Of Cheeni Kum, Crosswords and Cross Words

What’s the connection between Cheeni Kum, crosswords and crosswords? To explain I must first list out certain trends/observations

My 80plus neighbour suddenly grows his hair, pierces his ear and starts wearing a ponytail
My forty plus friend start writing that Life Begins at Forty
Another Forty plus friend wears short skirts and starts pubbing
My dad competes with me in sms typing speed even though he has to use a magnifying glass over his mobile phone when he types
My Dad calls me in the middle of the night to ask me how to send an emoticon on sms..

Though this sample data is small, it is large enough in my life for me to draw one major conclusion. “CHEENI KUM”

Quoting a great man I know Cheeni Kum as a movie is not only impressive because of its cast, music, dialogue etc., but because it gives hope to millions of Baby Boomers (BBs) that love can happen to you at any age. And what’s more, you can be old, but nothing stops you from being “cool” at the same time. A very interesting perspective.


But, whether love happens or not, I can see that BBs of current day are certainly a cool lot. While a majority of oldies sulk and go for long walks and resort to Gandhian austerity like our man Paresh Rawal, there is this swanky intellectual minority who embrace their age in style, sporting streaked hair styles and bermuda shorts. So what if the wife presdeceases/leaves him, this uber cool baby boomer makes the most of his second chance. The trend I see when I look up obituaries is that people anyway live up to a ripe old distinguished age. So what do you do when you get described as ripe, wise, distinguished etc.? Cash in on the ripeness and enjoy the company of girls who enjoy the wisdom and experience of older men.

One would think these BBs would be averse to technology. But I see that they are far more at ease with the gizmos of today if only to send forwards and sweet nothings to girls half their age. Why, my dad completes the daily crossword by sending bulk sms to all his girlfriends. His daughter being his most favourite girlfriend gets all jealous if his other girlfriends solve the clue faster and father and daughter exchange some cross words.

Today’s paper says that geriatrics are allowed to snack and theorizes on metabolism and the effect on their overall well being and blah. But I say that a Cheeni Kum allows them better things. It comes as a breath of fresh air if only to put hope in the heart and dance in the step of all our charming BBs. Can there be a better antidote for age?