Its that time of the year

Can’t wait to be 25 in a week!! I absolutely go gaga over birthdays-celebrating mine as well as others. Cakes, candles, gifts, treats and a total recall of the all shit done last year… I simply love the frills and ruffles of this occasion. But this birthday has more reasons to be special.

a)I enter the first quarter of my life (Someone once said, when you are 25 everyone will stop advising you..phew finally!)
b)I get to celebrate it with my cul-de-sac group in Goa! Gonna dance my way into 25..woot!woot!
c)I got accepted in my dream MS program. I never imagined I could make it.
d)Leaving home soon(or, rather running away) and happy to be on my own again. (Living with parents has its own perks, but for me, last 6 months was a personal hell)
e)Physically, I got my mojo back. It feels great to get conditioned and be back in the game!
f)My financial condition is still in the gutter. But this time, I m a poor in a zen-like state of life.
g)Emotionally, I m more sure of myself now. All my wants and needs have been neatly separated in rows and columns, never to be mixed and confused again!

But the only downside of being 25 is - marriage, that too arranged! It’s the curse of the Indian society. The assortment of over-zealous parents, relatives and nosy neighbors kindda makes life of a 25 year old singleton hell. Its not like I don’t have faith in this constitution. But everything has its place and time. For me, in the next 2-3 years I don’t see myself getting hitched to a guy and then be the CEO of his DNA. This is the “me-time” of my life, where I want to completely devote my energy and passion for my personal-growth. How difficult is it for the elders to understand this? Bah,humbug!

Anyways, leaving home and everything familiar behind eliminates the whole marriage scenario for good. Because I think I deserve more from this life. 24 saw me through a roller-coaster phase of my life. And there was ruin. But turns out, it was a gift in disguise. I got challenged to test my own limits, get out of my comfort zone and face the scary unknown. Even though I was kicking and screaming then, I kindda of like what it eventually did to me. I had my fair share of lemons thrown at me..but its tequila time now!

And I learned the most important lesson till date.

"You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you might find- you get what you need" ~ The Rolling Stones

Being 24

I turn 24 today..woohoo! Unlike my girlfriends, who has issues with the addition of a new candle in their cakes of life..I am not at all ashamed of growing older(although I prefer being a bit more wiser!). Maybe ‘coz I haven’t got my wrinkles yet? Well I can wait till 40 to crib about it. Anyways today I am going to celebrate my 23 years of existence. Not trying to dramatize the drama here, but the journey was really exciting. I mean I’ve learned a lot in these years. I could almost compare it to a sleazy Bollywood movie- there was drama, action, romance, tragedy! I couldn’t ask for more. I would really like to give a big hug and a kiss to that scriptwriter up there for making each moment of my full of surprises. One moment I m on top of the world, the next, I am on a free fall. There was never a moment or one particular situation that remained static for me. Keeps me at the edge of my seat, and so I end up eating more than I could chew. Call me greedy, but I have come in terms with myself of going to live every moment to the fullest. ‘coz there is this huge Billboard stuck in my head which reads, “ You never know whats gonna hit u next? Stay tuned for the next big shit, baby!”

Now this shit has been both good and bad. Remember, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger?? I have learnt, the hard way, that every kick below the belt may take your breathe away, but so does the “special” moments. Either way you just can’t stop breathing if they cease to exist. That’s what you get for 23 years of being me! And I am glad it gave me nothing, but a new-found independence. I, no longer, am part of the Declaration of Dependence that I signed 10 years ago. As a 14 year old kid, I carried around a huge baggage of doubts and fears. But the more I see, the more I learn to get rid of my emotional crippledom. And finally after all these years, I think I can part me of getting cured. Yes, old fears do lead to news one but I guess life has taught me to sober down. So my next free fall would be more like spreading my wings and say “aane de”.

Its amazing to see how much my life has changed past 10 years. Talk about being on a topsy-turvy ride. But then it wouldn’t have been possible without all the people who had been, are and going to be part of my life. Thank you all! Its worth mentioning that the thank-you even goes out to those who could no longer be a part of this celebration called my-life. I have no regret or remorse knowing you all, ‘coz if you didn’t leave me then, I wouldn’t be able to welcome the new wonderful people to enter my life now. And trust me, this is not the 12-step program I am going through, its just the downside of being happy! And I have learnt to fight for happiness. But my biggest Thank-you goes to one woman, who was actually responsible for making my 24 happen.. but more on her tomorrow. ;)

But whats its worth, birthday is one day when I can actually have the cake and eat it too. Plus all the 1001 FB notifications have taught me two things: People cares, and I am getting old coz I ran outta breath saying Thank you’s :P

P.S. I don’t feel a day older than 16 though!