I first came to India in 1965 and last visited in 1994. From the beginning, most of my friends were about 10 years older than I, so they got their Ph.Ds, married first, had babies first, married their children first, and welcomed grandchildren, most of whom are now old enough to babysit my grandchildren. Nothing much ever seem to change between my visits, even from 1975 to 1994. This visit is different, though. We are all older now, various creaks and pains. Our conversations are muted and focus on what our children are doing, our pride and joys. We don't discuss the glaucoma-induced blindness, surviving breast cancer, the creeping dementia that makes a mockery of any meaningful conversation...we do not talk about the things that we plan to do, because we have done what we planned
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