A letter to my sixteen year old self

 

Hey D,

 

It’s me, no, it’s you; twice your age - you

 

Ah, life has changed since I was you. Not better; not worse, just changed, but still beautiful.

 

You know how everyone keeps telling you “enjoy your sixteen - life is not going to be the same - it’s not going to be as nice”, well they are talking crap. You are going to enjoy it every-time as you grow. Yes, there will be ups and downs but over all it’s a fun ride all the way up here.

 

That’s reminds me, how is the boyfriend doing? Oh, you are so crazy about him. I am rather fond of your filmy self - Mann hi mann pati maan chuki hu, and all. Okay, take a deep breath, It’s. Not. Going. To. Last. And you know what’s worse; you, yes, YOU are going to end it. :(

 

It’s all right; you don’t have to get all upset about it. You will fall in love again… erm… and again and have your share of heart breaks. No, I am not trying to scare you. Trust me, break ups are good. You will learn; be a better person. You will marry a great guy ultimately. Voila! So relax.

 

Actually nothing is really going to remain the same. In fact… hold your breath… you are not even going to be living in Bombay all your life. Wait - don’t panic – listen – you are going to a city that you will grow on to you.

 

It will engulf you in such a way that you will adore it and everything attached to it. You will be devoted to the city in a way where you will not want to go back to Bombay ever. Ever. You will miss your parents though; so just be a little nice to them, okay.

 

You will learn a different language. You will want to read and write in that language. Rather you will start thinking and dreaming in the other language. You will sing in that language. (No you still have a horrible singing voice; that does not change. :|)

 

Life is going to be nice. You are going to nurture your hobby for sewing and be passionate about it. You will read well when you are me. For now, try reading a bit more. Read everything. Else you will soon be wishing you had.

 

There is a world beyond Ruskin Bond. (He will remain your favourite author and guess what; you will get to meet him as well) Try picking up the P.G. Wodehouse. You tried reading it when you were too young but now I am sure you will appreciate it. Don’t give up on it.

 

You will also develop a passion for writing too. Writing reminds me: The diary in which you pour your heart into; along with all the mush and tears and… groan… blood; you are going to throw it away one day. You will throw it in a ditch called the “Maratha Ditch”, which is not in Bombay. No, it's not in Maharashtra. Yes, it's in the city you are going to be in. (Ironies of life)

 

Gasp! You are not gorging on chocolate again, are you? It does not cure depression. It only makes you fat. You are going to so regret all the cheese and the chocolates that you are feasting on at the moment. Listen to me, I am serious, the day will come when you drop in to a store and none of those pretty dresses will fit you. You will hate yourself for all this cheese and chocolates. Dieting and working out is not going to be easy.

 

Also you will be on the other side of generation gap. Though you think now, that you will never do this, you will sit and say things like, “Gosh, what’s wrong with this generation.” “Things weren’t like this during our times,” “Listen I say it with experience.” So just try to be a little tolerating when people say this to you, okay?

 

Yes, your friends are all going to scatter across seven seas but don’t lose sleep over it. There will be a technology called social networking where you will be able to track ever moment of their life. Well, almost every moment.

 

You’ve no idea what technology is going to do to you.

 

You will own a mobile phone; no like the walky talky ones you see around, but one with a keypad like that of the computer (they call it qwerty) and you will loath it. Okay, I am kidding you won’t loath it, you will love it. Well, maybe I am not kidding, you will want to loath it but you will still love it. Hrmph! You won’t be able to live without it.

 

 

F.R.I.E.N.D.S is going to run into numerable seasons and you will stop watching it one fine day. You will stop watching Seinfeld too. Rather you will stop watching television.

 

The good thing though is the fact that you will never stop loving Salman Khan. And you will never stop loving Bollywood; and Salman Khan. You will never stop loving the songs that are topping on DD metro. There will be some awesome music made in Bollywood over the years but you will continue to love these. Did I mention Salman Khan?

 

Besides that, you are a great person, you look great. You do not need lipsticks to attract boys; you look good wearing kajal. It does not make you look like a cat. You don’t have to listen to everything the boys tell you.

 

You are doing just fine otherwise. Stay the way you are; continuing being positive. It’s okay to not know what you want to do with your life. Just follow your heart. You will eventually know… erm…‘we’ will eventually know.

 

I still do things that make me feel stupid about myself and I am still learning. And this letter is definitely not prophetic.

 

Till then just be yourself and stay happy. Life is going to be good to you.

 

So long!

 

Love,

Me…you… me… argh whatever!

 

 

 

 

 

There are number of post about the same topic as mine on the internet; a song as well, I picked up the idea from Dhara.