Resolving the age-old dilemma over age
IT’S ONLY DURING OUR CHILDHOOD THAT WE ALL ARE IN A HURRY TO GROW UP. ONCE WE ARE GROWN UP, WE ALL WANT TO LOOK, FEEL YOUNGER THAN WHAT WE ARE. IT IS ALWAYS A RACE AGAINST TIME
“Kaka, my age is 35 to 40 years,” a woman said. Another said she was 61 or 62. Most of the ladies proclaimed themselves to be at least ten years younger at the time of registration for a medical camp that we recently organised for our village and the neighbouring ones. Interestingly, none of the women, including old aunties and grannies, disclosed her real age!
It was amusing to see them saying in loud tone that they were all younger than they looked, but did not know how they had all the ailments of the old age. ‘Budhapa’ (old age) was just in the air, they said. It could be the ‘hawa–paani’ (climate) of the village that they all looked older than their real age, they claimed.
That’s human nature. For a large part of our adult lives, we try to present ourselves to be younger than what we are. It’s only during our childhood that we all are in a hurry to grow up. Once we are grown up, we all want to look, feel younger than what we are. It is always a race against time.
The society conditions us to buy cosmetics to look younger and always keep holding to the fountain of youth. This subtle orchestration is quiet, which has been primarily targeting women. But now men also try to look younger in every way.
Being fit is one thing, but when looking young becomes an obsession and we stop aging gracefully, things go asunder. A few grey hair become the causeofworry.Andwhengravity starts dragging everything down, we start striking deals with the new-age dietitians who extort huge money from us.
We spend a lot of money on losing weight through exercise and the new-age fangled diets wherein we are given the newest of seeds that aren’t heard of and numerous smoothies, and sometimes the early morning hot water, lemon, cinnamon mix and the requisite number of dry fruits to accelerate the metabolism.
How lovely it would be if we all loved and accepted one another as we were? Dr Seuss rightly said, “Why fit in when you were born to stand out.” Why do we try to ape starlets andglamorouswomenwhoare shown on the billboards and on social media, and whose real picture is photo-shopped, airbrushed, highlighted, contoured to look all-different.
Life nowadays has become all about filters and we just don’t want to show our real self anymore.
This trend has percolated to our villages also. The village shop boasts of an all-time high sale of green tea, and at every nook and corner, we have girls going in for facials to look fair and lovely and the hair is masked for as cheap as Rs 5, thanks to dyes being sold in sachets.
Allwomengoonearlymorning walk and try new things just to lose weight and look better.
Beauty or vanity, for that matter, is just not for the rich. It’s for the masses and the trend is rightly being used by the multinationals which are bringing everything in sachets. Be it soap, cream, body soap, oil and facemask — everything hasbeeneconomisedandpackaged attractively to lure the customer.
We are a nation in a hurry to look smart and western and this is influencing the next generation that thinks the way to arrive or be noticed is to look western and have hair that are cut, streaked and teased!
In fact, kids have started eating more junk food to escape eating wholesome food so that they don’t get fat. It took me a long time to convince a young girl I taught that eating roti is healthy too. She didn’t want to get fat, you see.
To resolve this weighty problem, we need to be confident and embrace ourselves as we are! Otherwise, you and I would also be shouting and saying “No, we aren’t 60-year-old”.