Time weighs down heavily on retired men

It is an accepted fact of life that once anyone discovers that he has to spend his 24-hours without going to office and getting embroiled in office politics, whether with his boss or his subordinates, the individual has no clue of how to spend his time.
Routine jobs take up very little percentage of the available time, hence he has to perforce find out ways and means to tackle the menace of Time with a capital T.
Therefore we can see them spend time in libraries – big cities like Kolkata used to have air-conditioned libraries of consulates like the British Council or the United States Information Service or the National Library. The elderly would go there in the morning and, after browsing through the latest newspapers and magazines, would doze off. The people who looked after the library would alert them after a reasonable amount of time.

Then there are those who join bridge clubs or chess clubs. Both the games take up enough time to allow the players to forget the present and enter a world of fantasy where he is set to conquer the cherished titles of Grand Master.
Gardening is another area where a selected few devote their time. Gardening would not necessarily mean roses and dahlias but also kitchen garden that can produce the green chili or the tomato or lemon or pumpkin. These are plants that can give results without much problems. All they need are watering, turning over the soil, and adding tiny doses of manure.
If one is lucky enough to be living with grandchildren, it is considered to be a major achievement as well as a bonus. Achievement because, today most of the sons find jobs away from their native place and develop their own circle of friends and acquaintances. A Generation Gap intervenes and the elders have to adjust to a new way of life.
The bonus part is about adapting to the changed scenario all around. Like the mall culture, the dining out culture, the plastic money culture and the online buying culture. (to be continued …)

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Addiction to cards has been labeled as an evil and, in Bengali, there is a saying ‘tash, dabah, pasha, shakal karma nasha’ – this means the three vices that affect one’s normal working are cards, chess and the game of dice a-la Shakuni mama in the Mahabharata.
I had not become an addict as such but loved a game of bridge.
I began with auction bridge – that also due to circumstances. I had lost my father and so had a close friend of mine. One evening, as I was sitting with him, his brother-in-law came along. He invited me to a game of auction bridge and when I explained that I did not know how to play it, he brought out a pack of cards and explained.

Then we sat down to a game. It needed a foursome, so my friend’s wife teamed up with her brother and I and my friend got together. That was the beginning. My friend is now settled in Kolkata as is his brother-in-law.
Anyway, later, I switched over to contract bridge and would have regular sessions on Sunday afternoons in my quarter. In those days, mobile phones were unheard of and we would fix the schedule while marketing.
One fine day my friends invited me to accompany them to a night session of contract bridge. It used to be held in the Mitra Vihar club on Saturday nights and would begin after dinner at 10pm. The games went on till early hours of Sunday. Since it was duplicate bridge, it offered a level playing field to all and no one could grumble about bad break of cards or complain of any hanky-panky tricks.
I had, in the meantime, linked up with a regular partner and had devised a bidding system of our own. We wrote the details on a sheet of paper and would leave it on the table for our opponents to refer in case of doubt. Those who played by the standard bidding systems of Goran or Precision, just made a mention of that during the play. But, me and my friend devised out own system – hence had to table it as per tradition.
After gaining experience at Mitra Vihar and then at other venues like the State Bank club in Nashik, we decided to participate in the state level championship. Our HAL Recreation Club was kind enough to sponsor two teams and, it was an experience that I can never forget. (to be continued …)

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