LIFE AS IT IS

There was a time when I really wanted to be a grownup, but that was some two decades ago. After I entered my 30s, the idea that I was ageing suddenly sunk in. I compared my old photos with my then-recent ones and realized that a decade had gone by while I was busy finishing college, working full-time, getting married and becoming a parent. When I look at myself in the mirror, I see a mature face -- I see blooming white hair here and there on my head. No matter how much we talk about graceful ageing, the idea of witnessing one's hair turn gray can actually be depressing. My hairline receded a good half-inch in the last 10 years. I can foresee it receding by another couple of inches in the next few decades, permitting I live another few decades. My thick hair is thinning with age. Every time I make a ponytail, I can feel the reduced volume. I often check in the mirror if I am developing laugh lines, a term that I was not aware of even a year ago. You see my vocabulary is gett