18 Till I Die..

Was it yesterday that I beamed at the fact that I had turned 18? I remember standing in one of the corridors of Seshadripuram College huddled with my friends, celebrating a milestone that added an extra zing to the already raging estrogen. I was 18. Yes. 18. Always wanted to be since I was a five- year- old. According to the rule book I had become a major, an adult and I could exercise my right to vote, and I could walk into the RTO and demand  a driver’s license for my bike. Fringe benefits apart, I was a major who could be entrusted with responsibilities, my parents could find a suitable match and dispose me off and I could inherit a fortune had anyone left me one.

I was a free spirit, threw caution to the wind, did not bother knowing how ‘responsibility’ was spelt and did not care about the days ahead. I was living in the minute and I liked it that way. I never felt 18- year- OLD. I was growing younger in thoughts, words and ideas. A trait, according to my mom, that would sober down through the years to come. And then, I was 20. Then 21, 22……

Saw the world change. Girls my age blossomed into young women. Some got hitched early. Some, a little late. Many of them are mothers. A prominent change that I noticed in most of them was that they had realised a dream that most 18 year olds would dream of. To be a successful adult eliminating every trace of the teenager they once were. When they speak business, they mean business and they’re damn serious about it. They can no more tolerate loose talk, girly gossip and the latest tech news. They would even show inhibitions in expressing their feelings about Daniel Radcliffe. He’s younger than them you see. It’s a taboo.

So this is where I don’t fit in. Unlike them, I am not an evolved entity..yet and so highly unpopular in their circle. But sorry to offend you ladies, take a minute and see how lovely my life still is.

I am 28 and ………

I can openly talk about the hotness of Daniel Radcliffe. And is he young? Who cares? Can you say this in front of your husband?

I am not married. And not going to be for another two years. I don’t intend to say that all married women turn out to be as evolved as you. Just that some of you have a pre- conceived notion that married women are supposed to curl their brow at every tomfoolery. I know atleast 10 girls from my school and college who’ve remained 18 even after tying the knot.

I am still experimenting. An interesting career opportunity always gets me excited and if I get bored, I find another one.  I also pay for  my parlour treatments, landline and mobile telephone bills, my clothes, make up and also shoulder a few other responsibilities at home using the money that I wisely saved for winter.

I still gossip like a teenager. And it does not include topics such as X’s jewellery, Y’s sarees, Z’s husband’s car and certainly not about Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. I am loud. I haven’t sobered down one bit. I may have some feminine qualities but that’s that.  I am still 18. Honestly, I have never felt anything less or more than that. But just because I don’t manifest the maturity a 28-year- old has doesn’t mean I am not sensible to shoulder responsibilities.  Just that, when I was 18, my heart had a conviction in my self  that kept every inhibition at bay and I simply chose to follow the same.

Hence I am still 18 and will be till I die.