GROWING OLD AND GROWING UP

 

“Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.”

Chili Davis

 

What would you call this: When my son was a little boy, I shouted and he shut his mouth; and, today, when he is a young man, he shouts and I shut my mouth?

And, what would you call this: When, as a little boy, I screamed and woke up through my nightmares, my mom would put a holy rosary around my neck; today, at 62, when I still scream and wake up in my nightmares, I feel ashamed to talk about it?

And, when that happens inside me, if my heart still feels the gentle comfort of my mom’s hands, even though, she is no more around me… Yes, what would you call it?

Do we ever ‘grow up’ in life, or we simply claim we do?

Or, as Chili Davis says, do we all ‘grow old’, by default, compulsorily, and choose to ‘grow up’ or not?

I am confused, Sir!

The child in me should never grow up, I feel. I don’t want to feel numb when there is a gentle touch, and, I don’t want to feel like a stone when the Sun goes home and the Moon and the Stars come over to see me through the night… I want to feel small when I stand before the mighty mountains and oceans… I want to feel scared when thunders and lightnings strike… I want to wonder, feel thankful, feel remorseful, feel healed…

J. M. Berrie asserted similarly, when he said: “If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I will never grow up, never grow up, never grow up. Not me.”

So, do you think, that ‘growing up’ is optional?

 

Early last morning, my dear friend Aditi, shared with me a beautiful write-up and wrote, “I would love to read this piece again, if you blog on it.” This was that piece:

 

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN

Author unknown

 

Somewhere between

‘10 toffees for I rupee’ and

‘1 toffee for 10 rupees’,

we grew up.

Somewhere between

‘Ground mai aaja’ and

‘Online aaja’,

we grew up.

Somewhere between

‘Stealing chocolates of our sister’ and

‘Buying chocolates for her children’,

we grew up.

Somewhere between

‘Just five more mins maa’ and

‘pressing the snooze button’,

we grew up.

Somewhere between

‘Crying out loud just to get what we want,’ and

‘Holding our tears when we are broken inside’,

we grew up.

Somewhere between

‘I want to grow up’ and

‘I want to be a child again’,

we grew up.

Somewhere between

‘Let’s meet up and plan’ and

‘Let’s plan and meet’,

we grew up.

Somewhere between

‘Being afraid of our parents’ and

‘Praying for our parents’,

we finally grew up.

And, as we grew up, we realize,

how silently, our lives have changed.

 

The beauty of this piece is that it’s not conclusive… Each one of us can keep adding our own ‘Somewhere-between experiences’!

But, I still wonder, whether I have ‘grown old’ or ‘grown up’!

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s.: pixabay

 

Videos: Lee Ann Womack/CNlovesmusic