Elixir of life..wanna sip?

Just the other day a news item caught my eye. An English bioscientist claimed that advances in science & technology meant that man’s lifespan was set to increase by leaps and bounds. The man who may live for 150 years, has apparently, already taken birth. 150 could gradually become 500 and then, even 1000! Stunned by this revelation, I wondered what man would do for 500 years of his life. Living for so long would be disastrous, to say the least. What would life imprisonment stand for now? With an average life expectancy of 60, if it means 15 years, will it become 120 when lifespans grow to 500 years? What will be the average age of retirement? 400?

Today, people are spurred to make the most of their lives, to excel, to peak only because they know they have limited time on their hands. The knowledge, that one day, not very far into the future, we will all perish prevents us from losing speed and taking things easy. Sure, there are all those moments of relaxation & unwinding. We all need that. But we utilize them to rejuvenate ourselves and get down to business with renewed zeal and vigor. Imagine a life without any constraint of time. People will start taking things too easy, become lackadaisical. The all important sense of urgency will be lost from our lives forever. The purpose of life, itself, will begin to fade away. India, already harassed by mammoth delays and plagued by lazy, errant babus will be in shambles. Politicians here, revel in the prospect of making money for years on end will hit a goldmine, now that they would have 500 years do exactly that! Our wily old ‘Fevicol’ netas, who have stubbornly stuck on to various posts for 20 out of their 50 odd years of existence (a la Kalmadi) will merrily dance to the tune of some cheesy Bollywood number called ‘Lambi zindagani’ or “Life ho to aisi’!

It boils down to one basic question. What does one do for so long? Sure, you can earn your billions and zillions, sleep with every last sexy chick on the planet, travel to the farthest corners of the world and do all the research you want. But all said and done, how much will you do? 500 years of existence is sure to make even the most blessed soul on earth tear his hair out. No one can remain sane for that long, even if he is bathed in the all the comforts life has to offer or endowed with all the power the world has to offer. Keeping up the passion, fervor for life for 500 years is simply inhuman. Man is bound to get tired, mentally and emotionally, if not physically. 500 years of dealing with life’s myriad ups and downs, rejections, dejections, elations, failures, successes, heartbreaks, politics, compromises, disappointments, wins, losses, jubilations et al is sure to take its toll. Man will live like a vegetable for the better part of his 500! The elixir of life is around the corner.. You wanna sip?