I am Sixteen

“I am sixteen going on seventeen

I know that I’m naive”

I believe I never grew beyond sixteen. I am as naive as I was when I was sixteen however I wish to stay this naive forever. Feeling young at heart is what keeps me going.

Sixteen was the age when I used to live in a house overlooking a big lake. I loved that house. I loved sitting on the window of that house and reading a book or listening to music. I used to have a tape recorder and played songs on a cassette. Do you all remember cassettes? They were messy at times when the tape used to get stuck and we had to manually roll it back in place. Irrespective of that it was fun. I loved listening to Beatles, ABBA and Hindi film songs. I did not have too many cassettes and used to listen to the few that I had again and again.

Sixteen is the age when you see rainbows, the age of dreams and magic, an age when everything looks easy and conquerable, an age when nothing seems impossible. Just like any other girl I was also throbbing with excitement and energy.  I was dreaming of a bright future, great career and also of a knight in shining armour, well!!! Not exactly in that order.

I look back and wish to go back to that age when I had no worries, no fear. Life was carefree full of fun and friends. The only thing to worry about was exams. That was also the age when I was thin like a stick and never had to worry about calories before eating anything. I could eat anything and everything. That was the age when I never got tired easily or became breathless after climbing stairs. I could run and jump and dance without feeling breathless. I could sit on the floor and get up easily and never had to worry about my knees. That was the age when I never had to worry about hair-fall, pigmentation, stretch marks or sagging skin. I never needed anti-ageing cream or calcium capsules to stay healthy and young.

Sixteen was when I never had to tear my hair reading parenting blogs (I seriously get depressed reading parenting blogs, the mummies seem so perfect that I literally plunge into inferiority complex) or my son’s school’s whatsapp group and realising that I am a horrible mother who is probably doing everything wrong. At sixteen I never had to worry about what to pack for husband’s lunch box or how to stay calm when mom-in-law visits. Sixteen was when I could throw tantrums and my mom had to tolerate, wish I could throw similar tantrums with my mom-in-law.

Sixteen was the age when I dreamt of becoming Mrs. Sachin Tendulakar (I am sure many of us did). It was also the age when I could drool over Andre Agassi, George Michael, Tom Cruise, Roberto Baggio, Brad Pitt, Hugh Grant…long list of men. Now when I look at those same men I realise I am ageing too.

Sixteen was the age when my smartphone used to not buzz throughout the day. In fact we didn’t even have a telephone. Television was only Chitrahaar, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The saas bahu serials had yet not monopolised the tele-world. There was no internet and most importantly there was no Facebook. Zuckerberg was probably in his diapers. Life was beautiful without Facebook and twitter, there was no secondly update of who is eating what, or who is travelling to where or who is loving his/her spouse/child/mom/dad/dog/cat..etc,etc…. Therefore sixteen is the age I would pickup for the rest of my life.

‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

 

 

 

20 thoughts on “I am Sixteen”

  1. Sreedeep Chennamangalam says:
    Reply

    Sixteen is indeed an age where we all would love to go back to. The good old Doordarshan, Vividh Bharati on radio, the books from the library, the petty fights with parents and siblings…the list is endless. Your post took me back to when I was sixteen and I had a smile on my face. Nicely written!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Akshata Ram says:
    Reply

    Ah Balaka I was thinking of writing for this prompt and realised I wrote about something similar few months back, I dint particularly have a happy teenage as I was fraught with self doubt so I wouldn’t like to go back there but the things you mention about life sans Facebook, what’s app, tv soaps is definitely a more peaceful one

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Maniparna Sengupta Majumder says:
    Reply

    Ah! Sixteen…the age of dreams and unadulterated happiness. I do remember the cassettes and the pencil, you know what I mean 😀

    Regarding the son’s school WhatsApp group, I’ve stopped checking to get rid of the inferiority complex 😦 I wonder why and how there are so many perfect mommies around!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Rajlakshmi says:
    Reply

    Those were carefree times… Without the worries of the world. But I won’t pick sixteen as I was too worried about my board results and class Xl physics was a nightmare 😅
    And I wish I too could throw a tantrum.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Balaka says:
      Reply

      I was also worried about exams but I guess compared to the stress of deadlines given by clients..and the related stress…I would anyday prefer my class XI physics😂

      Like

  6. Shalzmojo says:
    Reply

    Ah you are of my generation when you talk about chitrahaar and Tom Cruise in the same breathe; yes I was agog about Andre Agassi / George Michael and Tom cruise too at that age; add Milind SOman to that mix too 😉
    16 sure was sweet and uncomplicated and now looking back, it was far more accomplished for me than any other age as I got very serious about studies and life then!!

    Liked by 1 person

Did you like my post? Please let me know

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.