Shamsher Chwodhury

In Bangladesh, most people their mid-fifties and beyond often consider them as old people with a sigh of resignation and hopelessness. I feel that this is a reflection of a defeatist frame of mind. I would, therefore, like to call myself, being in the late sixties, 68 to be exact, not an old man but a senior citizen.

People as old as me or aged even below often tend to reminisce about the days gone by: their childhood, the days they passed with friends at the school so on and so forth. I see nothing wrong with it except that they too either ignore or forget the many blessings life has still to offer. Believe it or not, it is simply a matter of the mind. You will be surprised as to how many pleasures and happiness life has still in store for you to enjoy and fall back upon.

It is true though that the workings of the modern-day world are more complex and, to some extent, cruel compared to what was in the early 50's and the 60's, yet there exists a good deal of advantages and benefits for us, the senior citizens.

Before I proceed further with the topic, let me say that I am talking of those who belong to those sections who have roofs over their heads and do make easy day today living and beyond. Being happy and at peace with life goes beyond material affluence.

I live in a moderate flat in an apartment complex. The past few years I have been struggling with a debilitating state of Osteo- Arthritis and a few other complications like Cervical Spondellosis including rather complicated state of Diabetes.

For over 24 years. But I must tell you; I still enjoy my life primarily because the gift of life is still mine. I am truly happy to be able to reap the benefits of being a senior citizen. Just consider this all my relations call me every other day enquiring about my welfare, which they never used to do before. My wife seems to be more attentive to my needs more than what she would do during the so-called golden days of my life, some 20 years hence.

See how wonderful it is when a visiting young nephew, a cousin or the only daughter arrives at my place wearing a broad grin all over her face with her 19 month- old son and places her son on my lap. I can now without hesitation ask a nephew or a cousin to go out and quickly bring me a diet cola or some fruits. They do it happily and then suddenly it dawns on me that I could not do have this luxury of ordering people to do errands for me 20 years hence. How wonderful!!

Many of you in my age group or even below may rightly say that I happen to be lucky, more than most. May be I am. But what I was really trying to convey to you is this that with some efforts in most cases it is possible to still consider yourself lucky and enjoy the gifts of life that still exist around us.

In order to be a happy contented man or a woman at peace with yourself, you have to learn to gracefully accept the state you are in. Reduce and resolve any outstanding issues of conflict that might exist and seem to bother you. Overlook, forgive and forget or avoid any kind of family disputes, may be difficult but certainly not impossible. If you are sick and suffering from multiple ailments like me experiencing pain on a daily basis, all you have to do is turn to others who are even less fortunate than you are.

I derive my strength from the indomitable spirit from my late mother who lived to be 93 years. She suffered from an acute condition of Sciatica and Arthritis until she passed away. Just consider this she left behind eleven volumes of hand-written diaries for us to read and reminisce. Most of the contents of the Dairies were full of happy anecdotes involving her 14 children (All her children were successful by any standard), including her life with my father, who died some 30 years before her. .

Frankly in order to be able to appreciate the privileges and advantages of old age, one has to understand and get into a mindset that, it is all a matter of mind over body. I learnt three things from my mother, first it is mind over body, second, it is the spirit of it all and finally one has to have to constantly see the humorous side of it all at all times.

As Senior Citizens all we have to remember is that we must keep the humour around us alive at all times, must learn to accept gracefully the environment we live in, we must learn to let go of things, must be ready to forgive and forget. "After all I am not the caretaker of the universe, I did all I could and as best as I could."

If you really wish to find out as to what pleasures and happiness hold for senior citizens, the other important thing, is to go out every now and then and meet people you like, go for light exercises with a view to beating the daily stress you come across, real or imaginary. Fix your own timings.

Long live Senior Citizens!!

In the meantime let us also pray for those of us who have left us for a better world.

The writer may be reached at

e-mail: chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com