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Khushwant on old age

Khushwant Singh, in his column “This Above All” (Saturday Extra, Feb 12), has spoken of the strange mental phenomenon of old age and rather sought affirmation of his feelings from others of his age. His grouse is that, at his advanced age of 90 plus, he can recall the bawdy songs of childhood, and he wonders whether it reflects a dirty mind.

I am 80 plus and I think that the mental phenomenon, projected by him, is universally applicable in old age. One can vividly recall couplets, dialogues exchanged in childhood, but cannot recall what has been said a few hours earlier. A highly costly vegetable is not tasty unless it is mixed with chilly and salt. The same is true of life.

It is not a dirty mind that is enabling the writer to recollect the bawdy songs of his childhood in old age. Rather it depicts that his childhood was spent surrounded by such songs.

JIWAN DASS CHECKERVARTI, Una (HP)