I had gone over to ‘yippee hippie’s’ place. Mojo came over after sometime. And having nothing better to do we decided to make crank calls. I didn’t know that calling up random friends and saying weird stuff to them would still be so much fun. I felt like a 12 year old again.
No gossip. No ‘pnpc’. No one hurt. No egos bruised. Just simple, unadulterated FUN.
I turned 18 last week. I had been waiting for a very long time for this birthday. At last…I thought I would ‘officially’ be an ‘adult’. I was tired of being the ‘child’ in my friend circle. I had been driving everyone nuts about how I was finally to become an adult. My mother of course..had something to say (she always has)…
“Adult hoye jachchho mane kintu ar ma eta koro, ma ota koro , ma eta dao, ma ota dao, ma eta nebo please..please..please??? bola cholbe na. Adult hochchho tahole u better behave like one.”
I, of course was too happy to agree. Who doesn’t want to be independent?? Amidst all the hullabaloo, however, I hadn’t given a thought to the fact that my 18th birthday would also be the day when I would ‘officially’ let go of my childhood.
And after today…somehow I desperately want to re-read all my old tattered copies of ‘Thakumar Jhuli’, ‘Aesop’s Fables’, ‘Roosh Desher Upakatha’ and ‘Molla Naseeruddiner Galpo’. ( Books which I had allowed my mother to give away to my 5 year old cousin…after I ‘officially’ became an ‘adult’)
“Ma, can I have them back again, please….please….please???”