India, Feb. 10 -- On December 31, I handed over the keys in the afternoon, walked out of my office, and returned the official vehicle that had been part of my life for decades. It was not my biological birthday, but an administrative one - created because my parents needed me to be five when I was three so that I could start school. Yet it marked the end of thirty-four years in government service. There was no dramatic moment - only a quiet finality. The next morning felt strikingly familiar. Over the years, transfers from demanding field postings to quieter assignments had produced the same experience: no schedule, no visitors, and a silence where urgency once lived. But this time, there would be no next posting to restore rhythm. The ro...