People of my generation are getting married, having kids, moving out of the country, getting fancy jobs with fancier job titles, dealing with in-laws...in short becoming adults! Slowly, life is descending upon all of us in a big way.
So here goes...some of my 22 year old life's greatest lessons. Some are mine, some are borrowed. You may not agree with all of it, but trust me, its all been tried tested and experienced first hand ;)
- Make sure the little kids play as many outdoor games as possible; later in life, its the stories about pitthoo, tag, dog in the pond, hide-and-seek, cricket, basketball, football and its like which will make them smile.
- The best things to eat are fattening and unhealthy...except your mom's food. And if you're naturally fat, you will never become reed thin or even less fat unless you give up your favourite things. So don't overeat and say what the hell coz you will feel bad on seeing those balloon like pictures of yourself, but don't give up your favourite things as well; try a middle path.
- Days seem veryyy long; its the years which pass by in a flash.
- Your parents will be unreasonable at times...hell many times. But when you grow up, you figure out the reason behind the unreasonable-ness...or maybe its just that you're on the road to being unreasonable yourself.
- One of the worst things in life is when two close friends are aiming for the same thing and one succeeds and the other doesnt. It's equally tough to deal for both parties. But if a friendship transcends this situation, it's a strong one.
- Stay in a hostel ONCE in your life. It gives you a million lovely warm memories for life. And makes you extremely creative and innovative; like decorating a room with dupattas, using leftovers to create a feast etc etc.
- Lying to your parents is a horrible thing; it can make you feel super guilty and can haunt you for life. But sometimes, SOMETIMES, it has to be done. For the betterment of the world ;)
- Hugging is awesome! It really has curative properties. It can make a good day better, and a bad day tolerable. And it shows that someone cares.
- Family vacations are the best! Location is irrelevant. People will do crazy things, fight for strange reasons, argue over silly things, and laugh over sillier things. Its always a lot of fun!
- Fighting with your younger/older sibling is a part of life; its like breathing. And there are times when you wish you could exchange your sibling for a better, more well mannered one. But there's no one else in this world who understands life in your household like your sibling does, and definitely no one else in this world who understands the quirks and idiosyncrasies of your parents like your sibling does.
- Surprises are great...if planned well ;) And even if they backfire, it's always fun for the stories.
- To all those people who think gossip is uncool and unhealthy; get lost! Gossiping helps build bonds, it helps to understand different people's perspectives, it gives you information- and its a whole lot of FUN.
- Watch a cricket match with a room full of girls who understand NOTHING about the technicality of the game; the emotions they exude, the shrieking, the shouting, the giggles could beat the scientific analysis of any cricket commentator!
- No family is like a sooraj barjatya family; there are weird characters, people who will be mean, people who dont care, and people who are a big bore. But what matters is that in times of extreme joy and extreme sadness if those people come together- if they do, then you've got a winner of a family!
- No matter how old a person gets, they still love it when you wish them on their birthday.
- Watching a good movie, reading a good book, listening to a good song; they make your day...but you don't feel truly happy unless you share them with others.
- Friendship is the most insane and the coolest relationship in the world; simply because there are no conditions. You can be friends with anyone; someone really old, someone really young, someone who's exactly like you, and someone who couldnt be more different. There really is no bar in friendship.
- A successful marriage is not merely an absence of tragedy/abuse/bad things; its the presence of a million other wonderful things.
- Read! doesn't have to be the booker prize winner or charles dickens...things like delhi times/ht city/filmfare/back page of india today/chicklit can also be extremely informative. But just read!
- No matter what a terrible time you think you are having in school and college you will eventually remember it and say "god those were good times!"
- Compliments are nice. Be generous when complimenting others, it makes their day. And be gracious when accepting compliments, it makes the compliment giver feel nice.
- Very often, it is those who you think will be around FOREVER with whom things don't work out. And the people who you become closest to are those who you never in a million years thought you would even have a decent conversation with. It's a phenomena which is impossible to understand but it is a fact of life.
- Never listen to "tu jo nahin hai toh" from woh lamhe when going through a bad day; it makes you feel even more worse and can make you depressive and suicidal. (But i really do love that song)
- You are really lucky if you have a wonderful extended family, full of aunts/uncles/cousins to pamper you; its during times of stress and trouble when you realize what having so many people around can do for your mental state.
-Friends can come in all shapes, sizes and friendship has many degrees. There are those who you have to tell every detail to, those who are awesome to watch a movie with, those who you can be intellectual with, those who you can be silly with, those who you can talk to for hours and still feel like you havent even begun, those who make your day with a single sms or phone call or ping on gtalk, those who you have nothing to say over the phone to but still love to meet up and talk to in person; the deal is, you love and need all of them!
- You can't make every single person in your life happy with every single decision of yours. Its IMPOSSIBLE. Someone will always have complaints.
- The people who have never seen you cry/shout/irritated/depres
- Jam sessions are lots of fun! Especially when the people around are fun. But dancing with heels has disastrous consequences.
- There is no ideal work place- either the boss will be bad, the work will be crappy, or the colleagues will be mean , or the office will be too far or the pay will be measly.
- Never get into a relationship with a friend's sibling/cousin. Or a sibling/cousin's friend. Or a friend's friend. Till date, haven't seen it work out happily for all parties involved.
- When something of yours is missing, its possible that you have misplaced it. But never blame anyone; it can spoil relationships, and make you wonder whether you did the right thing.
- It's very often that life's greatest secrets are revealed in the middle of the night; so once in a while, talk to people around that time ;)
- Power cuts/long walks and drives are an awesome time to bond with people.
- Take LOTS of pictures/videos- it may seem silly at that time, but they're wonderful to look at once you leave that moment.
- All families are messed up in some way or the other; some may be too conservative, some may be too lenient, some are too crazy, some are too boring. But they're the people you take for granted, the ones who love you unconditionally, the ones who are there for you without you asking, and the ones who know you better than you know yourself. In short, you cannot survive and live to tell the tale without them :)
- Send long emails; they make people happy. And maybe you'll recieve long emails in return too.
- Preparing for dances for freshers' and farewell parties are always done at the last minute; regardless of what college you are in. It's a pan-college phenomena.
- Everyone thinks their problems are a big deal and they most often are. Never demean someone else's problems.
- Sometimes its important to say the truth; it can save someone from embarrassment. But its equally important to know when not to say the truth.
- A girl and a guy can be friends, best friends in fact; but it is rare.
- Everyone has a strong positive trait. Everyone has something nice about them. But its not necessary for you to like everyone ;)
- Go to India gate at night; it really is one of the bestest sights in the world.
- Run at the maximum speed you can muster up when its raining heavily; its a LOT of fun! But do make sure you dry off immediately and have a lovely cup of hot tea or coffee.
- There will be times when you're upset randomly, when you feel low and you don't know why. It happens to everyone, and the moment passes just as quickly as it came.
- When you're working on an important report chances are very high that your laptop will crash, the power will go before you have saved, something strange will happen to your internet, etc etc. So save like a maniac and email yourself copies constantly; its better to have an overloaded, overpopulated inbox than not having a single copy.
- Never judge someone by their pedigree. Just because someone is from a lower rung college or a small town does not make them dumb and naive.
- Don't be overtly sympathetic towards people who have gone through a tragedy in their life; it makes them feel worse. Be nice and sensitive, but treat them normally.
- You have to have taken some classes in life; dance/music/karate/whateve
- The world is a small place. You will run into the same people, or people related to people you know, over and over again. This can be good when the people are those you like; and not so good when the people are those you dont like.
- Maturity and age have no direct relationship.
- Cotton candy is messy, and will make your tongue all pink and your skin all sticky; but its damn fun to eat :)
- Be nice to your friends' friends. You may not always like them. But they're your friends' friends; there must be something worth liking about them.
- School trips are super fun; you end up forging the greatest bonds with people over them. And you see a different side of people than you see otherwise.
- Something i read somewhere, which touched me:
'You never stop caring. Even after a broken friendship or a huge fight, you just can't stop. That’s because you've given a piece of your heart away. It’s never coming back to you. And thats why the worst thing in life is to lose a friend, a friend that means the world to you, a friend that you put all your trust and faith in, a friend that you believed in from the start, a friend that took the centre of your heart, a friend that you'd die for, a friend that you wanted to cherish for a lifetime. But it’s important to remember the ways they touched your life. It makes things easier.'
- Living with people who are not family is a learning experience; it tests your patience, your adjustment skills, your ability to handle different sleeping/eating habits and strange mood swings. You will fight with people over silly things like blankets, a bucket of water, notes, messy rooms, clothes, money- but it's these things which are a true test of character and relationships.
- Try to mean it when you say "i love you". But even if you don't mean it and have to say it to make the other person feel better, say it with as much feeling and emotion that you can muster up; it goes a long way.
- Life is a one way street; you can look back but can't ever turn around. So try to give everything your best shot, there's no point regretting and saying "oh i could have done that" later.
Would love to hear any wisdom anyone else has to share :)
7 comments:
is this LONGER than the one on fb??? i will figure out soon..just bk from work ;)
no its exactly the same ;)
Ranjani..a total nod to everything written here..specially about school trips, reading, misplacing and blaming, guy and girl being frnds, compliments, family, frndship and like many other things.From 15 to 22, long way ;).I loved it!! Mwaaaaah
muaaah nima :) im so glad we're still around in each other's lives :)
you are awesome at writing.it was very mature.
Brilliant !! I would suggest people to read this post rather than hard-core philosophy books :). Very pragmatic .Just love every little point you have written here,makes a lot of sense :)
thank you so much jayanthi for your kind words
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