Retirement -
Speech by P.P. Ramachandran - Veteran of Reserve Bank of India
A MUST
READ FOR ALL OF US!!!!!!!!!!!
A must
read for all those who are about to retire or have already
done so or contemplating it .
Speech by P.P.
Ramachandran
Post graduate in Economics from
the Bombay University. After serving in the Reserve Bank for forty
long years, retired at the age of 60 - a speech given at a Senior Citizen's
Association in Bombay, India.
LIVING HAPPILY AFTER RETIREMENT
Thank you Senior Citizen's
Association for having invited me and giving me an opportunity to be with
all of you this evening. Now, I will share with you some of my personal
beliefs on the subject allotted to me, “Living Happily After Retirement”.
Retirement is a problem peculiar to our generation. In the times of our fathers
and grandfathers, retirement was not much of a problem.
There are three reasons for this.
First, Life Expectancy.
Fifty years ago, the life
expectancy at the age of retirement was fixed at 55 or at
most 60. A study of Government records revealed that very few people
enjoyed pension for more than five years at that time. Most people died before
sixty and consequently spending five years after retirement did not pose any
major problem.
Today Life Expectancy after
retirement at 58 or 60 - is 75 years which means half of your working life is
still left after retirement. To give you an example two Senior Officers of
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) died at 93 years—35 years after retirement.
The second reason is the change
in the family structure.
Half a century ago, most people
were in a joint extended family. The day you laid down office, you still had a
large family around you. Surely, in a large family there was always something
you could do that was meaningful and made you feel you were contributing to the
family. Today the family has become nuclear—husband, wife, children. By the
time one retires, the children have gone away. In good old times, daughters
used to get married and promptly go away. Nowadays sons get married and very
often shift out to stay with their wife from the first night itself!
What is left is the old couple— You for Me and Me for you. This is not
particularly easy to accept and adjust to after retirement.
The third reason is the problem
of “Roots.”
In the old days, people used
to have a “native place” and an “ancestral home”. They looked forward to going
there and settling down after retirement. Today, there is nothing left in terms
of native place. People often are confused as to where to settle.
These three problems make
retirement planning a crucial item. If you have planned for retirement you can
anticipate and tackle these problems. People are not accustomed to the idea of
staying by themselves. If one asks an audience of prospective retirees and
their wives, “How many of you expect to stay after retirement with your
children, hardly one hand goes up. If some husband raises his hand, his wife
immediately slaps it down saying, “I’ll be damned if I am going to stay with my
daughter-in-law!” So it is a tough problem to think about old people
staying—just the two of them. This makes planning all the more significant.
The most difficult problem that
we face after retirement is the psychological one.
When an executive retires, he is
at the peak of his career—his status, prestige and financial status. The moment
he lays down his job, all these desert him. He discovers that “Everything
becomes Less and Less”. The first thing he notices is the way his status and
prestige are affected. Even at home, the retired person is no longer the
important person. If he demands of his wife an early breakfast, she will
promptly admonish him, “You are retired now. So take it easy. Let those
employed go first!” He is no longer “Numero Uno”. A friend of mine who was a Senior
Executive in RBI was getting 500 greeting cards and diaries/calenders for the
New Year. After one year of retirement it dwindled to fifty and this year he
got ten. Greeting cards, calenders and diaries are surely an indicator of
the respect you received when you are employed.
The most immediate problem on
retirement is time-management.
We all have twenty four hours at
our disposal, whether we like it or not. When you are a senior executive you
work for ten, twelve or even fifteen hours and you feel “Suppose I had two
hours more how nice it would be! I could do more to finish my work and life
would be easier the next work day.”
After retirement, we have twenty
four hours and nothing to do! Result – misery and this is one thing one likes
to spread! No man wants to be miserable alone. He will make as many people
miserable as he can. A man who has nothing to do will harass people around him.
Turning on head the Benthamite principle of maximization of
welfare—maximisation of 'ill-fare'!
There are two solutions to this
problem.
One is to continue to do the same
work one was doing at the time of retirement.
The first option is very
convenient but where is such an opportunity for the majority? There is the
temptation to wangle out an extension but this does lead to compromising
principles which many succumb to regrettably. I have seen Senior Officers
accepting jobs as liaison officers and standing outside the office cubicle of
their subordinates and seek favours from them. But how long-lasting is this
solution? Extension merely postpones the problem. It crops up again quite
swiftly.
The second option is to do
something different, i.e. option to get another job.
An executive can get another job
provided he is willing to sacrifice self-respect. Generally jobs are given
by the previous employer’s suppliers or may be found in other
organizations. In commercial organizations, officers are employed to get
orders and collect bills speedily from their previous employers. So you will
agree that this is no solution.
All of you are aware that the
book Bard of Avon - William Shakespeare wrote of the “Seven Stages of Man”.
Modern psychologists have abridged it to four and these are thus.
Before finding a girl — Spiderman
After engagement ------ Superman
10 years after marriage -
Watchman
20 years after marriage -
Doberman
After this lighter side I revert
to post-retired life. The retired official is likely to fall into four
dysfunctional time options.
The first is “Withdrawal”
Many retired people, the day they
retire from their job, withdraw from Life and within a few months they just
pass away. When you ask a doctor he will tell you I can give a medical term but
this is a case of “simple lack of will to live”.
The second time management option
is “ritual”
A person can create a ritual for
himself. He gets up at a specific time, does different activities at a specific
time and this invariably results in misery for others if that specific time
frame is not adhered to. While he has in essence nothing to do, he is trying to
make his activities meaningful. This leads to a meaningless ritual.
The third option is Pastime
Many people get together and
embark on a combined ritual which is called pastime. This too does not add to
the meaningfulness of life.
The last option turns out to be
even mischievous
It is playing games — not
physical ones like badminton, tennis but psychological ones where you try to
manipulate people, get into their problems, complicate them and generally
enlarge the tension around you. Many a respectable person indulges in this and
creates problems where none existed.
The alternative to these are
Functional options
The first is become a Consultant.
Lurking inside every executive is
a Consultant. But for this, considerable expertise is require. Not everyone can
be successful as a consultant.
The second option is to start
your own Business or Industry.
But this calls for
entrepreneurial qualities which an executive may lack. Many are also faced with
the finances to start and sustain a business and stay profitable.
The third option is to involve
oneself in professional activities.
For this, one must build up one’s
position even before retirement. Many cliques operate to prevent outsiders from
encroachment.
The fourth is to get into
spiritual activities.
While nobody is required between
you and God, nowadays, we find more and more godmen, swamijis, pseudo Gurus
some even US returned. There is a temptation to follow some Swamiji or even
become one yourself. This is a very slippery slope. Beware –there are more
hoaxes in the religious field than anywhere else!
The last and most meaningful
option is to cultivate a Hobby.
Use your creative abilities and
do something that you enjoy doing. You should start this even while in service.
We live in three Boxes.
First is the Box of Learning, which starts from birth and goes on till 20 plus.
Second is the Box of Work which commences at 20 plus and goes on up to 58
or 60—the age of retirement.
Third is the Box of Leisure.
When we are in the Box of Work
what is significant is Status, Prestige, Power—all these we aspire for and it
is what we get from working life. The more we get, the happier we are. The day
we retire, we move into Box 3—the one of Leisure. If we have to enjoy
this we have to change our psychological position and appreciate creativity,
autonomy and integrity. When you were a small child of two or three, did status,
prestige or money mean anything? What you wanted was autonomy, creativity. A
child is always creative. It enjoys creativity. One example. When visitors come
you ask your child, “Pushpa -Sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'”. She will not
sing. You shout at her. You tell your visitors proudly she is three only and
knows twelve nursery songs. The moment the guests are gone and your maid comes
for cleaning, your daughter will sing to her all the twelve songs. The child
has its own values!
By the time we enter the Box of
Work, values change. We are not taught to respect our autonomy but fall in
line—conformity is the rule. If the son plays the violin, his mother will come
and tell him, “Playing the Violin now? Study now. Your exam is coming and you
must do well. Getting into university and getting a good education is so very
important. Life is competitive, dear son.”
When we enter the Box of Leisure,
values change. Your psychological position has to change too. New values
of creativity, integrity and autonomy emerge. Hobbies are an excellent way
of getting Leisure Value. Everybody must identify his hobby that he can enjoy.
Dont bother about Power, Prestige and Status.
An individual can live in one box
only or interchange or combine the boxes. You can have learning, work and
leisure together. One can even take up a hobby that is financially productive.
As time passes one learns.
The real problem of retirement is
that people refuse to face the problem. The mantra is “Let us cross the bridge
when we come to it.” This is not correct and is not encouraged. Since we live
in three Boxes we must prepare ourselves for crossing from one to the other.
Structuring our time is the prime requirement. In the beginning, you are
contributing to Value. Think of Transfer Value. After retirement you can think
of Leisure Value. Develop good hobbies which incorporates your creativity,
autonomy and integrity. I have taken to writing. (Rajaji, Kalam and H R F
Keating.)
You will lead a happy life.
Retirement is not adding “Years
to your Life but adding Life to your Years”. Retirement is not a calamity but an
opportunity.
I would like to advocate some
basic qualities one must cultivate.
There are two ways to look at
every situation in life. Is the cup half empty or is the cup half full. One man
was not worried about him becoming bald. He declared “I have less hair to
comb!” Another man in an identical situation moaned, “I have more face to
wash!”
Always remember that you are
loved, even when it does not seem like it.
Believe in yourself and your
values.
Don’t sell out when things go
wrong.
Don’t let anything get you down.
Always bounce back.
Set goals for your future and
never settle for anything less.
Realise that there are others in
this world with bigger problems than you.
Appreciate the good things of
life - Sunrise, Sunset, Flowers, Birds, Good Healthy Food, Exercise,
Travel etc.
Be thankful for the good times
you have with your loved ones.
Spend more time with your family
and friends. Make new friends with younger people.
Appreciate the simple things of
Life and don’t get caught up in the material things of life.
Be an optimist and see the Cup as
being Half Full.
Before long, your attitude will
rub of on others.
You can make the world a better
place to live by simply making yourself a happier person.
Let me conclude with an
allegorical story.
First God
created the Cow and said, “You must go with farmer daily to the field all day
long and suffer under the Sun, have calves, give milk and help the farmer. I
give you a span of sixty years.” The Cow said, “That’s surely tough. Give me
only twenty years. I give back forty years.”
On Day Two God
created the Dog and told him, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark
at strangers. I give you a span of twenty years.” The Dog said, “Too long time
for barking. I give up ten years.”
On the third
day God created the Monkey and said to him, “Entertain people. Make them laugh.
I give you Twenty years.” The Monkey said to God, “How boring, Monkey tricks
for twenty years. Give me only Ten years”. Lord agreed.
On the fourth
day God created Man. He told him, “Eat, sleep, play, enjoy and do
nothing. I will give you twenty years.”
Man said, “Only
twenty years. No way. I will take my Twenty and give me the Forty the cow gave
back, the Ten that the Monkey returned, and the Ten the Dog surrendered. That
makes eighty. OK?” OK said God.
That is why for
the first twenty years we sleep, play, enjoy and do nothing.
For the next
forty years we slave in the sun and at work to support our family.
For the next
ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain our grandchildren.
And for the
last ten years we sit in front of the house and bark at everybody.
Thank you all, may you all live
to a 100. God Bless .
