I can’t believe what I just wrote above, the title of this post. Sixty. Really? It somehow suggests that I should be feeling different while in truth I feel no different than I felt yesterday or the day before. The same earth, the same sky, the same me. And yet there you have it. Apparently, I have lived on this planet for sixty years and am now a Senior Citizen.

Though I may feel no different, those around me certainly do. My eye doctor thought fit to address me as ‘Mother’. Never mind that he is in his forties or that till my last visit he did no such thing. This time he looked down at my file, saw the magic number and promptly slotted me in a different category altogether. Not that I mind. Like the Bard says, a rose by any other name….!

Turning sixty is fun in other ways too. You can laugh all the way to your bank. They now think you deserve more interest on your deposit. So what if it is just a minute fraction of a percentage more? Even though I will need magnifying glasses to notice the actual difference, bring it on, I say, for every penny counts. Especially when you have set sights on gallivanting.

The next best thing about getting on in years is that my middle name feels more and more like an asset than a liability. For the ignorant, it is ‘Irreverent’. I am less shackled by the fear of the what-will-people-think virus attacking me. Oh, who am I kidding? I have been irreverent at heart always. It’s just that with the number of years behind me I am getting better and better at flaunting that irreverence, much to the discomfort of others.

So, here’s to my senior self. May I feel no different in the years to come, never mind the sciatica or the plantar fasciitis or other aches and pains playing spoilsport, they are all old friends now and no more deserve special attention. May my coffers grow, though at a snail’s pace, while in the meanwhile I grow old dreaming of new lands to visit. May I get more opportunities to shoot off my mouth and increase the number of my ‘well-wishers’ to a more respectable number. Now, that last one really tickles me pink 😉

© Shail Mohan 2019