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Time and Colours of Flowers


I had a friend in Shillong whose favourite joke was about people not having enough time. A man was rushing. My friend asks him, “Why are you in such a hurry, man?” The response is, my friend says in his inimitable cynical way, “To reach home where he has nothing to do.”

Nothing to do is one of the greatest challenges of 21st century. Machines will do everything. Machines will wash your clothes, do your dishes, warm up your ready-to-cook food which in turn was made by another machine, clean your house in the meanwhile, drive you to your office, do most of your work in the office…

Soon Artificial Intelligence will take over even the little work you have in office. My students have already started submitting works written by Google’s Bard or Chat GPT for their project assignments. The charm of the whole affair is that these young fellas will teach you a lesson and more if you question them about the rightness of what they are doing. “Will you sweep your room if you have a robot to mop it within seconds?”

“Short cuts,” someone told me the other day about his son who is my student. “That’s what he likes. He says he learns English lessons from YouTube.” I’m redundant, I told myself. By the way, I’m quitting my job at the end of this month. 29 Feb is the last day of my life as a teacher. I hand over my job to Google Bard and Chat GPT and YouTube.

Maggie asks me what I will do with my time. I am an impatient person who is always in a hurry like the guy in my Shillong friend’s joke which is really not a joke unless you understand the joke called life.

What will I do with my time from 1 March 2024 onwards?

Amazon has already delivered three books for me to read. More are on the way. Still more will come in the due course of time. Then I will write about them in this space. Then? I will still have a lot of time, I know. So…

I will put soil and seeds in a pot and grow something. I will water the pot and watch the seed sprout, the sapling grow, the plant bloom… And I will stand before those flowers and contemplate on Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s Little Prince’s rose. “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

I will waste time for my flower pots. I will get colours in return. Colours of flowers. Colours of life.

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Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2024 at 6:57 AM

    wonderful

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yamini MacLeanFebruary 3, 2024 at 7:23 AM

    Hari OM
    Oooh, retirement. I've certainly not been bored with mine!!! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. magiceyeFebruary 3, 2024 at 11:12 AM

    You have perfect plans for your retirement!

    ReplyDelete
  4. JayanthiFebruary 3, 2024 at 11:21 AM

    Happy retirement!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Preeti ChauhanFebruary 3, 2024 at 11:35 AM

    That's a good plan.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rajeev MoothedathFebruary 3, 2024 at 8:29 PM

    A good post that sets the reader thinking...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Liz A.February 4, 2024 at 1:07 AM

    The AI writing stuff isn't good. When AI starts writing everything, people will stop reading. Why read when AI can read it for you? You're not irrelevant. What you teach is still important. But retirement is well deserved. Enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 4, 2024 at 10:20 AM

      This is just what has happened: they stopped reading altogether. They don't read even the textbooks.

      I'll make myself relevant here in this space. 😊

      Delete
  8. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2024 at 10:44 PM

    In Delhi, I always had that impression that we were the worst lot of students but after reading your blogs i have understood that students are more or less same everywhere. Anyways, have a happy retired life.
    - Yours notorious student:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 5, 2024 at 7:46 AM

      Who is this self-professed notorious student? 😊

      Delete
    2. AnonymousFebruary 5, 2024 at 9:18 AM

      An expert in fooling around. I had a dual relationship with you: Love & Hate(mostly😅). An absolute trash as a student.I hope you will forgive me for all my sins thereby exhibiting a divine aspect in yourself. Sorry!!...but i don't have the courage to reveal my indentity, sometimes anonymity brings unconditional LOVE😊.Keep writing, Keep inspiring.
      - Yours regular reader:)

      Delete
    3. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 5, 2024 at 10:21 AM

      👍You have a rare spirit, I should say.

      Delete
  9. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2024 at 11:06 PM

    Lovely read ! Hope to read more interesting tales from you post retirement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 5, 2024 at 7:47 AM

      Would certainly love your presence here.

      Delete
    2. Rama KashyapFebruary 5, 2024 at 6:55 PM

      I am Rama Kashyap. .. already into retirement phase . Have started posting my blogs on thjis platform. .

      Delete
    3. Tomichan MatheikalFebruary 5, 2024 at 8:49 PM

      It'd be good if you link your name to your blog. We can reach the blog easily then.

      Delete
  10. Cindy D'SilvaFebruary 5, 2024 at 10:04 AM

    Wow, looking forward to more updates on your upcoming orchard. Happy retirement! Or was this a sarcastic article?

    ReplyDelete

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