Many persons are under the erroneous assumption that old age is the time when learning stops. We have plenty of adages that reinforce this belief, such as “One can’t teach an old dog new tricks” or “Don’t teach a grandmother to suck eggs” (wonder how that one came up?) and the like.
But I have discovered or “learnt” that dotage is the beginning of a new learning experience. For example, I am now discovering, bit by bit, like the first-year med student at his initial anatomy practicals, that my body consists of many different parts. Recently, I came to know that my back was propped up by a column of discs when the other day I bent over to prune the unruly head of a bush and, on straightening up again, couldn’t do so.
One look at my “beggar posture” had the orthopaedic tut-tutting and, after some confirmatory X-rays, letting me know that my “L-5” or some such disc in my backbone was protruding a wee bit which was causing my supplicant stance. He advised that I assume the yogic “nidra” posture for the next fortnight till the aggrieved part retreated to its normal position.
My next bit of anatomical learning occurred at the dentist’s where I landed up to complain about a part of my gum which seemed to shout “Pain! Pain!” whenever I imbibed a cold drink. After probing and prodding for what seemed eternity and humming to himself (why is it that doctors everywhere prefer a lingo of “hmmm” and “tut-tut” when examining a patient?), the dentist announced that my M2 needed a root canal treatment.
There you are. In one fell swoop I had learnt about the anatomical structure of my teeth, something which I had not even thought of thinking about in my youth.
Of late, I have had an introduction to my endocrine system, thanks to a recent addiction to midnight assignments to the toilet. I have now come to know—knowledge that I was totally unaware of even till late middle age—that I have a gland called the prostate, whose enlargement had something to do with my late night rendezvous with the urinal.
I am still a novitiate in this learning process. Many of my elders have become experts in several other body organs and processes such as the knees, hips, kidneys, heart, lungs, eyes, ears and what have you.
Anatomy is not the only thing one discovers in old age. One also learns about limits, such as the pace of a morning amble, the height of a staircase that can be climbed, the spoons of sugar added to a cup of tea, number of pegs downed during Happy Hour, the number of passwords that can be remembered and the like. Indeed, old age is as exciting a learning period as the school-going years.