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Thursday, August 31, 2006

Longevity

Everyone is obsessed with longevity these days. I am not talking of the longevity of 70 years or 80 years. Its about people wanting to live beyond 90 or 100!

I think I'd be plain bored if I lived upto a 100 years! I mean, what would I do with my time? I probably couldn't go around playing lawn tennis at 95. Most people would find me boring. Employers would no longer want me to work. So what do I do then?

Besides, my grandmother once brought up a very interesting point. She once said that as you age, more than degenerating health, its the loss of your peers - people you can talk to - that actually causes anguish. I think she's right.
So what're all these people who want to live to 112 years going to do with their lives? Maybe they're more purposeful and motivated than I am. Does everyone have SO much stuff to accomplish in their lives? :)I think I'll settle for 75 years.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An afterthought:

After not working out for weeks, I ran like a crazy sprinter yesterday! We were playing a league softball game. I can never hit the ball out of the infield. I don't think its anything to do with lack of strength. Rather, I think its the cricket mentality..:) My batting action most naturally inclines to moving from down upwards in a graceful curve (like you'd loft a cricket ball). But softball requires you to kind of hit the ball flat out, catching the ball at the lower part of your swing as your arm moves from top to bottom of a curve. Anyways, the end result is that I am a pathetic batter. I catch the ball at some weird point of my swing and I make contact but it ain't good enough for a huge hit! So the ball plops down in the infield somewhere and I have to run like mad to make first base without getting out. That's what I did yesterday. And it taught me something.

What, you ask?

Well, I know what muscles in my upper thigh and lower back are used in the sprint action. I can feel their painful groans with every minute move that I make.

But hey, we won! And it was a thrilling 9-run rally in the last 10 minutes of the game! Way to go, team! :)

15 comments:

dinesh said...

Your modesty prevents you to add that you had 4 singles in the game ? :). Congrats lady !

Maayaa said...

i will still ask you ..what???
all OHT for me

Anonymous said...

When i read i am contended with 75, just i thought of a story in mahabaratha. so u have become a person better than dharma. well the beauty of life is no one knows when it ends , just like rain in summer

RS said...

So what do I do then?

You would be advising your grand-daughter just like your grand-mother taught you...this and so much more :)

Aging gracefully is an art, we can learn to glide smoothly through it and beyond if we wish to, or land with a thud and exit err...awkwardly too :p

Mysorean said...

LOL! Long live the softball player! :)

Kishan said...

Wow..great to know that you play cricek as well..
I didn't see many girls who play cricket..

Anonymous said...

Can anyone imagine how life will be at 100?But outliving your kids and grand kids will definitely make you lose your senses and your only connection to the world.
Again this opinion can be appreciated more if you can say this when you are actually in your 70's. I bet 99 out of 100 would still want to live at that point

venkat

P B said...

I think I'd be plain bored if I lived upto a 100 years! I mean, what would I do with my time? I probably couldn't go around playing lawn tennis at 95. Most people would find me boring. Employers would no longer want me to work. So what do I do then?

--for some this happens as they near 30, enna panna.

Prabhu said...

baseball, swimming, tennis,volleyball, running(athletics) nnu ivvlo sport-la nee weight a irukka...amazing!

As to longevity - that is a very valid point no peers and no one to talk to....very valid!!

expertdabbler said...

subha,

makkal inga unnoda sports conquests list potrukaradha partha nee goli gundu mattum dhaan vuttu vechirukka nu nenaikiren..

amazing!

i think living healthy matters more than longivity...

Naan kadavul kitte 70 varaikum happya, healthy a irukanum aprom pottunu poidanum nu request panneekiren :)

(enga naina madhiri, though he did not cross 60, but he did not suffer at all)

mode of death kooda yosichen - silent heart attack -
best khanna best!!

RS advice kuduthirkaradha partha, 'And i'm only 27' appo appo she needs to remind us often :)

Arvind Ramachandran said...

Hey..jus came across u r blog...after reading abt the longevity I definitely wanted to comment on that..ppl. living for 100 yrs are not doin so out of their own will..what if they dont die..and u have mentioned that u'll settle for 75..what if, after 75 yrs you dont die naturally ;) ?..jus wanted to know what answer u have for this...

The Doodler said...

Dinesh,
Not really that great of a player but thanks..:)
Priya,
seri, free vidu..:)

Anon,
hmm..point taken.

RS,
Yeah, i guess we'll always find things to do..but looking at it from today's standpoint, it feels Herculean!

The Doodler said...

Adi,
Not that great a player really..:)
Kishan,
I don't play cricket now..I used to as a little kid..:)

Venkat,
I guess you're right...

PB

ROTFL! :)

Agnibarathi said...

I guess you've heard about that Lincoln qutoe where when he was asked how long a person's legs should be from his hips (as a joke at his abnormal height), he replied 'Long enough to touch the ground.' Guess that kind of applies to life and death as well. You live as long as needed.

Badhri said...

To count aging in terms of years is one way. But the of missed, but probably the more relevant way is by answering the question "Am I stuck with the past or am I in tune with the present?"

If one is stuck with the past, he/she is already old, no matter what the number says. That way, there are people I have noticed who are 50,60,70 or rarely 80 years "young".