The Clock Strikes Twenty

17th July 2007. Today was the beginning of the end. The end of my teenage years, that is. I was on the phone today in the morning when suddenly I realized that today was officially my last day on planet earth as a teenager. By this tomorrow, I would be 20 years old. My mother marked this very special day by giving me a present she promised she’ll never ever give me again: A lollipop.

Whew! Never knew that seven years can zip right past you like a Porsche-driving celebrity being chased by the paparazzi. If the theory of relativity is to be believed, that means I quite enjoyed the most volatile years of ones life. And I just ain’t talking about zits that appear over night.

I remember being really excited about turning 13 years old. Finally I’d get the chance of watching a movie without G or PG certification. It was also at my 13th birthday party that I first had a real conversation with a classmate I had hardly spoken to previously. We have been best friends ever since that day.

My last was also special in a more markedly teenagish way. I couldn’t stop giggling (since I’m too tanned to blush) on receiving a present from a guy I had a crush on at that point of time. Thankfully another glimpse of Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient made further developments in that direction out of the question.

So what does being twenty really feel like? Will I turn into a totally different person tomorrow as soon as the morning sun announces the demise of my teen year?

Nah…..I really don’t think so.

Can’t really imagine a single extra digit changing the things I love, the things I hate and the things I’m still in the process of discovering. For starters, I don’t think I’ll exclaim any softly every time I see a squirrel (Oh ma! Cho Cweet!). And I’ll still steal ice from the refrigerator every time I can sneak past mum. The all-important decision of what to wear to college is still gonna be confusing as I stand in front of my wardrobe each morning. In spite of my cupboard overflowing I still don’t have anything to wear. Macro-economics might still be mind boggling, but that’s one thing I do want to change about life on the other side of twenty. And my faith in the One I trust isn’t gonna change any time soon.

Im hoping some confusions will clear themselves out. But I guess new questions will always arise. Hey, I managed to survive twenty years. Haven’t done too bad a job till now, even though my mum claims it was mostly her and lady luck. Well this time, I hope to not just survive, but thrive.

As a friend said, I can pass off as a school-kid for at least seven more years. I’m not really sure whether he meant it as a compliment, but I guess it means that I still have my entire teenage waiting before me. I just hope its gonna be minus the zits this time.