AAL IS (NOT) WELL!

Here’s a déjà vu for all adolescents- have you ever felt totally lost and confused as to what exactly do people expect from you…..whether you are supposed to act like a boy/girl or a man/woman…..and whether you are allowed to do whatever it is that you wanted to do or if it was it OK to say whatever it is that you wanted to but somehow got stuck on its way from the brain to your mouth because you weren’t sure if you could? We are too young for certain things and at the same time too old something else….how in the world are we expected to figure out what falls where?


Let me elaborate- We all must have experienced this for sure: The lecturer in the class is writing some gibberish of Greek and Latin (I bet those would be a lot easier to learn!) on the board….and then seeing our lost expressions, exclaims-“Oh c’mon, now you people are in a University, not school….you are mature enough to figure out this stuff on your own!” and on the other hand more often than you like you must have heard this from some adult-“Oh no you guys just because you are in college now don’t go over the board…you are too young, you are not mature enough to understand the complexities of love and relationships……” (you get the picture right!!!)

And home (say when you were around 14-15 years old) you must have had an older sibling snatch the remote from your hand and scream “Eeeowww….what a sissy, still watching this show”….and then if you try watching something different ;-)….Mum would walk in, clear her throat not so discreetly and say-“Beta, such shows are not meant for you…”

Here’s another one…(this one totally holds for me)- If you screw up an exam you dunno whether you will hear a “ That’s OK….just take life as it comes, don’t take too much pressure, you have too much life ahead of you…” or a “When will you learn…YOU ARE GROWN UP NOW…you must realize that you are responsible for yourself and your life and blah blah”......


Will someone please stand up and tell me what exactly am I supposed to do??? I think our ‘rishta’ with multiple choice questions doesn’t end with the entrance exams…because our whole life is about choices , irrespective of whether you make them or they are made for you and that sure is a good thing…but then why even give us a choice if we are time and again told the most diametrically opposite of things…and put in a fix!

I think many girls must have had some nosy neighbour aunties (whom God has created to help Ekta Kapoor make a fortune and to have them spy on you all the time only to go running to your mother and complain….) They love to say things like- “Arrey beta…abhibhi aise bacchon jaise kapde kyun pehen rahe ho…kabhi kabhi salwar kameez pehenliya karo” and as if that isn’t enough to get on your nerves the same Aunty would say something like- “Kaha ja rahe ho…beauty parlour? Arrey you are too young for all this….”
[YOU HAVE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!]…..

To your older brother….you are still too young to handle a lot of money….so he takes ‘responsibilty’ (euphemism for ‘taking a share of’) of the pocket money….and you are also too young to stay out late…..but when it comes to matters like helping him ‘patafy’ a girl or take your side during an argument with your parents, he’ll come looking for his mature, ‘not so baccha’ little sister/brother!

I mean, seriously people, give us a BREAK!....and meanwhile lets just stop sighing and sing along with Britney Spears (the guys could change girl to boy and woman to man…LOL):
I'm not a girl,
Not yet a woman.
All I need is time,
A moment that is mine,
While I'm in between……