To Abhinav, From Abhinav

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.