What lies ahead!!!

Dear Amu,

How are you? I am sure it feels wonderful to be 20. You are driving, you are old enough to have unsupervised slumber parties, you are one step closer to becoming independent and start working. The world is your oyster. I remember what it felt like, to be at that exuberant age. It feels like it wasn't a very long time ago, yet so much has passed since that beautiful time of my life. And as philosophical books would say I am supposed to, I suppose I have gained some worldly experience. As your well-wisher, I am expected to share some of this wisdom with you and that to me, is a daunting task. Well, here it comes, and I promise I will try to give my best and hopefully not sound naive and be age appropriate. But, just in case I falter, I am not a lot older than you (it just feels nice to say that :)

So, where do I start? What I didn't realize when I was 20 was the importance of family ties and the impact it can have on your life, in terms of shaping you as an individual. I was so caught up with my friends, the TV "FRIENDS", and chat friends, I didn't realize there was a world away from them. I also didn't notice that my room was gradually becoming my world, with posters all over (not of actors, but with loads of quotes on them; it felt cool to make your opinions heard and read, in this case) and music playing all the time. My parents, especially my mother would not be very inclined those days, to come and talk to me; of course, how I could talk to anyone with constant music is still a question mark for me. So, I would say, get out of your room more, breathe the fresh air, talk to people in front of you, rather than people on the phone or internet and yes, it is okay to miss one episode of FRIENDS! Preposterous as it may sound, you won't believe the number of times you will be watching those reruns in your life to come. 

When I talk about family, I naturally have to talk about my sister. Oh yes, the sister that I fought with almost every day for one thing or the other. Some days, it was for phone time, other days for borrowing clothes or sandals or some insignificant thing, and mostly for the remote. I could not have been a meaner and jealous sister than I was to her then. But, what was I to do? I did not know what true love was, I did not know why she had to spend every waking hour of her day talking to her fiance and I did not know about the bliss you are in, during courtship. I thought all that was so silly and would keep telling her that I would never indulge in such childish talk (Oh, the irony!). Now, all these years later, I can only say, appreciate your big sister because you get your fashion sense from her, even though you would never admit to copying her style. Be glad that you had someone to share gossip details about every little thing under the sky. Enjoy your time with her, and do accept that her advice does help sometimes, okay most of the times! And most of all, just be grateful that you have an older sister who guided you through everything rather than an older brother who would have made life difficult.

Since I have established the fact that family is the most important asset in the long run, the importance of friends cannot be undermined. Although, school friends are supposed to last the longest, college friends are the ones you make most fun and wild memories with. There is never going to be a time like college ever again in your life. On this front, I don't have much advice to give you, because you already are 'living the life'; you don't miss on even one day of playing pranks, bunking classes, jumping around the Throw Ball court, and passing chits in class. So, for all those wonderful memories you made with your friends: Atta Girl, you won't regret them later. One thing though, a little less fights over insecurities and who is closest to whom, is something you could do without. It doesn't matter later, who was your best friend, what matters is that all of you shared a common history and that you can still bond over that. Oh yes, almost forgot, and those diaries you are maintaining, getting all your friends to write in them: Brilliant Idea. So many days of doom and they still don't fail to put a smile on my face.

Hmmm...What else? Ooooooh...the juicy part! Like I said before, I was jealous of my sister being sucked up by love, because I was losing my time with her, and I had never thought I would do such a horrid thing to my family! Be very careful, of what you claim, is the only thing I can say. And that childhood friend of yours, you insist is a very good friend, but not what you are looking for, be careful again! When you are 20, you have these crazy ideas and obnoxious ideals that you expect a prospective partner to fulfill. Take my word, a man who thinks about social upliftment all the time does not have enough time for you. And a man, who is poetic and in the romantic era, finds it very difficult to separate reality from theatrics. You just need someone you can spend great time with, and talk lots to. So, give real people a chance and that shy little chemistry lab partner of yours, I would say, keep an eye out for him!

This letter would be so incomplete if I didn't talk about the serious stuff: career, education. If my parents were to read this letter, even though it is retrospective, they would be shocked at the absence of crucial matters. I was so confused, and am not ashamed to say, that I still am, a little bit, as to what I want to do for a living. I wanted to be so many different things in different periods of my student life, that I could actually have managed to try out each profession, if given the chance. But, there was one thing I was most passionate about and did not want to budge from it. I ended up not getting an education in that, since it was not supposed to be a very stable career. My parents helped me chose a field that would interest me and give me better prospects.  I was angry to not be able to follow my dream. My advice for you: Don't be (angry)! You just know half the picture of any profession at that age. It is anyways, a gamble, but chances are people with more experience are better off at it, than you are. So, take your parent's advice and if something really is your calling, you will find a way to get there, no matter what your qualifications.

I am hoping this letter hasn't put you to sleep or bored you enough to get distracted into texting. Because I remember how it was like to be rebellious and not want so many suggestions thrown at you! Believe me, been there, done that (not to sound too snotty, and yes the pun is intended)! 

Love,

Your much older, supposedly mature and sensible self!