LONGEVITY

Everybody wants to live long. Humanity's common object is to raise the average life span. Thanks to scientific development, life span is increasing. Improvement in personal hygiene, community hygiene, availability of and awareness about balanced diet contribute to longevity. Longevity has a direct proportionate

relationship with clean food, clear water and fresh air.

Longevity suffers with alcoholism, erotic perversions, obesity, stress and tobacco. In spite of all these, the Western World is aging.

Longevity without debilitating and excruciating diseases is cherished by everybody. Desire and capability to eat and digest, mate and play, sleep and dream will be icings on the cake of life. Natural longevity is a gift.

Induced longevity through chemicals, surgical procedures, genetic interventions are not bad per se but their far reaching future implications are unknown. Stem Cell research will probably be the beacon.

Longevity has its own problems. Seeing children, spouse and sometimes even grand children passing away or suffering from some incurable diseases will cause pain. Longevity also exhausts monetary resources of a person, as the age advances he has to spend more, while earning dwindles. Then wisdom will dawn that living long is futile and euthanasia is welcome. A need may arise to legalise suicides.

TITBIT
Several English poets like Keats and Byron had a very short life span. Had they lived long, would they have produced volumes. There were some poets who lost their creativity in Part II of their lives.

ICHCHA MARAN'AM i.e. DEATH AT A PERSON'S CHOICE

This is a fantasy. In Mahabharata, the Grand Old Sire Bhishma had it gifted by his father. Wounded in the Mahabharata war, he awaits his death, lying on a bed of arrows.