A picture of a rocking chair in an advertisement of an old aged home, got me interested. ‘Relax!’ it said, “And let your life rock away!” I looked at it, and felt a sense of peace and calm. “Imagine!” I told myself, “rocking my life away!” And in my mind, I go to that home for the aged. “I would like to meet your manager!” I tell the watchman.
“He’s busy at the moment!” says the man at the reception, “But we have a rocking room for you, while you wait!” “Rocking room?” I ask, kind of surprised, and follow him to a lovely room, painted all in sky blue with at least a dozen rocking chairs of all shapes and sizes. “You may rock yourself here sir, till the manager is free!”
I have never seen so many rocking chairs before. I start by sitting, in the low slung one, and find that I don’t even have to push it as some mechanical device keeps it rocking. I allow myself to dream. I look at the lovely wall, painted all so blue, and as I stare at the wall, I notice that somewhere in the corner, the blue turns a little dark. I shift over to a rocking chair nearer the wall, and notice that the dark portion is because of a crack. I follow the crack and realise it’s been caused by a leakage.
The chair has stopped rocking as I try hard to see whether water is still coming from the crack. I can’t see too well, as it is much above me. I stand on a stool and am peering into the crack, when the manager comes in. “What are you doing sir?” he asks looking quite surprised to see me standing on a stool, instead of rocking away on the ten or eleven chairs I still haven’t tried out.
“There’s a leakage there!” I say pointing the dark spot to him. “You’re right!” he says, “Will you come to my office!” I go across and sit at his table, “You are the tenth person who has sat on a rocking chair and found the leakage!” he says. “Oh!” I tell him, having nothing better to say. “And do you know what we told all those other nine people?”
“No!” I whisper. “We tell them, their time to rock their life away hasn’t come yet! That they are still filled with curiosity, are fully alert and have many more years of productive life left! So goodbye sir!” Like I said, it was all in my mind, but the question I’d like to ask is, ”Would you really like to rock your life away, or be alert, curious and useful to society till life rocks you out of this world?”
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
