India, April 15 -- By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam

A friend called last week. He was breathless. Not because of age, but because he had just returned from bungee jumping. He is sixty-two. I made the appropriate sounds of admiration. Inside, I was mostly wondering whether his life insurance was updated.

Another friend went surfing in Sri Lanka. A third one sent me photographs from a sailing trip in the Maldives. He looked tanned and heroic, standing at the helm. His wife, who messaged me separately, said he spent most of the trip being seasick below deck. But the photographs were excellent.

This, I have come to understand, is what growing old looks like in our generation. It looks like adventure. It looks like a bucket list. It looks like peo...