My 200th Article On Tax TMI - Learning Has No Retirement Age- The Journey Ends Only When Curiosity Ends

A Milestone That Points Forward

Milestones have a peculiar character. They invite us to look back, but their real value lies in encouraging us to look ahead. The first step of any journey is memorable because it requires courage. Later milestones become meaningful because they represent continuity, discipline and the willingness to keep moving even when the initial excitement has passed.

My first article on the prestigious Tax TMI online portal was published on 9 February 2026. As this literary journey reaches the landmark of the 200th article, my strongest feeling is not achievement but gratitude. Every article has required reading, research, reflection and revision. More importantly, every article has taught me something I did not know before, or did not understand with the same clarity. Writing has therefore never been merely an exercise in sharing knowledge; it has been an equally rewarding process of acquiring it.

At almost 64 years of age, I still endeavour to learn something new every day, particularly in my specialised field of indirect taxation-GST, service tax, central excise and customs. Tax laws change, judicial interpretations evolve, and propositions once considered settled sometimes require reconsideration. The more one studies, the more one becomes aware of how much remains to be learnt. This continuing journey has strengthened one conviction in me: learning has no retirement age.

Age Counts the Years; Curiosity Counts the Possibilities

Society may prescribe ages for education, employment and retirement, but the human mind is not governed by service rules; there is no prescribed date on which curiosity must retire. Advancing age can, in fact, enrich learning by combining new knowledge with accumulated experience.

The real enemy of learning is not age, but the belief that "I already know enough." As long as we continue to read, question, listen and correct our understanding, we remain students throughout life.

Experience Should Become a Foundation, Not a Finishing Line

Experience deserves respect, but should never lead to intellectual complacency. Decades in a profession can provide insights no textbook can offer, yet yesterday's knowledge may not always answer tomorrow's challenges. Indirect taxation itself demonstrates this through the transition from central excise and service tax to the continuously evolving GST regime.

Experience and learning must therefore complement each other. Experience tells us how far we have travelled; learning prepares us for the road ahead. True experience ultimately teaches us how much more there always remains to learn.

Age Is Seldom the Barrier - Attitude Often Is

Age need not become a roadblock to entering a new profession, business or field. Knowledge and aptitude matter, but often our mental attitude, rather than merely our mental aptitude, determines our altitude. The willingness to leave familiar comforts, accept uncertainty and take calculated risks can keep the possibility of success alive.

A late start may shorten the road ahead, but it need not close it. Curiosity to learn, courage to begin and determination to continue can open fresh opportunities, as the following examples demonstrate.

A New Beginning Does Not Ask Your Age

The life of Dr. Shreeram Lagoo, famous character artist of Hindi Movies,offers a remarkable example of beginning afresh. He was a qualified ENT surgeon who practised medicine in India and abroad. Although he had long remained associated with theatre, he took the decisive step of becoming a full-time actor around the age of 42. He thereafter became one of the most respected personalities in Marathi theatre and Indian cinema.

His story is inspiring not because everyone should abandon an established profession and begin another. Its significance lies in a wider principle: an established career need not become the boundary of human possibility. Skills, interests and dreams that could not become our principal occupation during one phase of life may still find expression in another.

One of the greatest obstacles to a new beginning is the thought, "It is too late now." But "late" is often merely a comparison with somebody else's timetable. Life does not require everybody to arrive at the same destination at the same age. Dr. Lagoo's journey reminds us that a second beginning can sometimes be as meaningful as the first.

A Late Start Can Still Leave a Lasting Mark

A.K. Hangal, a renowned character actor in Hindi Cinema, offers another striking example. Before cinema made him familiar to generations of viewers, he had already lived through entirely different phases of life. He worked as a tailor, participated in theatre and entered Hindi cinema comparatively late-at around the age of 50. He subsequently became one of Hindi cinema's most recognisable character actors.

What conventional thinking might have regarded as too late to enter a new field instead became the beginning of the work for which millions eventually remembered him. There is no embarrassment in reaching the starting line late; the real loss lies in refusing to start merely because somebody else started earlier.

The journey of my favourite Hindi film lyricist, Anand Bakshi, illustrates another facet of the same principle. His formal education was limited, but his ambition certainly was not. After serving in the Royal Indian Navy and later the Army, he repeatedly tried to enter Hindi cinema. An initial attempt in Bombay did not bring the desired success, and he returned to service, but the dream survived. He eventually left the security of his job and returned to Bombay to pursue songwriting. His first film opportunity came with Bhala Aadmi in 1958, while wider recognition followed after years of struggle through films such as Jab Jab Phool Khile and Himalay Ki God Mein (1965), Milan (1967) and Aradhana (1969). A delayed breakthrough does not mean a defeated dream.

Another remarkable dimension of his success was his background. Limited formal education did not become a weakness he spent his life trying to hide. His simple, conversational and easily understood language became one of the great strengths of his songwriting and helped his words reach millions. What might have been regarded as a limitation became an advantage. His journey reminds us that success does not always require perfect circumstances at the beginning; sometimes it requires the wisdom to make the best use of whatever circumstances life has given us.

Chhaya Ganguli, the renowned ghazal singer, presents yet another dimension of the same philosophy. Her unforgettable rendition of "Aap Ki Yaad Aati Rahi Raat Bhar" in the Hindi film Gaman (1977) won her the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer. Her extensive work in broadcasting, particularly with Vividh Bharati, also forms an important part of her career.

What particularly appeals to me is her continued interest in deeper learning, including studying Urdu after retirement. For someone associated for decades with ghazals, poetry and broadcasting, returning to the position of a student conveys a profound message: accomplishment does not eliminate the need for learning; sometimes it makes us appreciate its value even more.

Awards recognise what has already been achieved; learning concerns what can still be discovered. The truly accomplished learner is never embarrassed to become a student again.

The Starting Line Has No Age Limit

Few real-life stories challenge conventional ideas about age as powerfully as Fauja Singh's. He took up long-distance running at an advanced age and completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2011 at his claimed age of 100-an extraordinary demonstration of endurance at an age when competitive sport would normally seem unimaginable.

The significance of his example extends far beyond athletics. One person may take up running; another may begin writing; someone may learn a language or acquire digital skills; another may return to a subject abandoned decades earlier. The activity is secondary. What matters is the willingness to begin.

His story also exposes a common error in human thinking. We often confuse "I have never done this before" with "I cannot do this now." The first merely describes our past; the second unnecessarily restricts our future.

A Career May Retire, but Creativity Need Not

Sometimes fiction conveys a truth about life with remarkable simplicity. The Hindi film Baghban (2003), produced by B.R. Chopra and directed by his son Ravi Chopra, offers an apt illustration. Amitabh Bachchan portrays Raj Malhotra, a banker whose retirement marks the end of his formal professional career and the beginning of a difficult phase in his personal life.

Yet retirement does not end his productive journey. Raj turns to writing and turns his experiences into a book titled Baghban, which becomes successful and brings him recognition even as his conventional career is already behind him. Retirement may require a person to surrender an office, designation or established routine; it does not require surrendering knowledge, creativity or accumulated experience.

The experiences of decades can become the raw material for writing, teaching, mentoring, research, music, social service or an entirely new pursuit. Retirement may close one professional chapter, but it can provide the freedom to write another. The evening of one career can sometimes become the morning of another.

The Most Dangerous Question - "Why Learn at This Age?"

Learning should not be judged merely by its economic return. Everything we learn need not produce money; learning keeps the mind active, helps us understand changing times and gives us the satisfaction of knowing something today that we did not know yesterday.

The better question is therefore not "At my age, why should I learn?" but "At any age, why should I stop?"

Technology Has Made the Student Within Us More Important

Technology has transformed access to knowledge and professional research. For experienced professionals, adapting to new methods may initially be uncomfortable, but technology need not compete with experience; wisely used, it can strengthen it. Technology may locate information rapidly, but experience remains essential to judge what is relevant, reliable and worthy of deeper examination.

The choice is simple: keep learning and participate in change, or stop learning and gradually become spectators.

Writing Teaches the Writer Before It Teaches the Reader

Writing has taught me that we seldom understand a subject completely until we try to explain it in simple language. Every article sends me back to the law-one judgment leads to another, one provision raises another question, and research often exposes gaps in our own understanding.

I therefore regard these 200 articles not merely as opportunities to share knowledge, but equally as 200 opportunities to study more, question more and learn more. To me, that has been one of the greatest rewards of writing.

Knowledge Multiplies When It Is Shared

Knowledge has a beautiful quality. Unlike most material possessions, it does not diminish when shared; often, it increases. A reader raises a question, a fellow professional offers another interpretation, or a comment draws attention to a judgment that may have escaped notice. Discussion produces further research, and research produces greater clarity.

Writing should therefore never become a declaration that the writer has spoken the final word. This is particularly true of law, where statutes change, courts reconsider earlier propositions and new factual situations continuously test established principles. Intellectual humility is not merely desirable; for a professional, it is indispensable.

The relationship between writer and reader is therefore a continuing conversation between fellow learners. One writes; another responds; both reflect-and knowledge grows.

A Journey That Still Carries Her Presence

No account of my journey of learning and writing would be complete without remembering my late wife, Mrs. Renu Jaggi, whose understanding, encouragement and companionship helped shape the person undertaking this journey today. Her physical absence has changed the journey, but the memories and values built over years of togetherness remain a part of it.

As I reach this milestone of 200 articles, I remember Renu with profound affection, gratitude and reverence. I wish she had been here to witness this moment, yet I know that she remains an inseparable part of it. Some companions may cease to walk beside us, but they never cease to travel within us.

Behind Every Milestone Stand Many Helping Hands

The publication of my 200th article gives me another opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to the entire Tax TMI team, including its top management headed by CA. Surender Gupta Ji. Since my first article was published on 9 February 2026, their overwhelming support and cooperation-including working beyond normal hours on several occasions to ensure timely publication-have been invaluable.

I therefore regard this milestone not merely as an individual achievement but as a shared literary journey. My sincere gratitude goes to every member of the Tax TMI family who has helped my writings reach the professional community, because those who help knowledge reach its readers become partners in its dissemination.

Two Hundred Is a Milestone - Not a Full Stop

Every milestone invites us to look back with satisfaction and ahead with purpose. At almost 64, I prefer the latter. There are still judgments to read, provisions to understand and, above all, gaps in one's own understanding to discover and correct.

My aspiration is simple: to know something tomorrow that I do not know today. As long as the desire to learn survives, the intellectual journey never grows old.

Never Retire the Student Within You

Dr. Shreeram Lagoo, A.K. Hangal, Anand Bakshi, Chhaya Ganguli and Fauja Singh-and Baghban through fiction-remind us, in different ways, that age need not determine what curiosity, courage and determination can still achieve. We may retire from employment or relinquish a designation, but there is no reason to retire the student within us.

Today, the number is 200. Tomorrow, hopefully, there will be another judgment to read, another lesson to learn and another article to write. The greatest satisfaction in reaching this milestone is not that 200 articles have been written, but that the curiosity to learn-and the enthusiasm to write the 201st-are still very much alive.