the shades of life…….

Recently I was reading an article on an old newspaper that roughly equated every human being’s happiness chart to the English alphabet U, with the narrow tips representing the emotional & spiritual highs of youth and old age and the trough in U i.e. the obvious depression representing the vagaries of mid-life crisis.

Ah! Youth! The age of idealism - when the world was my oyster. I relinquished every luxury in order to change the world and romance, of course, conquered all. When my wife/girlfriend played a major part in my life and I was prepared to spend hours and hours hoping to catch a minute with my partner. At that age it is not possible for me to imagine that a good night’s sleep would become more desirable as age catches up with me. This is the story of life obviously when I was young. The recklessness, the urgency, the extremes of emotions felt. When people are in it, it is often wrenching and tumultuous. But it’s often love felt at its purest and happiness bordering on euphoria.

Again in old age, I believe from observing people around me - people are struck with ailments of old age and stuck with the age old marital partner. But there is a deep contentment among them for having stuck it out so far. They have a sense of achievement and both partners know that one or the other would die soon. This gives rise to a kind of detachment and appreciation for life. Just the thought of being alive is a big high for most of us, I believe.

Finally onto the period that I’m getting into - the mid-life. After reading that I will soon be in the deep flat end of the ‘U’ of happiness - I wallow in self pity. Less comforting is the fact that it would be some time before I start climbing the thin limbs of ‘U’ on my way to serene old age. Middle-age is probably a time when we lose our dreams and begin to accept the reality. We consolidate - we adjust somehow in our lives, careers, jobs, relationships and so on. We try to be happy – somehow trying desperately to pretend to be happy when deep down we know we wanted that little extra in our lives – that could have but did not ultimately materialize. People turn to philosophy and religion comes to the aid of many disillusioned souls who frantically try to mind the meaning of their unexciting lives.

But then again I believe all is not lost. These examples suggest that life eventually comes to a full circle. Or at least a full ‘U’. Somehow this Indian never gives up.

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