Sixty Is New Forty

 

From my Bahrain diary

Sixty Is New Forty Now

“Sixty is new forty now”. You must have heard it. I always have tried to exclude my self from that phrase. Burden of living is hard as it is; why roll it back. Besides I never saw any thing wrong in getting old. Finally at near sixty I am able to take things a little easy why ruin it with rushed life style of forty. People now and then comment on my looking younger than my age, a compliment that I am grateful of but still take without paying much attention to it. Recently I received it in such a way that I could not help but be really amused by it.

So this is how it came. Any body that reads it may laugh with me! I still smile!

After spending five wonderful weeks in U.S. I was returning to Bahrain. I enjoyed every bit of my colorful social visit with family and friends. It was enhanced by Oklahoma’s gorgeous fall weather with color full foliage and warm bright sunshine. The whole atmosphere was so wonderful and inviting to my heart that I almost didn’t want to leave the place. Still my time at U.S. was coming to end and I was ready to come to my Bahrain home. If you have heard people having two or more homes I am currently one of them living that life, going through all the bitter sweet moments of making a home in a new place where my husband has taken up a new job.

Journey across the continent was as usual long and tiresome. Even after getting a long break in Atlanta and sleeping most of the time at Amsterdam airport I was running out of esteem.

 Finally around 17.30 hour we boarded the plane, K.L.M. flight for Bahrain. Any body close to my age will know how hard it is for us to get in and out of those ever getting small plane seats as gravity pulls us back against our bodily strength. I have started taking mid isles seat though I miss watching the landscape below while the plane takes off and the floating clouds and various colors of day light in the limitless sky from plane window as it flies high.

Once settled in my seat I looked around. Two little kids and their young mom were occupying the other three seats in the row. I gave them a smile and listen to their conversation for a while. The scene was all too familiar and fresh in my memory when I made countless trips to India with my own young children. But deprived of the window view, my favorite pastime in plane I just closed my eyes to take a nap. After all the weariness of getting close to sixty was taking a hold on me and however young I may look in people’s eye I had no intention of behaving otherwise.

I don’t know how long it was before my limping neck woke me up with a jerk. The lady and her two kids were gone to some other seats and a young man of Indian descent had taken up the seat beside me. The hostess of my isles was getting ready to serve beverages. Cold air was giving me so much chill that I asked her to turn down a little the fan above my seat. It so happens that there was no vent above the seat accepts under luggage compartment so all she could do was to turn the heat a little bit more for me.

The young man who was listening the conversation vouched for the chill and offered me the blanket from his seat. I showed him the two covers, my shawl and the blanket from plane that I already had on. During the course of the journey with casual conversation I came to know that he was living in Bahrain. So we talked little bit about Bahrain and India and family etc. He was little surprised when I told him about myself having a thirty seven year old son and two grand kids. Like so many others his reaction was same. “You don’t look that old.” With a smile I said “I will take it as a compliment, I may not look that old but I still feel it.”

From Amsterdam to Bahrain the journey was about the duration of six-hour. I slept a lot and also talked with the young man on and off. I suppose I am always comfortable with my communication skills and find myself at ease even talking to strangers. Being from India and also living in Bahrain at the same time gave us some common grounds also.

Finally the journey was coming to an end. As the plane was about to stop every body started collecting their things and some took out their cell phone etc. The young man also took his cell phone out, punched few keys in it and a little later showed me a picture. “This is my daughter.” He said. I looked at the picture and said “pretty girl.” Smiling the young man nudged me lightly on my arm and said, “ You are even hotter yourself.” Though living in U.S. I had heard the word often from young people’s mouth, still it took me a second to comprehend that it was being used for me.

May be looking at my confused expression he said again laughing, “ you know! Really hot!” By then I had caught it too and in my amusement burst into a short laugh. I was so amused by the use of phrase that did not even thank him for the compliment. We both laughed a little and got busy with picking our things. Later I saw him standing at the isle and we waved at each other before walking towards the exit.

My husband and I had a big laugh again next day as I told him about the language of the compliment that I got from young man. Just like me it took him a while too to understand! There must be some truth to “sixty as being new forty.”