“ Is it ‘old is gold’ or ‘oldie’s gold', which do you think is correct?” as the wrinkled skin face enquired, Pablo, replied with a smile.

“ My dear Mr. Serious, do you think my answer will satisfy you. Let me answer in your favor. First, tell me, You like whatever I say, why is it so Mr. Serious?” asked Pablo humorously.

“ Do you know my real name, Pablo? Every day you call me by different names. Sometimes you call me Mr. Serious, Serious Sam, and sometimes Wrinkle Wrinkly. I like the way you address me.

You have a unique style, but others don’t know how to interact with people. Modern people lack courtesy and humor. In our times, we know how to treat elderly people, but this new generation…..”

Pablo braked the conversation in midway, “Wait my dear Serious Sam wait, it seems you are angry with the entire world. Isn’t it good to call a good good, a bad bad, and an old?”

“ Oh my God! Once again you started your magical confusing words, Pablo. Yes, I am an old man, an extremely old man who has crossed his hundreds.”

Looking Serious Sam frowning at his words, Pablo once again in wisecracking mood started,

“ You mean to say you are old; that’s why I named you ‘Oldie’….

Oldie, Mr. Oldie,

you are not lonely,

I love you solely,

Live your life boldly,

Oldie, Mr. Oldie.”

Most dramatically and rhythmically, Pablo cracked a lovely joke in a humorous poetic form.

As Pablo rushed to his home, Mr. Sam couldn’t stop tears rolling down his cheeks. He wiped them as soon as possible escaping the eyes of Pablo.

“ Oh God, it’s not fair. I have seen Pablo since his birth. In just Eight Years, he conquered my age. Why he looks just like me? Why his face and physical appearance don’t resemble the children of his age. But his magical words were different, he taught me to see the world through his eyes. The world is a place to enjoy our existence, Pablo says so, but for me, it’s the same ugly and dull place. The laws and principles of life are a complex heap. I can leave the world, but I am still alive whereas Pablo is just a child and I see him here not more than two years. ”

With these series of disturbing thoughts gushing inside, Samson went to his home. For him the world us, not a place to live in whereas he lived for more than a hundred years, a centenarian. Pablo lived in the same world, a contemporary of Samson though they have a vast age difference, Pablo loved the world to his extremes and have an opposite view about the world.

The book of psychology says one who looks at the darker side is an introvert and the one who looks at the brighter side is an optimist. They can be better defined as extrovert for an optimist and introvert for a pessimist.

But this is what a book says, but in reality, most people are a little bit of both.

Samson doesn’t know what kept him alive till now. That night he tucked to bed but couldn’t sleep. He blamed and cursed himself for not being able to help Pablo though he never wanted any. He talked with himself.

“ Where lies the problem. Pablo has a slow height and weight growth, a bigger head than anybody else, large eyes, which can’t close all the way. He is very small but looks like an old man. His veins are visible shows the way where they pass.

Don’t he have any pain? He has lost almost all his hair since I met him first. A thin nose, a small lower jaw, ears sticking out, and a high-pitched voice. Whatever may be just looks, his high-pitched voice always pulls me to this world though I don’t like my long life.

These days I’ve seen his parents running to the hospital regularly. I’ve noticed his body losing fat and muscle. How could he be so happy all the time? Is this the way to an end of life?”

Samson the oldest living man in the entire valley prefers to keep himself away from the social gathering. A perfect diet plan, the use of some special herbs, and a regular timetable for meditation made him succeed in the tug and war of old age.

< <<< << <<<< << <<< <

Six Years Back

When Samson first met Pablo, he was a stern disciplinarian and was on his final meditation for transition. He shut all the doors of this mortal world and cut all his social touch.

“ Sir, can I come in. I heard a lot about you in the valley. I think you are all alone and if not I would better leave the place.”

Samson with a smiling face responded differently,

“ Hello Pablo, you want to share my loneliness, or do you want to be a part of it. By the way, are you not surprised, I directly called you by your name.”

“ It’s not an amazing fact. After several years of meditation, it's usual that your 6th Sense is upgraded.”

Samson for the first time in his life laughed uncontrollably. Though both represent a high variance in their thinking and tastes, they became good friends; an odd combination of an introvert and an extrovert.

Their friendship continued; in the coming days, it became stronger. Though their physical age differs a lot, their mental ages are equivalent. Both were at the brink of their final hour.

☁️ 🕊️

Samson looked at the sky and prayed to the Unknown.

“ Yes Pablo I am an old man, more older than the world can ever imagine; You taught me that old is gold. I started looking at the positive phases of it. You named me ' Oldie.' I accepted it, but I never got time my dear friend to address you as my real mentor, my real gold,' Oldie’s gold.’

Samson a centenarian, an expert survival in the valley finally failed to keep his ego at the same rhythm.

He surrendered to the willpower of Pablo and saluted the way he passed his dynamic short life with an extreme vibe of an extrovert.

Pablo left for the celestial abode. Though his physic says, he never surrendered to fate.

PROGERIA, a progressive genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly, couldn’t break the strong will which Pablo developed in his short life. An extrovert who left a lasting impression and a strong friendship with Serious Sam, The Oldie.

☁️ ☁️ ☁️





© Chinmoy