Life after retirement: 3 lessons that I learnt from my editors

By Bhavesh Rajan

After retirement, there is only one way to keep the effects of ageing at bay. It is refusal to allow yourself to become redundant.

This means that you must keep yourself busy, even after you retire. The engagement should not be superficial or skin deep. It should jog your mind and keep you alert.

I learnt this from my first Editor. In his younger days he was quite a legend. Even after retirement he was a force to reckon with, first as an Editorial Advisor and then as a Consultant.

I still remember him. He was close to six feet, very fair with a strong jaw line. He loved dressing. Even in the hot Indian summer he would wear a tie to work. In the winters, he would wear a suit exchanging the tie for a natty scarf.

When I first met him in the late 1970s he had crossed the retirement age of 58 and was working as an Editorial Advisor. This was not a ceremonial role. He ensured this was a hands on job where he paid attention to every word and picture that went into the newspaper.

As a cub reporter, I was terrified of him. He hated carelessness and would not spare words when he spotted anything that was sloppy. Even the seasoned reporters would double check their work before handing their copy to him.

He never seemed to tire. Even late in the evening he would hover over the news desk checking proofs, and hollering. He worked hard, and partied harder. This was the first lesson he taught me. Don’t let age bog you down.

He loved holidays and would encourage everyone to take a break from work. Every time he would return from a well-deserved holiday, he would quip: “You need a holiday to recover from the effects of a holiday.”

This is the image that I carried when I left the newspaper after a couple of years. As luck would have it, I returned to the same newspaper 20 years later. He was now 92 but his enthusiasm for work had not dimmed.

He would still come every morning at 11 am, dictate an editorial to his secretary and leave. What amazed me was his dress sense had not changed. He still walked into the office in a coat and a tie. He had definitely slowed down, his mind was not as sharp, and his political acumen and analytical skills had dimmed.

“You have something to look up to when you choose your clothes every morning. It would keep you young,” he would tell me. This was the second lesson that I Iearnt from him. Don’t allow yourself to go to seed.

But his involvement and zest for work remained. I enjoyed working with him once again. Two years later the management changed. I left the newspaper. To my dismay, I learnt that the new management had asked him to leave.

The man who never missed a date with the newspaper and whose work kept him active and engaged suddenly went into an irreversible downslide. He died less than two months of leaving office.

Clearly, there was no further reason for him to get up on time, read the city newspapers, dress up and reach office.

He is the finest example of how you can keep your hunger for life alive. You can’t stop ageing. That is a natural process. But if your mind and body is alive then you are alive.

He is not the only Editor who taught me the secret of keeping age at bay. I had the good fortune to serve with one more legendary Editor who was also not fazed by retirement. He refused to take the help of a driver and even at the age of 82 he drove to work. His wife was worried and so were his colleagues at work.

His defence was simple. “Driving keeps my mind and body alert. My body realises this and so does my mind. The day I give up driving my body reactions will start slowing down. I will no longer be as physically active as I am today.”

This is third less on ageing I learnt from my Editors.

How many people follow this advice? Most people give up driving at the first signs of ageing. They either hire a driver or hand over the car keys to their sons.

Two different men, but one way of living. Deep involvement with work, and confidence in themselves.

So, if you want to stay fit make sure that you find some work that keeps you active and involved.

Read also:

Cheers to the wrinkles and the stories they tell