The Saga Continues..(Part1)

( OK, i know this post is like a month overdue, but like i always say, better late than never :) )

I've always been scared of commitments of any form and quite frankly, i HATE change.... Changing schools, taking decisions, making new friends- its always been scary for me.. Call me a gutless mallu, but that's just how i am. And thus i find birthdays scary..

Confused? Well as you grow older, you have more responsibilities. and you need to be committed enough to these new responsibilities to do a half decent job.. NIGHTMARE!!!!

I'd been thinking of this very same nightmare for a while now and the daily birthday countdowns that my friends were giving me, the cards that were coming in and the constant birthday discussions were just making things work..

It's the last year of college, and maybe I'll be working the next year or perhaps I'll be doing my PG.. My head'd been spinning thinking about the responsibilities that were to fall on my head soon and the change that I'd have to encounter.. Every message that came in reminding me about my birthday felt like the loud ticking of a time bomb about to burst.. No matter how much my friends tried to show me the brighter side, my brain refused to accept there was anything good about growing older..

Dad'd just come back from a really long tour, and i was moping around oblivious to everything other than the loud ticking of 'the time-bomb'. We decided to go out for dinner, hoping that that would change my mood, at least temporarily.. I decided to drive:- grown up act #1..

My parents were talking about grad school.. but (thankfully) there was enough traffic to distract me..

A bunch of hooligans overtook suddenly from the right..My mum noticed the 'cute' guys in the car.. Dad commented on their 'uber sexy' tyres... I swore loudly, cursing the mindless brats( much to my dad's amusement and ma's shock):- grown up act #2..

We reached besant nagar ; i fussed about the lack of parking space and frowned at a skimpily dressed teenager.. :-grown up act #3..

My phone buzzed.. "yet another reminder", i thought as i crossed the road.. And thats when my dad took my hand.. He wrapped his fingers around mine, like he always did when i was little and pulled me along as he crossed the road..When we reached the other side, he patted my head and smiled. "No matter how old you are, you'll always be my little girl"

I looked at my phone to check the message.. it was F.O.F..

"Age is an issue of mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter".

That's when it struck me, it didn't matter if i was turning 20 or 70. I would always be my daddy's little girl, i would always have the love of my friends... I could do whatever i wanted to do and be whoever i wanted to be.. no matter how old i was cos I'd always have people i could fall back on and who make every day of my existence a wonderful experience..

Somehow, the countdown didn't seem threatening now..

" Tick tock tick tock..4 more hours left of your teens" read the next message..

I smiled.. "four more hours before the start of a new adventure"