18 till I die

"I wanna be young the rest of my life
never say no - try anything twice
till the angels come and ask me to fly
I'm gonna be 18 till I die - 18 till I die"

What is it about growing old that tinkers us all the time?
At a time when you wanted to grow up very fast, time never used to go soon, when you did not want to be treated as a kid any more. And as we grow older and actually realize that it was better being a kid after all, time would have already sped along :-).

I must say that in India, one would be considered a grown up only after they cross may be 18, it also has to be accepted that they grow up much faster in the west (10 may be :-)). While in the growing up years you always want to be a little more older to get some things done, but as we go on and on, one gets knocked up in the race of life and starts to wish if he/she could actually go back in time to those wonderful days as a child. This is a truth that is pretty universal, at least that is what I think. I remember being 17 yr old actually thinking what it would be to be 20, does that mean more intelligence, more maturity, more handsome or just more moustache :-).

Once you are in the 20's you actually start to feel the pinch, you are into your higher studies. You actually are shaping up your career. Of course the usual sidetracks do come when you feel every other girl is looking at you because of your new hairstyle or the funky new jeans..and you occasionally feel you are the coolest person in college, which invariably will never be true. By the time you finish your higher studies you would be around 22-23. At this time its a rush to find yourself a suitable career and to impress your bosses of your capabilities. "I have to establish myself in this company now" thats a commonly used sentence often. By the time you establish yourself in the company you have crossed quarter century. Thats when you feel what you are actually earnning is not what is the market price, you could actually earn more if you were working elsewhere. Thus begins a search for prospective companies that would give you a 50% hike from what you are earning currently. You should understand that one needs to go through the "establishing yourself" at the company again from the start here.

I have come pretty close to 28 during this while. Now don't dare think that this is totally my story, I am sure if you would actually try to reflect yourself here, it actually might be yours. Every other friend who I talk to these days always asks "When are you getting married?". Thats when I realize, there is something like that too left. No offense to anyone, but I actually think that people who ask me this question and who are not married are actually confused at the idea of a marriage.
"Let him marry first, then I will decide if I should actually marry now or should I take my time".
On the other hand, people who are married and who ask me the same question think like this -
"This guy pushed me into it, I am going to take revenge on him now" ha ha ha ha...
humor intended ...no personal thoughts on anyone here.

Going close to 30 is considered as "ye to gaya, khatam" (meaning..he is finished). There is a friend of mine who is married and 30 and who always calls me young and calls himself old. Now the thing to ponder about here is "Does marriage make you old?" or is it just one of those going to be 30 syndrome?

No wonder why Brian Adams, close to 50 years old and still sings around "I'm gonna be 18 till I die"
On second thoughts, its not bad being 18 for ever ;-)...what say?