‘With age comes wisdom, but sometimes, age comes alone,’ said Oscar Wilde. I agree with him to a great extent. They need not be related.

Many essays are written on ageing and how one should realize and act in their evening of life. Here I am, however, prefer to share some practical experiences of ageing and how one needs to protect and behave to keep oneself under control avoiding unnecessary comments and problems. These are the lessons I learnt; please note not ADVICE, just sharing.

• Talk less. Ageing most of the times, irrespective of intelligence, makes one garrulous. It is bound to make the other person terribly bored and embarrassing.
   
• Listen to other persons and ask (if needed) questions but avoid probing.
   
• Abstain from throwing blame on others in the garb of our forgetfulness and ageing.
   
• Control temper; because with ageing intolerance also escalate.
   
• Understand the other’s interest and veer the conversation preferably in that direction and learn to be a listener.
   
• Learn to dress well and sober; make yourself presentable. It is good to avoid flashy outfits and weird coiffure.
   
• Avoid arguments and also value judgments especially with the younger generation; if unavoidable, present it in good language.
   
• It is unwise to call others on the mobile, if we have no work.
   
• It is imperative that oldies need to develop interest in some activities/ hobbies which cause least nuisance to others. Not for appreciation from anyone but to keep oneself occupied without troubling others. If there is nothing just sleep.
   
• Avoid over eating. A few morsels less are always better.
   
• Whenever there is a need for a favor from others use most polite language.
   
• Memory power will start waning, but, try through some ways to keep important matters by writing and keeping them in a book or paste it.
   
• Forgetting will be the first sign of ageing for someone who is always alert. We have to accept it and try to keep the memory with some simple thumb rules.
   
• Realize that life becomes redundant after a stage. Accept it with grace. So also the bouts of depressions.
   
• The greatest wisdom is accepting loneliness with equipoise. In fact, avoiding crowd is good.
   
• Last one; learn to use the computer and internet. That will be your best friend.