Sunday, December 09, 2007

On being sixty..........

I’ve been tagged by Dipali to reveal ten things I want to do before I turn sixty. She also wants me to enlist ten things I miss from the years that have gone by. I’ll do it in two parts and here’s Part I about things I want to do in the next three years. Oh my God! I seem to be running out of time. Thanks Dipali for bringing it to my notice.

I want to learn web trading about which the whole world seems so excited. I hear that housewives in Bihar start their day checking out details of their investment and performance of their stocks and there are tutorials where the ‘trick of the trade’ is taught. I feel a misfit with a capital M so I’ve decided to know what it is all about. If it is not interesting by my standards, then I can always return to blogging.

My son recently sprang a surprise by paying a visit unannounced. He came around 10 in the evening (night perhaps?) and as usual the shock of suddenly seeing him in flesh and blood caused a kind of mental block and I did not know how to react. If he had expected me to shed copious tears of joy and hug him in true bollywood style, I am sorry to have disappointed him. I stood staring at him and finally asked him if he wanted to have coffee or prefer to have dinner straight away as if he had returned after an evening out with friends. He was visiting me after a year and 9 months and had come all the way from the US of A. I AM going to get rid of this stupid habit of saying things out of context. I was indeed delighted to see him and may as well learn to say it in words. He is my son and would probably understand but if he brings home a wife, she’s bound to consider me nuts.

I am really and truly going to learn to use both hands while typing. I use only one finger and to be frank I am in awe of school going kids type as if they learnt to use computers while in their mommy’s tummy.

Like Dipali I too want to get rid of hundreds of things that clutter my house. We have so much of unwanted stuff that could be given to others who could put them to good use. But my husband has an inborn affection for all things that were ‘bought with great difficulty’ and refuses to part with anything that was bought by his parents or himself. He also won’t let me throw off things that my mother gave me because she also must have given them to me under ‘very difficult’ circumstances. How do I explain to him that before the IT boom we all led difficult lives and while I appreciate his concern I need to give away things from time to time? It has a kind of soothing effect on my troubled nerves and helps control my soaring blood pressure? Any suggestion to the effect would make him file a divorce suit since he would consider me unworthy of his affection. I cannot think of a better soul mate. So before I turn 60 I plan to learn to treat every unwanted item with the affection it deserves. This includes the blunt knife with a red handle which he uses to cut coconut.

On a serious note I want to start a lending library for the children in our complex. The reading habit is perhaps missing among many of those kids. I want them to enjoy reading good books very much the way I did as a child.

I want to get more involved with the projects undertaken by Adarsh Seva Sansthan an NGO group operating in Jamshedpur. They are concentrating on creating awareness against female feticide. I want to spare some more time for them.

I want to set aside some money towards enabling a deserving child from the economically underprivileged class to buy brand new books and other study material at the beginning of the academic year.

I think I’ll pamper myself with a Kerala style massage and a steam bath in a spa before I turn 60. I hear that it does wonders to one’s health.

I am indeed going to spoil my grand children sick by being the indulgent grand mother and together we’d irritate their mothers who would not be able to do a thing about it. Wow! The very thought is so fulfilling.

And finally I am going to try and get my papers filed and put in order. It is going to be difficult but has to be done nonetheless. I have a good agent who deals with all the paper work rather well but I too need to do my bit.

I think I’ll tag Usha, hillg’mom, madhumita and altoid to reveal what they plan to do before they step into the next decade of their lives. Anyone else who wants to take it up is welcome to do so.

18 comments:

Lekhni said...

The lending library idea us a very good one..
Btw, do housewives in Bihat traede stocks online? Wow! That's a classic sign of a bubble market :(

Alapana said...

This Online trading thing is caught up with lot of people and one such i have in my own house,husband seriously does it and is even contemplating of leaving his lucrative job, Men i say@$$@#. And getting rid of stuff would seriously help your BP, seriously,it helps:)

And about the lending Library,Do that,i am feeling bad that there is not one anywhere near my house. we miss such simple but so useful aspects of life in todays world:)

dipali said...

Online trading isn't difficult. Making the right investments is more so! I loved the way you welcomed your son:), as though he'd never left home. The lending library sounds great.
Looking forward to the second half:)

Pillpopper said...

Dear dear HHG, the Kerala massage part is something I have wanted for a long time, but seren says they charge per sq. ft and I had better reduce before I go for it.

Hip Grandma said...

Hi all,
I see that many others feel the need of a lending library.With computer games and cartoon network gaining importance i feel the reading habit is losing importance and I am thinking of doing my bit.As for online trading I am really curious to know.My son starts his day by checking out stock prices and market trends.MUst learn it and then decide whether I need to continue or not.Dipali thanks for your input on the way I welcomed my son.It helped to put my troubled conscience at rest and how right you were!Pillpopper,do they really charge per square feet.Wow!being vertically handicapped I am going to have an edge over the vertically challenged group.My short stature is going to be a blessing in disguise.I must thank my mother for handing down the right genes.

srijithunni said...

wow..! lots of things to do on your plate, G`ma.. Yes lots of people around me do trading.. Somehow i dont feel, the least bit interested in it.. I can vouch for the Kerala massage, though..!

Catching up after a long time..

Have Fun, Take Care and God Bless.!

With Best Regards,
Srijith.

Madhumita said...

This sounds like a list of things I could do - especially library, online trading and invloving myself sincerely in a worthwhile NGO.

As for things bought with "great difficulty" :-D, my mother would get along just fine with your better half on this issue. I grew up listening to that phrase so often that I find myself repeating it these days!

I also quite liked the way you welcomed your son - he knows you so he would have known that it was more genuine than a sudden hug or a scream of surprise :-)

Jaya said...

HHG, I wish I could live in your complex for few months to read all teh good books :) You welcomed your son just fine. He would have thought he is home. If you had welcomed any other way, he probably would not know how to react.

Preethi said...

Web trading is a good deal... my aunt does it like she was born to it.. i amsure you must be able to easily...
The lending library is a great idea.. when I was in school there were lending libraries in every corner. A couple of years back when I was in India I had to travel about 10 kms to get to a library...
Looking forward to Part 2!

Sumana said...

HHG, Have a great time with your son. I am sure you were as surprised as he wanted you to be.

Hip Grandma said...

srijith:were you on a visit to Liliput?went off to sleep like Rip Van Winkle?Just joking.I am sure you were busy.Nice to have you back.

madhumita:We need to make a long list so that at least some will get implimented.

joy:I am afraid that my son was rather put off by my welcome.We've decided that the next time he'd announce his visit and i'd pretend that it was a surprise and give him a filmy welcome.I am no good at pretending.But I'll try nevertheless.

preethi:glad most of you subscribe to the idea of a lending library.will give it a serious thought.

sumana:my son has already gone back and if he wanted to surprise me i must admit that he did it.

Madhumita said...

Have responded to your tag :-).

hillgrandmom said...

Only got to see the post today. there is something seriously wrong with our internet connection. Promise to do the tag as son as it's ok --hopefully tomorrow.

Unknown said...

Grandma..Do u really type this lengthy posts in one hand. That is one quality that you can really boast of.

Liked ur blog!:)

Anonymous said...

I did the surprise thing once and my mom's reaction was similar to yours. She was staring at me like she had seen a ghost. But that was replaced by a smile soon after. I am sure your son realized that your reaction was only natural. And being welcomed with coffee or dinner is quite a welcome!

Hip Grandma said...

madhumita:I read your list and found it very good.

hillg'momL;ooking forward to reading your list

NSK:Oh yes I type these posts not with one hand but just my right index finger.I've seen my grandfather do it as a child.I am pretty fast I feel.My children don't agree tho'.

chakli:welcome here.I am so glad to hear that my reaction was normal.Hey....!!that's good news.

aMus said...

lending library is such agreat idea...at least bangalore has few options but i came to delhi and was shocked to realise that either you buy books and read or you don't!!

and waiting to see your write up on life in a tambaram house...(did i say that right?)

Anonymous said...

Hi G'ma - How are you? :)

This includes the blunt knife with a red handle which he uses to cut coconut.

Couldn't help ROFLing at that. :)