Random Ramblings of a Reluctant Blogger

Take up a hobby. This was the advice given to us as part of the lecture intended to ease us into retired life.

Now, for us boomers, having a hobby was just a given. In fact most of us, at some time or the other, have written an essay in school on our favourite hobby. And most of us had no difficulty in stating one too. Be it writing, reading , (the most written about whether done or not), collecting stamps, coins and many such. The Gen X or the Millennials might  find writing on or picking  a hobby difficult, given that they function in a different plane.  But for us finding a hobby was never difficult. That we did not have the distraction of social media certainly worked to our favour.

I, for one, have gone through various hobbies in my lifetime. I had started, like so many of us did collecting coins. But soon rolled over to philately. I might add the hobby you got addicted to was in a large part dependent on what friends around you did. 

That way collecting stamps soon was the number one hobby in my repertoire. An album was procured and a serious pastime accrued. That my father could find some stamps from his various friends abroad helped. Exchanging and finding newer stamps provided a great amount of thrill.

While I was content with procuring stamps that I could lay hands on easily, some of my friends elevated the collection to a different level. They moved on to the specified collection, stamps of a particular denomination or a country or shape. I even went through a brief spell of First Day covers. Somewhere in a box in the loft the remains of this hobby still lurks.

The interest began to ebb as I began to explore pen friendship. If I had to use today’s jargon, pen friendship  was our Facebook with the private mode turned on, or  Instagram. At times pen friendship did it’s bit of tinder too. It was hard work though, seeking friends from various countries meant writing a lot of letters to various newspapers around the world and waiting for a reply. While some boasted of a long list of pen friends, I was content with three or four. That too over a period of time reduced to one friend who stayed on for about six to seven years.

Photography was always in the picture and I still enjoy it. But the prohibitive costs those days kept it from developing into a serious avocation. 

All this long preamble is just to state that picking up a hobby has never been difficult a task for me. The arduous and baffling part is choosing the right one.

A good friend just announced adding cooking to his already wonderful repository of hobbies. Now, I admit I am no chef extraordinaire, and I can stir up a few dishes, not to mention the mess too, but that as a hobby it wouldn’t blend for me. Nor can I pitch for the mellifluous art of singing. I am most likely to be banned even at a  chorus of bathroom singers. The ease of photography now with the phone in your hand has somewhat taken a sheen off it. Though I still go clicking but as a hobby I wouldn’t want to focus on it.

In times such as these when I am searching for answers, I throw down the gauntlet to my wife.

“What new hobby should I take up,” I queried. 

“But why do you need a new one, when you already are doing a good job with the present one”,  she retorted. Her steady gaze giving  me the impression she had an answer which I might not like. 

Unperturbed, I continued, “don’t mention writing.”

“No,I wasn’t, ” she said knowing she was about to land the knockout punch.  “I was referring to what you do best. Sleeping.”

Not that it is such a bad hobby, I am now seeking new avenues. So friends I am open to suggestions. I promise I will sleep over it.