Recently I got an invitation from one of my teachers for attending his superannuation function, I felt excited that my teacher had remembered me to attend this function to make it special, so I began to pen down a tribute for his selfless services of three decades in keeping the torch of quality education shining through his hard word.
Finally, the day had arrived when we had to bid him adieu for his services, that day I dressed myself to perfection, combed my hair style like my teacher just to appear like him at least for this day.
Tents had been erected in school lawn with welcome signboards erected along the paths leading reception of guests. I could smell the aroma of Kashmiri wazwan being cooked for guests that literally made me salivate to taste its flavour, I somehow resisted my temptation of tasting wazwan by remaining seated in front row. Hardly few minutes had passed when whole gatherings of students and guests roused in one go on their feet with loud cheers and applause to welcome charm and light of special gathering in the form of teacher who had to retire.
I could notice the worn out looks of him with no smile and only grin visible on his face as if he was in a state of mourning with his gaze lowered towards the ground. He could hardly walk as if fears of living post retirement life had broken his back.
I felt bad for him and worse for myself as I had excepted to see my teacher in a state that I had become habitual of seeing him, a stout and chrismatic person with smile written all over his face but total reverse was unfolding before me.
A brief audio-visual clip about his services was played on LCD, I felt proud on his contribution but it didn’t shake him, he appeared like numb and motionless person on stage lost in his memories of past and future challenges of post retirement life. Program continued With People coming on dice and flooding him with praises by counting his contributions, but that didn’t disturb his state of inertia (numb and motionless).
Finally, my teacher was invited to pour his thoughts and emotions one last time in official position.
He could hardly stand on his legs and needed shoulder to support him to reach dice, in a state of endless emotions he literally fainted and could hardly utter a word and within fraction of minutes he returned to his seat with tears rolling down like stream. I couldn’t resist this state of him so I made my exit without even saying a last goodbye to my teacher.
On reaching my home I was constantly disturbed by a thought. Is job bigger than life, here is the man who worked tirelessly for nearly thirty years without any black blot on his service record instead of embracing retirement with open arms is seen in a state of mourning and not ready for it at all.
The above saga is microcosm of majority of government employees who are simply not ready to face day of retirement from services as they don’t give a thought to it during their service and with no plans for post-retirement life, they end up living a miserable life.
The wrong notion that has caged majority of employees is that institution is because of individuals (employees) and it can’t function if an individual retires but it’s totally reverse individuals employed are because of institutions and these institutions continued running when you and I were not there and will continue to function like normal after our departure.
So, we should not love it more than our life we should make our job a part of life but irony is that for our society there is no bigger thing than a government job, our society weighs person as per salary he/she draws from government exchequer and one can’t find even a match in matrimonial affairs even if one is qualified unemployed.
One more menace that is creeping up in rural areas , person surrenders everything after getting job especially working in his fields, instead of caring his fields he starts to live of comfort and luxury by engaging labourers even for small work.
Over a period of time he loses his all skills of farming without which a person is considered incomplete in villages and when job divorces him on retirement he is left stagnant at one place without contributing anything to his family. Over a period of time he feels deserted and isolated leaving him in depression.
I have seen people who work on high posts and yet they don’t feel shy in working in fields and I found them quite happy in post retirement life. Space doesn’t allow me to elaborate certain contours of this issue but I will rest my motion on simple advice that we need to be prepared for this day in advance. It shouldn’t be the end of life but the beginning of a new life.
(Javeid Hassan Malik teaches Chemistry at GDC boys Baramulla)