Take a walk down the busy shopping streets in Mumbai, and you come across several small businesses run by scores of elderly people. In a city where commuting is no mean feat, they take locals to travel long distances to run their businesses. Even as millennials find all possible comforts not motivating enough to make it to their workplaces in time, here’s a generation, whose willingness to get going needs no luxurious perks!
Asrashaheen.in chances upon one such septuagenarian Mumbaikar, Mr Saifee, who is 73 years old. He takes metro rail and then changes to local (train) to finally reach his watch shop every day. (Something many of the younger lot would consider as a grilling routine.) And when you spot him setting up his stall in the morning hours, you simply cannot miss that warm, gentle smile beaming on his face to greet customers and passers-by.
Life in a metro has multifold dimensions. Day-to-day living is full of daunting tasks for people in general. For the senior citizens in particular, the rigors of urban life are much more than just an adrenaline rush to kick-start one’s day. It certainly gets harsher and more stressful for them compared to the younger generation. Commuting long distances between home and place of work is definitely not like taking a walk in the park. But this does not deter some who are resolute in leading their life with dignity and self-reliance. For them, age is a number that brings in years of strength and unassuming confidence that stems from this determination. And even as several so called millennials find high pays packs, luxurious offices and wellness offers not motivating enough to wake up from bed in time every morning to make it to their workplaces, here’s a generation that does it far better without any of these perks. They have one simple reason to get going: to continue to be worthwhile to themselves and their loved ones every single day as it comes.
Walk down busy shopping streets in Mumbai, and it is always a heart-warming sight to find small businesses run by scores of elderly men and women. In a city where commuting is no mean feat, they take locals/metros to travel long distances to run their businesses. And the daily struggle for some is not necessarily about making ends meet. Instead, it could be about lending a helping hand to the primary bread-winners in the family. Or it could well be a conscious choice to earn their own living rather than “voluntarily retiring” to being dependent on their children.
When Fleeting Sense of Time Slows Down to Make Way for Casual Conversations
This photographer chanced upon one such septuagenarian. Strolling with the camera down the lineup of street-side stalls at Grant Road, one was gently welcomed by a brightly-lit smile beaming on the face of a watch shopkeeper who was just settling in his humble set-up early in the day. Mr Saifee is a 73-year-old man running a small business of wall clocks and wrist watches. The polite mannerisms of a gentleman like him only embolden shutterbugs like us to request for more than a few clicks. The photo opportunity paves way for a small talk as Mr Saifee’s friend also joins in. Each timepiece ticking away… While the sense of time is fleeting in this metro, as fleeting as its traffic and as brisk as its locals, we slow down for a casual conversation…
About his daily routine, Mr Saifee tells us he leaves his home in Versova at 8am every morning and takes a metro to Andheri railway station. And from there a local (train) to Grand Road. He returns home only by 9:30pm, taking a local and then a metro back.
While his daughter is a chartered accountant with an MNC, that’s no reason for him to sit back. His way to good living is being able to earn and be on his own through the day. Absolutely mindful of what he eats, he is also comes across as a very health-conscious person, who prefers to pack his meals and water from home and avoids eating out. Well, some fitness takeaways coming from a fairly active man, who sincerely makes an effort to keep age-related physical complaints at bay!
