Today is the 1st of November. For many, it is a rather strange morning. The alarm rings, but there is nowhere to go. The cupboard still holds neatly ironed clothes. The identity card expired just yesterday. The phone no longer rings with notifications or requests for decisions. Nobody is waiting for a signature. The chair that yesterday carried authority belongs to someone else today.

Officially, the person has retired. But does life? We have built a society that celebrates people for what they do, not necessarily for who they are. For decades, a person is introduced by a designation. Manager. Principal. Producer. Director. Professor. Doctor. Officer. The designation becomes an identity. Sometimes, it becomes the entire identity.

Then comes retirement. One farewell function. A bouquet. A few speeches. A photograph. Sometimes a memento. And then silence. The real challenge of retirement rarely begins on the last working day. It begins a few months later, when the congratulations fade and the realisation sets in that the world has quietly rearranged........

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