Career is like a journey. An experience in itself. How the circle is completed, one really does not get conscious of this time lapse.  Fifteen transfers in thirty four years  seem  to be just like the blink of an eye.  However everything that begins has to end - logically.  As the day is followed by night, sorrow by happiness, life by death and the caravan moves on. With employees, there is something more to happen. Something that specially happens  to them only.  And that is retirement from  their jobs. All these years one is used to particular lifestyle as there is an addition of responsibilities on official front particularly with working women who also have to manage their home and children.
As a   teacher, one has to go well prepared in the classroom which is a heterogeneity of students. Completing syllabi and practicals in time is the top priority of teachers  apart from waiting for the results of students in the concerned subject. Teachers are particularly curious and curiosity is quite natural to them, because if the results are dismal, they fear their emoluments may be withheld. However it makes a teacher work harder in order to spare himself the agony and embarrassment which he or she has to face in case things go awry.
All these years, perhaps the major chunk of one’s life, one follows a particular routine which suddenly comes to a halt at fifty eight. The point is how one takes this sudden change in life. For some it is a shock. They take it as an unpleasant thing to have happened to them. They hide it from their colleagues with whom they once have worked. They can't live with the truth of their life that they have called it a day.
Once I met a long time colleague and  asked her about her posting. She replied that she has been working in  a particular Higher Secondary. After a month or so I was transferred to the institution.  I enquired about this colleague and I was informed that it was more than a year she has retired from the services.  I questioned myself if retirement was committing a theft which makes people hide this fact of life or it was making people guessing about one’s age, but then aging is a natural process , something that one cannot help. So why be coy about your age. You begin to age the day you are born, so there is no reason to feel so secretive about it.
Why is it with many employees who do not accept this sudden change in one’s life with all confidence?  The retirement from job is something that should be taken in a healthy spirit , as youngsters  must get a chance to start their  innings. We are done, let others take over so that the things move on at a natural pace.  One should be thankful to Allah for a graceful, happy retirement in the present times. No doubt there is a change but then sensibility demands to make the best of it. It must not demoralize us, it must rather give us more confidence and grace to accept the things on merit. We have to accept such changes with all dignity and grace. Moreover the challenges of life don’t end so easily. Let's brace up for a newer life with a renewed spirit to meet the challenges that come our way.
Retirement could be made happier if the retiree would get all the co-operation from the system. It gives one a hard time to collect those NOCs and NDCs from different departments and complete the formalities which is really very taxing.   It takes a lot of time to have the pension  case settled particularly for employees who don’t have all the relevant documents  that are to be submitted with the cooperation of others. There are cases where some people go into depression, some feel they can’t stay home, some are scared that  they have to bring up their grand children, some feel visibly disturbed as they can't see their usual salary suddenly reduced to half. All these things though do happen, but it depends on one's attitude that how does one negotiate with this challenge.
So if you are retiring from your job, worry not, you are getting rejuvenated to take up other responsibilities of your life. There is a world beyond retirement. Life doesn't end here, it's just a milestone. Wish you luck for a happier phase of life which is to start from now.

(Neelofar Shair is a Botany lecturer retiring from her services at the end of this month)

Lastupdate on : Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 IST