There was a time when life meant crawling out of bed at 7 a.m. in the morning, getting ready for school, returning home in the afternoon and then dozing off in the evening with books wide open on table. School days are long gone, yet I wake up at 7 a.m. in the morning to catch the early classes of university. But waking up from bed no more entails constant shrieks of my mother, or the ear-splitting blare of the long standing bedside clock. My biological timepiece now seems to work better than the mechanical ones.
As time is flying, life is unveiling itself with new a definition. What life meant 10 years back does not mean the same right now. And I know that life will not mean the same 10 years from now. A life is a journey, as you might say. There are ups and downs, you move through boulevards as well as alleys, you taste freedom as well as captivity. We become mature with time. This is possibly the reason why I now fret when the telephone bill skyrockets, when our maid snoozes while scrubbing the floor, when sugar touches the bottom of the jar, or when a guest arrives and we don't have enough snacks at home to treat them with. But if I look back in time, I see myself as a happy-go-lucky kid. But the same old me has undoubtedly changed over time, I'm sure all of us go or have gone through this phase of becoming more mature and responsible. As we grow older we are obliged to wear a disguise of an adult no matter how much we dislike it. If you don't do that you would be the odd one out in your society.
It's often that I lament over the fact that I had to grow up, finish high school, enter college and mull over the household businesses. Even a simple thing like an electric switch not working properly now troubles me. Phew! Growing up is not always a happy experience. You tend to shoulder the responsibilities that aren't even supposed to be your headache. By the time you enter college, you begin to hunt for a part-time job so that you will not have to beg money from your parents. And the moment you associate yourself with a true organisation, the load of responsibilities on your two shoulders gets even heavier. The same shoulders that once carried nothing but free air now bears a world of obligations. But then as per the cliché "every cloud has a silver lining," there are brighter sides of growing up too. The first one is definitely the opportunity to taste freedom for the first time in life. I remember the first time when I went out to eat in a popular fast food joint in Dhanmondi with a pal of mine. I was thrilled and at the same time, anxious. As I separated slices of cucumber from the chicken burger and started to gobble it, my mind kept picturing what might happen if a cousin or an aunt spots me here and complains to mom.
Today, I go out to do my shopping all by myself. Gone are the times when I had to pester my mother to take me out to buy a dress, a pair of shoes, or a thing as simple as a hair clasp. I can hang out with my friends and cousins, choose my own outfits, sandals, window-shop when nothing seems to go right in my life, or talk over the phone longer than usual. And all these have actually become possible because I'm an adult today. Adulthood has given me the permit to voice my opinions, handle an adverse situation on my own, and decide what's right or wrong for me.
The whole journey of becoming a mature person hasn't always been pleasant. Minor and major differences in my physique and lifestyle have signalled that I now belong to a different group of people. No matter how much I want, I can no more take children rides in any theme park or cannot get the privilege of enjoying a discounted ticket while travelling. These are rather silly thoughts though but I'm sure that a lot of you loved the extra treat that you used to get from people around you when you were a kid. Life goes on, you metamorphose from a toddler to a teenager and then to an adult. After the growth phase is over, you wither with time, you begin to count the last days of life and then suddenly, you bid good-bye to the world you lived for quite a while. But then these changes together make life such an amazing journal of happiness, grief, gain and loss.
By Wara Karim
Date of publication: July 19, 2005
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