Re: [Goanet] Retire with Grace

[E DeSousa]

 Dear Dr. FN

Congratulations on achieving a very important Capstone in your life: Earning a 
PhD from Goa University.
The best of luck to you in your search for other greater challenges. 

I consider myself quite fortunate for having had an opportunity to get to know 
you in the digital world.
Best Regards.
Egas De Sousa






On Monday, January 25, 2021, 2:28:15 PM EST, Frederick Noronha 
 wrote:  
 
 Retirement at 62, 60, 58 (or whatever age the political class of the day 
decide to make us redundant) is too early! Btw, I retired at 32... the age at 
which I gave up (voluntarily) my full-time job, and never regretted that 
decision for a single day of my life. So far. (Apart from the fact that some 
snarky Goanetters would wonder how I made a living, and though there was 
something fishy about it!)
Of course, "retirement" is more of an emotional thingy. We feel redundant and 
useless after this "milestone" is crossed. I've never worked as hard, partly 
because I needed to make it work (no going back), but also because I was "in 
control" (more or less) and enjoyed the creativity that flowed out of it.
My friend, Dr Ajit Shirodkar, the US-educated chemist-turned-horticulturist, 
has this theory that we need a second career in our 50s. This is just to keep 
ourselves intellectually alive and active. God forbid, what if we actually live 
till 80? We would be bored stiff, either carrying on with the same work, or 
doing nothing... 
Secretly, I'm scouting around for other challenges :-) Sooner or later, I hope 
to run into them. There's no fear of "retirement" then. Donkeys, and 
journalists, they say, never retire. Thank god! FN-- 
FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا‎ +91-9822122436    

Re: [Goanet] Retire with Grace

[Frederick Noronha]

What is more apt?
Retire with Grace
or
Retire with grace?
LOL. FN

On Tue, 26 Jan 2021 at 12:35, Tony de Sa  wrote:

> Regarding this subject, I am sharing an article that I wrote under the
> theme, "The New Normal" to the Goa Writers group of which I am a member.

-- 
FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا‎ +91-9822122436

Re: [Goanet] Retire with Grace

[Tony de Sa]

Regarding this subject, I am sharing an article that I wrote under the
theme, "The New Normal" to the Goa Writers group of which I am a member.

TLJ The New Norm

-Tony de Sa

In *ilo tempore, *in those days when the Covid-19 did not run its writ, I’d
ride in to Mapusa several times a day for the flimsiest reasons. No errand
was too small and no excuse was trivial. Mapusa and I were in a
relationship. One of the many tasks that I carried out in Mapusa was to buy
my *poies. *I have a favourite baker. Yes, Babaji’s – the favourite rendez
vous of amorous Mapusa college students - purveyors of cold drinks
ice-creams and snacks – also make fabulous ­poies.



Well what’s so special about selling *poies *you might ask? Dozens of shops
and bakeries sell *poies. *Well Babaji’s ­*poies* are special because they
are large in size, have more whole wheat in them compared to the others in
the market and have a great flavour and taste. With the lock down and now
the pandemic scare, my visits to Mapusa are severely curtailed. In fact,
you can count on the fingers of one hand, the number of times I’ve been to
Mapusa since last March. So that puts the Kibosh on *poies *from Babajis.
I’m not so sure that they still do bake them, given that the demand must
have plummeted.



Whole wheat bread is something I am obsessed with for dietary reasons and
the local *poies *that we get are simply refined flour *poies *that are
dipped in rice/ wheat bran to give them the *asli *look. With no other
alternative, I have been living on the ersatz stuff and that was making me
miserable.



About a little over a month ago, while surfing Youtube I came across “Atta
and Bread Makers.” Well that sounded interesting. So I started digging in
more. I discovered that an Atta and Bread maker is capable of making bread
for you using a “fill it, shut it, forget it” principle. That is, you dump
the ingredients into the machine, flip the switch on and hey, presto, a
loaf of bread awaits you at the end of the designated time. Exploring
further, I discovered that I could make no less than seventeen different
confections using the Atta and Bread Maker, (hereinafter called bread
maker). Some interesting stuff like chapatis, brownies, cakes, puddings,
pizzas and even jam.



So I trundled off to Amazon on my computer and a week later, I was the
proud possessor of a Kent Atta and Bread Maker. Yes, Kent – the R.O water
filter people. Because of the pandemic and a belief that the virus can
survive for up to 3 days on plastic wrapping, true or not, I tend to keep
all my Amazon purchases in my balcony for a period of 3 days – I fondly
call my balcony my Amazon quarantine.



As soon as the machine’s quarantine was over, with great fanfare the
machine was unveiled and the booklet hurriedly read. Basically, it was just
like a washing machine. Turn the machine on, shove your clothes in, select
your programme and wham! Punch the starter.



Now for my first venture. After listening to my wife’s advice, I decided to
make a loaf using all purpose flour – *maida. *The process was simplicity
itself. 3 cups (provided with the bread maker) of flour, One cup water, I
spoon instant dry yeast, 1 spoon salt, 2 scoops oil. All I had to do was to
arm the bread maker. Which consists of fitting the bread pan in the
machine, and fixing the mixing paddle). In go the liquids and the solids,
shut the machine, power on, select the programme, decide the colour of the
bread – light or dark and mashing the power switch. After three odd hours,
there was a lovely loaf of bread. The success was beyond my expectations.
Nevertheless, home-made bread is something to look forward to.



After my initial successful foray, I decided to be more adventurous and
settled for a whole wheat loaf of bread. Now, I was stunned to discover
that whole wheat bread isn’t necessarily whole wheat. It contains a good
bit of refined flour because a whole wheat bread when baked will fall on
itself unless it has gluten from refined flour to support it. My effort at
making a whole wheat loaf was successful but not entirely satisfactory
because the surface of the loaf was pitted and though it tasted good, it
was not aesthetic in appearance.



My third attempt was a disaster. The loaf turned into a biscuit. This was,
as I later discovered, because I had not proven the yeast which in this
case was active dry yeast, whereas previously, I had used instant dry
yeast.



My next loaf was accidentally the best I had baked. It happened quite by
accident. I had decided to use 2 parts of *maida *to one part of* atta. *While
preparing the ingredients, instead of my usual 500 g loaf, I measured out
ingredients for a 750 g loaf. Unexpectedly, it turned out very successful.  It
was spongy, had a great golden crust, the top was smooth and the bubbles
evenly spread.



My quest for the perfect whole wheat loaf goes on. I have bought ‘bread
stengthener’ – vital wheat gluten to bring perfection to my fully whole
wheat loaf, but 

Re: [Goanet] Retire with grace

[Linken Fernandes]

One of my favourite poems, it's a villanelle, which is "a lyrical poem
of nineteen lines. A villanelle is structured with five tercets, that is to
say a three-line stanza, and a quatrain, a stanza consisting of four lines,
at the end." Each tercet expresses a distinct sentiment and seems to stand
on its own, all tercets being nicely wrapped up in the final verse, the
quatrain. You don't get the full effect without the necessary pauses
between the tercets and the concluding quatrain.
Another villanelle worth checking out is William Empson's Missing Dates.

Re: [Goanet] Retire with Grace

[Frederick Noronha]

Retirement at 62, 60, 58 (or whatever age the political class of the day
decide to make us redundant) is too early! Btw, I retired at 32... the age
at which I gave up (voluntarily) my full-time job, and never regretted that
decision for a single day of my life. So far. (Apart from the fact that
some snarky Goanetters would wonder how I made a living, and though there
was something fishy about it!)

Of course, "retirement" is more of an emotional thingy. We feel redundant
and useless after this "milestone" is crossed. I've never worked as hard,
partly because I needed to make it work (no going back), but also because I
was "in control" (more or less) and enjoyed the creativity that flowed out
of it.

My friend, Dr Ajit Shirodkar, the US-educated
chemist-turned-horticulturist, has this theory that we need a second career
in our 50s. This is just to keep ourselves intellectually alive and active.
God forbid, what if we actually live till 80? We would be bored stiff,
either carrying on with the same work, or doing nothing...

Secretly, I'm scouting around for other challenges :-) Sooner or later, I
hope to run into them. There's no fear of "retirement" then. Donkeys, and
journalists, they say, never retire. Thank god! FN
-- 
FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا‎ +91-9822122436

Re: [Goanet] Retire with Grace

[Roland Francis]

This was a Frank Kafka aphorism (pithy observation containing some truth) 
written during his recuperation from tuberculosis.

Later turned into a children’s story by Carl Fagan about a cage looking for a 
bird, getting rejected by many birds who preferred to be free and finally 
finding one who wanted a cage. The story later became an lower elementary text 
book.

Roland.
Toronto.


> On Jan 25, 2021, at 12:24 PM, E DeSousa  wrote:
> 
> The following lines I can remember but not the name of the author. It is 
> indeed difficult to remember names after 70.
> 
> "I am defined by what I do
> Said the cage in search of a bird
> 
> and when I am empty
> I am absurd!"
> My suggestion to you Nelson Bab, is take up painting, perhaps. 
> You could follow  Bob Ross

Re: [Goanet] Retire with Grace

[E DeSousa]

Nelson Lopes writes:
After retirement one feels low, unwanted and discarded in the dustbin of 
History . During employment ,the position, power and influence, we wielded, 
makes us intoxicated with nostalgia of our great worth If it is the chair and 
position you nurtured with pride then the world around you will collapse like a 
deck of cards.

---
The following lines I can remember but not the name of the author. It is indeed 
difficult to remember names after 70.

"I am defined by what I do
Said the cage in search of a bird

and when I am empty
I am absurd!"
My suggestion to you Nelson Bab, is take up painting, perhaps. 
You could follow  Bob Ross tutorials on YouTube. You may yet find excitement!
Borem Zaichem,

E.

Re: [Goanet] Retire with grace

[Roland Francis]

Dylan Thomas - Always famous for his word imagery, this is one of his best
works. However his rostering, boisterous nature will not sit well with our
gentle, respected Nelson Lopes.

Roland.

On Mon, Jan 25, 2021 at 11:55 AM Linken Fernandes 
wrote:

> Do not go gentle into that good night,
> Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
> Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
> Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
> Because their words had forked no lightning they
> Do not go gentle into that good night.
>
>
> --
Roland Francis
416-453-3371

[Goanet] Retire with grace

[Linken Fernandes]

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas


Virus-free.
www.avast.com

<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

Re: [Goanet] Retire with Grace.

[W.F.]

 RIGHTLY SAID...  
On Sunday, January 24, 2021, 11:27:12 PM GMT+4, Roland Francis 
 wrote:  
 
 Nelson you are completely right in what you say, but there is no need to feel 
helpless and sad at one’s situation. Here are a few ways you can combat it.

1. Stopping running around to fulfill your children’s family needs. No 
babysitting (you have long completed that part), no doing their odd jobs 
because they do full time jobs and think you have time on your hands.

2. Get out of the house daily on any pretext and meet for breakfast or 
otherwise with a group of same age, like minded spirited friends who like to 
have a laugh and don’t relapse too much into their medical problems.

3. Go for every event you can. With your wife if she wants to, alone if you 
have to. Church feasts, cultural events, musical shows, village celebrations 
are all fair game. Do the small things you wanted to do for which you never had 
the time.

4. You have an in-hand voluntary project in P.C. Trust. Take it in new 
directions, bring in young volunteers and scholarship beneficiaries to do the 
physical work. You concentrate on the new creative ideas, delegation and 
direction.

These activities will dispel all your feelings of being made to feel redundant, 
unneeded and will bolster your self esteem.

Roland.
Toronto.


> On Jan 24, 2021, at 9:12 AM, Nelson Lopes  wrote:
> 
> After  retirement  one feels low, unwanted and discarded  in the dustbin of
> History  During employment ,the position, power  and influence, we wielded,
> makes us intoxicated with  nostalgia of our great worth  If it is the chair
> and position you nutured with pride  then the world around you will
> collapse like a deck of cards.
  

[Goanet] Retire with Grace

[Mervyn Maciel]

To the interesting list that Roland has suggested, I would
emphasise voluntary work.
  In retirement, I have never felt dull or unwanted but on the contrary
looked forward to the challenges ahead. In fact, I find myself busier in
retirement than during my working life. There is so much one can do in
retirement.
  I have found doing voluntary work the most rewarding and uplifting.
  Some of us have this mistaken  idea that retirement means' putting one's
feet
up and relaxing". This will lead to doom!  I have often been asked by fellow
Goans - " How do you pass your time"?   My answer to that is a simple one-
 "Not enough hours in the day".
Lending  a helping hand and making oneself available to others can change
your life.


Mervyn Maciel

Re: [Goanet] Retire with Grace.

[Roland Francis]

Nelson you are completely right in what you say, but there is no need to feel 
helpless and sad at one’s situation. Here are a few ways you can combat it.

1. Stopping running around to fulfill your children’s family needs. No 
babysitting (you have long completed that part), no doing their odd jobs 
because they do full time jobs and think you have time on your hands.

2. Get out of the house daily on any pretext and meet for breakfast or 
otherwise with a group of same age, like minded spirited friends who like to 
have a laugh and don’t relapse too much into their medical problems.

3. Go for every event you can. With your wife if she wants to, alone if you 
have to. Church feasts, cultural events, musical shows, village celebrations 
are all fair game. Do the small things you wanted to do for which you never had 
the time.

4. You have an in-hand voluntary project in P.C. Trust. Take it in new 
directions, bring in young volunteers and scholarship beneficiaries to do the 
physical work. You concentrate on the new creative ideas, delegation and 
direction.

These activities will dispel all your feelings of being made to feel redundant, 
unneeded and will bolster your self esteem.

Roland.
Toronto.


> On Jan 24, 2021, at 9:12 AM, Nelson Lopes  wrote:
> 
> After  retirement  one feels low, unwanted and discarded  in the dustbin of
> History  During employment ,the position, power  and influence, we wielded,
> makes us intoxicated with  nostalgia of our great worth  If it is the chair
> and position you nutured with pride  then the world around you will
> collapse like a deck of cards.

[Goanet] Retire with grace

[Nelson Lopes]

After  retirement  one feels low, unwanted and discarded  in the dustbin of
History  During employment ,the position, power  and influence, we wielded,
makes us intoxicated with  nostalgia of our great worth  If it is the chair
and position you nutured with pride  then the world around you will
collapse like a deck of cards   You are bound to seek continued
gratification to bolster your sagging image and feel your intrinsic past
worth.Be aware realistically  that even in your own home  family ,friends
your value is discounted .You will be disappointed  and depressed that
people who adored  and admired you for their own welfare  are as  distant,
as the stars  ,as they  were attracted  to honey,  like the flies   selfish
to the core.If your attitude is of adjustment  that you deliverd in your
position not as the great favour to be recalled, but a part of your
reslkbsibilty and duty and that is how it should end. Not feel hurt at
imagined ingratitude of human nature   It is extremely rare breed of
humans, who not only remain indebted  and obliged but  make it a point  to
recall,  appreciate and recognize .Liok at your own children,  the
sacrifices you made in providing the best  you could ,but as they grow  up
naturally their family concerns ,preferences are topmost priority   You can
wait and your needs can be dispensed with . It is a natural phenomenon and
the more  you chart out an independent life,the more happy you will be
Dependence  on gratitude is shattering experience
You will recall the analogy of fused bulb .No matter the wattage, whether
the make  is CFL ,LED or brand is popular  it did shine,  provide light  to
dispel darkness, it  served its purpose  effectively  admirably,but now
the  rumination on past glory  and reflection  on  importance will be akin
to self flagelation  and painful torture   . Renember many like you held
much more prestigious positions  and wielded  greater power and influenced
and have just faded into oblivion after sunset years of life.
How true that rising  sun gets more acknowledgement, then setting sun
,though both are admirable  for their beauty and grandeur for different
reasons
If you expect extended warranty  for past services, then period of
limitations apply to all product and services .
Let not the state of your hapiness be held hostage to return favours of
indebtedness,but it is best to forget what you did rightlyand justly  ,as
a  part of your professional duty with responsibilty  .You will notice that
those who  received  your gracious   generous, magnanimity are the ones who
ignore and cause deep hurts. May be ingratitude is a  response  of guilt
of  receiving  largesse leading to guilt feelings
Cultivate and attitude and behaviour of smillingly ignoring without honest
expectations of reciprocation.  Many a times  one is surprised by those to
whom we do not owe us any courtesy even.Such incidents gladden  our
beautufully life. Adding to  renewed commitment of goodwill. Strangers  who
extend unexpected  services is repayment  in  joy , for what one did in the
past ,indirectly.
Recall the history how Christ  was crucified  with highest ingratitude for
the goodness he spread  in his life.We are much lesser mortals and our so
called  grandiose sacrifices, favours  commitments pale  into  total
insignificance
Hence our contributions  to society, family ,  institutions and individuals
are just part of duty and at best humanity
Living incognito  walking with head down in humility ,shone of past glory
.will usher in greater joy Let  not happiness  be hinged to our past
position of glory,  which in anyway is  illusive but  let the present be
created with contentment in simplicity  and humility

Nelson Lopes. Chinchinim