The Other Side

It is so irritating when as young kids our parents tell us, “You are too young to understand such stuff. Grow up and then you can give your opinion and decide for yourself.” At that moment, we start thinking, When shall I grow up and do the stuff that I like? I am just waiting for that day when I will earn for myself and then I can spend all I want. I can go wherever I wish to. Nobody will call me a kid. I will be an ‘adult’. And then, some 12 years later, when you are an adult, you wish to be that kid again and wonder whether you were hoping for such adulthood where you are constantly worried about stuff. Stuff like, saving money for the future, investing enough amounts to cater to emergencies at home or trying to figure out life.

27th Birthday 

It has suddenly dawned upon me that I will be 30 soon and in no time, I will be forty and even then, I will have a hundred things that I had planned but could never make time for and you suddenly start asking yourself philosophical questions like, “What have I been doing all these years? When did all the time just fly without my notice?” Then you start conversing with yourself regarding the stuff that you can do in a year and make up for all that you haven’t done. Then comes a moment when you realise that you might be turning into one of those crazy soliloquists. More and more introspection leaves you in utter discomfort, the discomfort that is like the freckle on your check, the unending part of your back that keeps on getting all scratchy and no matter how hard you try, you just cannot reach that part of your back.

Halfway across the path form 25 to 30, it has dawned on me that you have to learn to live with the scratch, consider the freckle as your beauty spot and smile your way across the dangling bridge. You have to understand that the moment you cross this bridge, there's another bridge around the next corner of the valley called life. All that you can do is enjoy the ride, oops, I meant the walk; ensure that you have slippers on, if not mountain boots to protect you against the stones, an umbrella to save you from the scorching heat or the rains and a ton load of will-power to strive through the journey.