Last October, 11th to be precise, I turned 30. If I may add a small tidbit for your information, somebody called AB a.k.a Amitabh Bachan also celebrated his 66th birthday. Ironically he is playing a 12 year old kid in reel life while I am now old enough to play dad to a 4month boy in real life !
My good friend for the last 5 years rues whenever we roam malls or see college kids that he feels grandfatherly! Not so long ago we were in the same league- fooling around, giggling at bald and grey heads, laughing at permanently pregnant men.. but what goes around comes around, does'nt it? A couple of days before a school girl in my apartment bumped into me and guess what she said?
"Hi UNCLE" (grrrrrrrrrr...)
What could be every man's greatest fear? Failure of a venture, Job loss, Proposing love to a girl, found wanting in bed, .. But my guess is AGE. Time waits for none. Its an unforgiving master that takes no quarter and gives none.
I feel that my entire life on this planet like a blip. From a precocious school kid to an awkward teenager, to a cocky twenty-something to a uncertain but hopeful thirty year old father, phew! it's been a lightning fast ride.
Who better than the Bard of Avon to put things
in perspective so beautifully!On this world stage we play our seven stages dutifully and before coming within a mile of understanding the meaning of life, we are kids again.
Nevertheless I do feel that 30 could very well be the beginning of a balanced, measured phase of life. Its the age at which many guys get promoted to being a husband and a father (Could'nt resist a pun on Peter's principle: Every guy gets promoted to his level of incompetence). A couple of extra packs in the abdomen, freshers reporting to you at the office (Hearing their "Sir","Excuse me", oh what a high..), new found fiscal prudence, envy on seeing young star-struck lovers, the little wisps of grey at the temples, trustworthy looks from young girls : "Cmon yaar, Kalyanam agi kutti potta kesu, no probs" (Ah, they should know better!)). All these, I take, are symptoms that one is finally growing up.
This may very well herald the birth of a new, improved version of oneself. The marital bond kickstarts the growth process while the birth of one's offspring is the catalyst. Sacrifice, patience and prudence, hitherto distant concepts start making sense. The excitement and challenge of raising a young family, increasing ambitions at the work place, tender shoots of social responsibility, a desire to something meaningful to the society.. um, the thirties does not seem that dull.
Lets see, if I have it in me to finally become a little responsible.
Bring it on, I am waiting.
