Why people hide their Age..

We know that ladies usually hide their age and would always like to remain young. Mae West a famous Hollywood actress and sex symbol of the 1930s was known for her wit, charm, and sultry voice. She was also notorious for lying about her age. Mae West claimed to have been born in 1892, but in reality, she was born in 1883. She even went so far as to forge her birth certificate to support her false claim.

Men on the other hand do not generally hide their age. On the contrary some men claim to be older than they actually are, just to show that in what good nick of health they are. However I came across one case where one of my friend and neighbour was hiding his age and that too for a long period of 7 years, till it was accidentally discovered.

In a small town of Punjab (India) called Derabassi (near Chandigarh) and in our housing Society there lives a man called Mr X (real name hidden). He is my neighbour. He is a jolly good man who loves to talk and make friends with everyone he meets. He even has a grand child. However, there was one thing that he always kept a secret from everyone, and that was his age.

Whenever someone would ask him how old he was, he would simply smile and say, “Oh, I’m in my 50s.” Now, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, but the strange thing was that Mr X had been saying this for the past 7 years! It was as if time had stopped for him at the age of 53.

Everyone in the society knew about Mr X’s secret, and they would often tease him about it. “Are, you sure you’re not a Ghost?” You never seem to age!” they would say.

But Mr X would just laugh it off and say, “Oh, you know me, I just take good care of myself.”

In December 2022, Mr X had applied for renewing his passport. In India Police verification is mandatory for issuing a passport. A policeman came to his house and testimony of two witnesses was required. I being his neighbour was called. There I saw the passport papers and his ID (Aadhar card) on which Mr X’s age was mentioned as 60 years. So I vouched for his character and completed the formalities. However before leaving, I said. “ Thank God you have moved past your 53 years of age.”

He gave me a very sheepish smile. From then on, Mr X has stopped hiding his age and instead embraced it with pride.

Guchi.