The age of imagination

[ Karyir Riba ]

In today’s world of extreme positivity, there is no place for the slightest bit of negative thoughts; which, in simpler words, means that honesty is not the ‘cool’ thing anymore. Hence, no person is fat, no one is skeletal, there is no specific skin colour category, and nobody is unpleasant-looking anymore.
So, meditating on all these positive thoughts in our minds, some of us ladies in our early 30s (who have, sadly, not taken very well to ‘ageing with grace’) like to feel good about our age and appearance. Putting all our ageing woes in the back of our minds, we try to concentrate on the better things in life. Age is just a number, right?!
Well, lets all understand that trying to feel confident about our ageing skin takes a toll on us. But still, we build that confidence in us with all it takes, and off we go to the market with our newfound confidence boost.
As you enter a shop, the shopkeeper, who looks like he himself is suffering from his own ageing issues, decides to address you: “Aunty, kya chahiye?”
That word – one can literally hear the whole world crashing around you, and you feel like you are being sucked into a black hole (wherever it may be). It took you so much to get hold of yourself, and this little idiotic man has taken it all away from you with his one little word. You can feel rage at its worst, but you can’t do anything more than to put on a smile and to let him know what you want from his shop, although it was not like you walked into his shop just for him to throw your self-esteem into the darkest corner of the world.
As teenagers, we really want to grow older faster. The early 20s are the most fun years, but as soon as you have reached 25, it’s like the forces have dragged you so fast into your 30s – at Usain Bolt speed! And then there is no stopping.
The 30s is the most confusing age for a lot of us. It’s confusing in so many ways. You are not sure about what to wear or how to behave. You don’t want to look old but you don’t want to look childish either. You are not sure how to wear your hair or what haircut to get. This is also the time when you can actually see yourself transitioning from addressing random people you come across as “uncle” to “bhaiya”, and, ultimately, to “bhaiti.”
Anti-ageing beauty products are of no use either. Have the men ever seen the price on these products? Why do all the things that can scare the daylights out of women have to be related to ageing? Sigh!
With the heaviest of hearts you pay for these products, making your bank account lighter by thousands of rupees. You use these products, but deep down you know that it’s just to amuse your dying confidence and wishful thinking of getting a younger-looking skin.
Having said all that, in the end what matters is how we lived our lives. So, ageing skin or not, what matters is how you feel inside. It is important to enjoy every moment, doing what you love most, keeping yourself surrounded by people who care.
After all, we can only imagine what ageing men with balding heads and bulging tummies must be going through!