December 17, 2011

Of Growing up and... well...just growing up!





Yeah yeah I know it's been a freakishly long time since I last blogged. I don't know... in the beginning, I wasn't in the mood to write anything, and then later on, there was nothing I wanted to write on. Actually, there was lots I wanted to write on, but then, when you know your audience, you choose to not write everything that you actually, really want to write about! Maybe, it's time for an anonymous blog now!

Of late I've been stuck up in the I-don't-wanna-grow-up phase. Staying young, in college was fun. Life was a fully paid vacation. There were no deadlines, no presentations to make. A time when you had lots of time for your family, friends and more importantly ...lots of time for yourself. Now, all you get for self pity are blink-and-you'll-miss-them weekends!

Anyways, one thing that I hate the most about not being a student anymore is the fact that now you're considered as a prey whose wedding is where everyone wants to feast! I mean, I know, I've always been of the mujhe toh bachpan se hi shaadi karne ka shaukh hain but then, now, I have grown up and all of my bachpan ke shaukh have worn off (only for the fact that marriage is only going to make growing up look more serious and yeah .... the mountain of responsibilities on your head... a semi paid vacation at your parents' place is really what you should look at mazimising!)Yeah, so digressions apart, here is a piece of conversation that I was subjected to 47 times last Sunday at a social gathering. Oh yes, I almost forgot the most important thing that changes in your life after you're done with your education - the compulsion to attend social functions which you have very well avoided until now citing reasons like

  • "I have my test series going on" - when you're in your 10th. 
  • "I have journals to complete/I have early morning practicals" - when you're a poor hassled science student
  • "I have presentations to make" - when you're an even more hassled MBA student
And you made excuses to stay back home and enjoy watching TV with no one to disturb you! But now, there are very few excuses that you can make -
  • "I have a bad headache" 
  • "My stomach's hurting" (and being a girl, you can ALWAYS get away with this one!Hehaw!)
  • (This is the season's favourite) "Oh damn! I so wanted to come...but this friend of mine is getting engaged/married today"
See, this is one more downside of growing up - you have an attention span of a butterfly! I was supposed to share with you the conversation I had 47 times the other day. It goes like....

Me : (visibly forced to mingle around) Hello, how are you?
Aunt: (visible excited at the sight of a new bakra) I'm good. How about you? So which CLASS are you studying in?
Me: (visibly irritated at still being thought of as a school kid ...even at 23!) I'm done with my studies...I'm an MBA now... and have been working for almost a year now!
Aunt: (visibly more excited at the possibility of another wedding to attend) That's nice! So now it's time for your marriage!
Me: (visibly irritated with having the same conversation for one of the 47 times!) Haha! Let's see!

So, my point is why is marriage the next destination after studies? That's the entire problem with our society. We just don't want our children to breathe. There's always another destination to go to. Another train to catch, another job to take, another assignment to finish. Why can't we just stand back and enjoy where we are today? It's more peaceful and satisfying that ways. I know, marriage is inevitable and like all girls, I too have been dreaming of my Prince Charming and my wedding since I was gifted my first Barbie, but right now, I want to have some time for myself, because like everyone my age, I'm too damned confused about what I want in life! A simple example would be expecting an answer to the question - what is the kind of a guy that you want? It looks simple, but it's not a simple question to answer. You're confused about which are the qualities that you REALLY want and which are the ones that you can let go of. And it's a tough call to take.

I'm sure this post must be a real shocker to all those who know me well and are very well aware of my 'sabki shaadi ho rahi hain, meri shaadi kab hogi' cries! But then, like they say, people grow up and I'm trying to maintain pace with my growing age!

Another reason why you don't want to grow up is because you know there's another generation behind you who's faster and smarter than you are and the fact that though you're only 5 years elder to them, they consider you to be from another generation. I was in for a shock when my 18 year old cousin made that very clear to me when she actually said that I'm from another generation because I couldn't fathom the meaning of a couple of words that are commonplace for today's JC students! And the fact that all my younger cousins laugh at my lack of knowledge of technology and still having a high end phone is a sever blow to the ego! What they don't understand is that, self pity aside, weekends is all the time you have and sleeping then is what you would love to do the most! Guess, I will have to wait for them to come on this end of the line to know what it's like being called belonging to a different generation!

P.S - Marriage woes aside, now, I'm scared of what my kids, who's have a good 25-30 years age gap with me think about me....If 5 years is another generation, 30 years would be Stone Age!
Strong reason for not getting married!!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Refusing-to-grow-up is our 'Classic' moan..

:) good you are back to writing.. Can u believe I have spent three hours trying to change my !@#$ing template..and I have come across all kinds of errors..wonder if the templates are coded wrongly or its a 'nothing-will-go-right-today' day.

:-/

Nupur said...

@ Rads: Oh what's the error? XML coding? I'm missing you :(

Unknown said...

aww.. what happened babes? :*
will call ya tomorrow.. after the chores..trust me..even i don't wanna get married..for entirely different reasons (read : kitchen saga)

Lakshmi Prabhu said...

i like grown-up nupur!keep it up!

Nikita A said...

I had the exact same thoughts today:
1. Starting an anonymous blog where I could write without worrying about what someone would think (and I did start that!)
2. Damn! All my friends are married.. When's my turn?

The only difference is, I can't wait to get married; but I understand what you're saying. There was a time when I didn't want to even think about marriage and I am past that now. Don't worry, you'll get to a point where you would want to be married.. just like your cousins will reach a point where they will know the importance of weekends and being able to sleeping at leisure! :)

Aayushi Mehta said...

I agree with all of the above! Hahah. Great post.