel claustrophobic and xenophobic with the presence of the new young? Is the fear of getting ‘old and boring’ passed on to an even younger generation who will define middle aged as old?

‘Old and boring’ is a desire to not accept what experience brings – maturity. Isn’t wanting to remain young disregarding and even disrespecting the self’s progress on all level’s? Would an engineer choose to use his skills to solve second grade mathematics?  The need to remain and even act young is something similar to a child’s first day at school- he clings to his parents, afraid of what is out there. We, the middle-aged are comfortable acting young because we have been there. Also, now that we have the money, can rationalise morality and have no one to answer to we are trying to make up for what we believe are the lost opportunities of our youth.

The fact remains that we could be boring at any age. There seems to be a lack of faith in oneself when one assumes that with age one becomes boring.  Why should we choose not to build on a life time of experience and instead opt to regress? Why should an interesting life become dull when one grows older? When we find an answer to this question, we will realise that ‘old and boring’ have a dissonance to them that only maturity understands.

(Samir Nazareth is the author of ‘1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People’)

- See more at: http://www.freepressjournal.in/old-and-boring/#sthash.IsANOKnb.dpuf

Old and boring…

— By SAMIR NAZARETH | Apr 26, 2015 07:15 am

SAMIR NAZARETH says that increasingly being old means being boring and redundant in today’s youth oriented society.

‘Old and Boring!’ one gets to hear this very often, not from the lips of the old nor those in their teens but from those in their mid-thirties. The manner in which it is said is very matter of fact but in it there is a tinge of palpable apprehension. 

Shakespeare has written about the seven stages of man, Hindu texts have kept it simpler and deigned them to be only four.  But, whichever version one looks at, there is an understanding of what each age brings to the table. There is a to-do list, there are inherent goals which society recognises and which the individual works towards. Each stage prepares the individual for the next.

It would seem that past a particular age group getting ‘old’ has become profane because it suggests an inability to be what one was. There was a time when the young wanted to grow up because accumulating the years meant freedom, independence and shouldering responsibility for the self. When someone brands a particular age as ‘old and boring’ and is unable to see the two as separate then there is a problem.

Those who are newly middle-aged are at a threshold of two very disparate ages. They bridge the ages of youthful daredevilry of the young adult with the more serious pragmatic, responsible age of the just pensioned and elderly.  The future looks uncertain but the past, which was known, sure looks rosy.  For many, after a point, age is no longer just a number; it suggests less options, a slowdown caused by the shackles of health, lack of earning capacity and seemingly less opportunities to, for want of a better term, have a good time.

Though one would like to come across as experienced and worldly wise there is now need to hide the rigours of the process which brings it. Many speak of the ‘child in me’, there is constant research on the ‘Peter Pan Complex’, while a billion dollar industry has risen from the desire to look, if not remain, young.  This façade gives people an option of straddling two very disparate worlds.

We try to look younger, behave younger and find opportunities to do so in our attempt to retain the things we derived happiness from in our younger days.   Evolution is a natural phenomenon that feeds of the surrounding environment. This phenomena is not only biological, but cultural, social and psychological.  So, the idea that the manner in which we attain happiness and the form of our happiness will remain unchanged over time is juvenile to say the least. It not only ignores our progress as individuals but the advance of society.

Even as we middle aged work with our turmoil of finding ways to remain young, what of the young who see us? Are we encroaching on a space that is theirs? What goes on in their mind when they see us at a pub screaming along with Bryan Adams as he swears ’18 till I die’? What do children feel when their mothers look young like them or their father’s become a ‘dude’? Do youth feel claustrophobic and xenophobic with the presence of the new young? Is the fear of getting ‘old and boring’ passed on to an even younger generation who will define middle aged as old?

‘Old and boring’ is a desire to not accept what experience brings – maturity. Isn’t wanting to remain young disregarding and even disrespecting the self’s progress on all level’s? Would an engineer choose to use his skills to solve second grade mathematics?  The need to remain and even act young is something similar to a child’s first day at school- he clings to his parents, afraid of what is out there. We, the middle-aged are comfortable acting young because we have been there. Also, now that we have the money, can rationalise morality and have no one to answer to we are trying to make up for what we believe are the lost opportunities of our youth.

The fact remains that we could be boring at any age. There seems to be a lack of faith in oneself when one assumes that with age one becomes boring.  Why should we choose not to build on a life time of experience and instead opt to regress? Why should an interesting life become dull when one grows older? When we find an answer to this question, we will realise that ‘old and boring’ have a dissonance to them that only maturity understands.

(Samir Nazareth is the author of ‘1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People’)

- See more at: http://www.freepressjournal.in/old-and-boring/#sthash.IsANOKnb.dpuf