Dear Abhinav,
Now that you are in your 50’s, you must be thinking that ‘younger
you’ was stupid. I always have this problem. Whenever I think of my younger
days, I find myself very idiotic. Even my actions last year or last month seem
to be highly erratic. And since you are me, you must be thinking that Abhinav
of present was not ‘worthy of listening to’.
Hence to clarify your prejudice, take this:
“Humans are only animals who know they will die one day and then
they work day and night to earn money and call themselves the most intelligent creatures.”
You can search it on whatever is the most powerful search mechanism
of your time. These days we Google it. You will not find this quote anywhere,
this is my quote.
So when I have established my level of wisdom firmly, I think you
are now all ears to listen me. I have a lot to tell and talk. And since you cannot
reply me back, I will stick to only ‘telling’ part.
I hope you are healthy. If the tummy of yours is still bulging out, then
probably it’s high time to start doing something about it. Most men whim I know
in their 50’s have receding hairline predominated by whiter shade. I know I cannot
expect my hair to be black at your age but I really want hairs to be intact on
my head. If your hairs are still there, then eat a ‘Amul’ dark chocolate to
celebrate, if this chocolate still sells in market and if you are not diabetic.
Oh, the thought of a plump, bald and diabetic you is making me sick. It’s a
lesson for present me to make more efforts to stay fit and healthy.
I hope you are taking good care of your parents. If you have become
the kind of man who lives some place distant from parents and send them money
through e-banking and posts ‘love u dad’ facebook messages on father’s day,
then hang yourself right this moment. If ropes and fans have become obsolete,
then shoot yourself. I am sure guns will be still there. Present me will never
like such future you. If you are 50+ years old, then my (I hate writing ‘your’
in this case) parents will be 80+ years old. This is really very old age and if
you are not living right now with them, just move to their place. Take it as a ‘God
promise’ from a younger you; you will have to do it. Such thoughts are again
making me sick. Why is future so complicated?
Between, by any chance have you become smart and handsome? And yes,
you are thinking right, present me do believes that miracles happen. I hope you
are not as dumb as I am today and you can make few middle aged women turn their
heads. And that you are sporting a French cut beard that present me has always
dreamt. How do you dress? Lately I have found out that I don’t think before dressing
and people spend a lot of time thinking what they should wear. May be in this transition
of more than two decades, you too have got some sense of fashion. But do people
in your time wear clothes made of cotton or some ‘nano-fabric’? And are green
vegetables, fruits and milk the most nutritious food in 2040’s also? I hope you
still eat roti, dal and vegetables and not some ‘food-pill’ kind of thing.
How’s your house? I hope its small bungalow type of home. Present me
doesn’t like the idea of living in a flat in a multi-storeyed building in a big
city full of people. You still use mobile? Or people in 2040’s use some other
device to communicate? At present the most advanced thing is a ‘tab’. I will
buy it in few years. But I hope you have kept my present mobile safe. This
black and white nokia mobile will remind you of your good days. And have you
got a car? Present me loves ‘Honda city’ and ‘Tata safari’. Do you fly often
now? I haven’t been on an aeroplane till date. I hope you will write all your
experiences for a younger you and keep it safe for me read it in my next life.
Now about girls, of course. Rather women. From my very birth I have
remained very*n times confused about them. (Where n is the largest non-zero
positive number you can imagine). I just hope that by your time, the value of n
has decreased significantly. You also must be having a wife. If she hasn’t divorced
you till now citing your dumbness, just listen to me carefully. Treat her like
a princess. No matter what is her mood, age or condition, love her in all
possible ways you know and love her to the extent you can possibly love a
person. You are 50+ and so is she, but does that matter? Present me will be
very angry if you have made his future wife sad at any moment in these years.
And kids. Are you taking good care of them? I have so many plans for
my kids. I will tell you one by one, and you make a ‘fulfilled promise list’
and tick each one you have kept. If it’s not filled with ticks, present me will
never write again to future you. I want my children to grow in a place far away
from maddening crowd. In the day time, under a lazy morning spring sun, they
must sit watching flowers in the garden and the dead leaves fallen on green
lawn to suddenly realise that one brown and yellow leaf which out of the blue jumps
from ground onto a flower is actually a butterfly. In the night, they must lie
on the ground watching twinkling stars against clear black night sky and
between these stars; they will identify twinkling lights of fire flies. I don’t
want them to waste their lives amidst schools, tuitions, music class, swimming
class etc. I don’t want them to become ‘competition ready’, rather they must
realise that life is too short for such antics. They must value honesty,
truthfulness and simplicity. I want my kids to read good books and write
stories rather than watching ‘tab’ and listening to ‘i-pod’. I want them to
play hide and seek on streets rather than going for badminton classes. There is
a long list of things I want for my kids and I desperately hope you have lived up
to your own expectations.
Future seems to be lot more challenging. 2040 is still a long way to
go. Your appearance, your fashion, your style may have changed. You must be
thinking of crazy ‘past you’. But imagining future has been as tough and
painful as has been the pleasure to tell you so many things. I don’t know why I
am going to tell you this one last thing because you are me and you will
remember. Still in case you forget, “I don’t want you to be you; I want you to
be just me”.
Yours ‘me’,
Abhinav.
