Dilemmas of youth

Rahul… is seventeen years of age…….. an average, Indian youth belonging to an average Indian family. Both his parents are working… it’s almost difficult to make ends meet, otherwise. He is in School, preparing for his pre boards, board examinations, medical competitive exams……phew!!

His day starts at seven in the morning….forcibly, unwillingly…. mechanically! Now, after so many years, it’s more of a routine than an effort.
After the daily ablutions ..not much excitement there.. except for an occasional new colour of the toothpaste with an unidentifiable ingredient which is frequently drilled into his unconscious, sleepy state of awareness through various identifiable, possible sources of media to be…good for his teeth……simple? Eh??

These advertisers are being paid for doing nothing.. why can’t they simply exploit a true customer mind ..like me!
Well, these are not the thoughts going on in his mind at the moment..in fact, there is nothing remotely moving at present.
Once his mind connects with reality ..which happens quite abruptly….daily there is a different finale to this sequence… This connection can happen either through his sudden barging in of the maid servant along with a broom…. (presence of an alien body in a state of undress can get your senses back………) or the heaving of Shishir..his elder brother…. Clarification, heaving ..does not mean just the heavy intake and exhalation of breaths .these are controlled, simultaneous movement of all the parts of the body supposed to be performed daily to give you an extra edge over your best friend’s girlfriend………
Whatever might be the reason but now our protagonist is in his full senses….( do not underestimate this statement) and is ready to take up the big, bad world……..to face another day in paradise.

Once he dishes out clothes from his cluttered bin, chooses the very first thing that he can get hold of …….. and tries rushing out till Ma calls him.. Mothers have this tendency of barging in at the very last moment….Who’s worried about breakfast when you know you are getting late for tuitions….and trying your very best to avoid the embarrassment of getting inside an already seated class while Mr. Choudhary gives his icy , cool stare as if saying ..not again!!

Hurriedly he wrapped an aloo paratha with jam…..Sil? Nestle??..how does it make a difference ………. ? Run, Run……..
Lately he had been pestering his father to get him a bike ……. Advertisers claim that pester power is a huge potential for FMCG’s ..alas! Our protagonist is not one of those lucky pests… or guess, his power is not sufficient to draw out something from his father’s limited budget…
Borrowed his scooter instead and hoped that Shweta, the girl he has a secret crush on… does not see him on the way.
He tried sleeping through the lecture, but was not really successful. He disgusts tuitions, as maintaining a direct eye contact with someone like Mr. Choudhary for one and a half hours and faking attention is quite tiresome.
From tuitions he rushed back home changed into his school uniform picked up his school bag and ran again. .. this time for his school bus!
The bus was jam packed….. this school dose not need a separate physical training class…..phew! after all the running all that he managed to get was decent enough space for a foot.
‘Shishir needs all the exercising in the world ‘cause he does not have to go through a rigorous schedule. I get all my exercising done out here in the real world…. Some people seem to have all the luck in the world..’ fumed, cursed and thought Rahul.
School was not much fun either… what with boards right next the corner and loads of medical exams in line… there were tests, mock tests, pre boards..(Why? I believe in facing adversity once and with all my energy ..why dissipate the enthusiasm…the fear..the excitement?)
..and a farewell party! The only thing that has kept him awake all through the night…..in fact, nights after nights! Would he be able to confess his love for Shweta to her on that day? At least, he intends to make a try.. because you never know when would they meet next. How…? is the question.. .a very big question!
The return journey was no less adventurous ……. He managed to secure a seat … with a kid on his lap but it was not all that bad….simple pleasures in life!

‘Damn, the door is locked again, The first thing that families with working parents needs is a lock with enough number of keys’ thought Rahul.
He managed to break in…through a spare key, which his mother cleverly hides within one particular flowerpot in cases of emergency such as these.

He switched on the TV with the maximum volume while he tried getting out of his uniform and a fresh search for something decently clean and ironed began…

Food was cold……. Rice, Dal and some unidentifiable green vegetable…. Why do the kids have to bear the costs of earning two paychecks in a family..at times such as these he missed a normal mother, warm food ….simply, someone to talk to.
He swallowed the food and picked up his books. … a separate set, for the medical tuitions… locked the door, hid the key ….. took an auto (‘Disgusting!….. hope none of my friends see me on this’) and sat……. almost slept through another set of drilling session.
Luckily he got a lift back home, picked up some junk food on the way as he knew his mom would be too tired to cook something, immediately, for him.
Since he was famished he gobbled the junk while watching some crap on the idiot box….. .peacefully as long as Shishir does not come back and prances on the remote….Gawd, why did you ever think of a concept of an elder brother? They are a pain .. universally!
He tried flipping through some channels while listening to his mom’s scolding about losing the key, yet again. In the end he couldn’t bear it anymore and hence he walked off to his room.. to enjoy whatever privacy he could as long as Shishir does not barge in. Switched on the music and tried concentrating on some tutorials but couldn’t.
In the end he drifted into a restless sleep There were so many confusions, so many problems…………..such a mundane, meaningless existence…. Wish sleep could give him an answer to his queries.
Career, love, family, parents, independence, privacy……………
‘Why can’t I skip these years and reach a more mature age when things would be more settled and ……….peaceful?‘
Rahul drifted into a tired slumber searching for his answers.
………. Youth and its dilemmas. Just a mater of few more years and then Rahul would yearn to go back to these very years…………….or would he??