growing up is scary when, i go to an allen solly store to shop and at end of it i have to fill up a form for a membership card(which by the way i find very irritating to fill,and try to avoid) and i have to tick my age.there are 6 boxes 5-9,9-13,13-18,18-23,23-30,30-45.i figure in the 18-23 category and realise there are 3 boxes before me and only two left behind.i dont know why but that moment was a little scary,and i kind of told of myself,” excuse me but you are getting old!!”

growing up is horrible when,my mom every other day reminds me of my age and tells me that i have to get married in the next two-three years.she goes like “an ideal age for a girl to get married is 24,i m giving you 2 years bonus because you are playing.its always good to have kids before 30 nahi toh bohat complications ata hai pregnancy mein pata hai.”moms i tell you. 🙂

being single as of now, i get scary dreams of a guy coming home to see me,and i am all dressed up in a saree getting him chai,and his mother asking me can you cook,and i answer ofcourse i can make maggi and the fat mother says “chalo munna yeh ladki tumhe zindagi bhar sirf maggi khilaygi,nahi karni is maggiwali se shaadi” and they walk out.man!i cant imagine having an arranged marriage it gets the headlights out of me.i know im being very stereotypical about it,i mean i have friend who called the guy to meet at a bungee jumping place.she had told me if i see fear on his face its a no,if excitement its a definite yes! ok now she is a little crazy,but it is much cooler than getting chai and answering weird hypothetical questions which start with tum shaadi ke baad……god please send me a guy…and quick!:):)

growing up is exciting when you see yourself transform from a girl into a woman.when your mom can discuss each and everything with you not worrying that you might not understand it.when you can plan a whole party and presents with your money not worrying about your pocket money as you are eligible now to swipe a card.when suddenly you face a challenge and you know how to deal with it by yourself because you are so much more experienced.when you can plan a holiday with your friends in paris and you are allowed.when you realise there is so much more to do and you havent nearly come close to doing it.

recently i read shobha de’s article on being sixty and not being old.she says even if you are sixty you have a lot of things to look forward to.in todays time sixty is not the end of life but the beginning.though i agree with most of the things she said i have problems with her perspective about looking sexy when you are sixty.i mean when i picture myself as sixty i see myself with the wrinkles,my skin loosening,white hair(if i dont loose all of it by then),with a nice simple plain saree,sitting some place peaceful satisfied with life around me and reading a book.i dont want to look like an item bomb and as young as in my 30s. there is a certain cuteness about being old.its like we start a life with complete innocence and end it with complete innocence.i really dont think being young has got to do anything with looking young.its all about the heart,if you are young there then you never have to worry about getting old.life keeps changing every second,the culture,the technology,the language ,whats hot whats not,the definition is changing every time.if you keep updating yourself with that you might end up being a cool sixty year old,not really because you have a clear skin without the wrinkles.

my ultimate dream is that when my grandchildren think about me(subject to me getting married,having kids,and them having kids) they tell themselves “she was not just a badminton player,she was so much more than that,so much more.”if i can achieve that it would be sign of a great life lived!!!!