30th Birthday special :-)

Tomorrow is my birthday. The birthday I'd been eagerly waiting for. My 30^th! :) I hope it will be a happy day… just as happy yesterday was. Yesterday was my 'Malayalam' birthday. It wasn't very eventful (my birthdays usually never are) but I liked it nonetheless. I generally feel happy during this time of the year… December. Everybody is in a festive mood and the weather is also so nice. Not to forget all those birthdays and anniversaries and Christmas! And my birthday is the day when my happiness usually reaches its zenith… and I'm pretty sure it's that way for everyone on their birthdays.

But this time around, my birthday is definitely happier than my previous ones. Tomorrow I will complete what could possibly have been one of the worst decades of my life… the 'Terrible Twenties' I'd like to call it! Women generally start hiding and lying about their age when/after they hit their 30s. I don't think I'll ever do that. I'd be proud to say I am a thirty-something. What's the big deal anyway? The way women put it, it might seem they're in their sixties or seventies! Duh!

In my opinion, the thirties are when a person (both men and women) is regarded with some amount of serious respect when they say something or take decisions. During the teens, people are simply growing up both physically and emotionally. The person you saw/heard a week ago may not be the person you see/hear a week later. An undecided and confused lot. But they're quite busy growing up (and of course most are in school), you see, to actually give much thought to the deeper aspects of life. Decisions pertaining to life taken at this age are mostly regretted at some later point of life. They are not to blame for their brazenness. It's just the age.

The flashy and exuberant twenties roll in next. This is when people discover and get used to themselves and the new adult they have metamorphosed into. A feeling of endless power engulfs all other emotions. A typical twenty-something is bubbling with energy, is educated, is physically fully grown (read 'beautiful') and has access to money (either own finances or those of parents). So the 'endless power' factor comes in. They have a feeling that the world is under their feet. I'd like to call this decade as an educational one. This is the time when people experiment with themselves and their emotions. At the end of the twenties, people usually become completely aware of their strengths, weaknesses and limitations. This awareness is a direct or indirect result of making a whole lot of mistakes, taking risks, falling in traps (falling in love too ;-) ), undergoing and understanding the true meaning and impact of a 'heartbreak', realizing the extremities of their mood swings and blame 'the system' for everything :)

The decade ahead (or even more, for that matter), i.e. the thirties, is meant for actually putting into practical use all the things we learnt from the past decade…usually what we learnt from our mistakes. I have oft noticed that people in their thirties are usually (barring a few exceptions ;-)) more complacent, forgiving and have more knowledge about the 'ways of the world' than their younger counterparts. Being there myself now, I can understand why. And yet, they are not so old that a generation gap springs up on its own. It's a 'no-man's land' between the young and the old. They are able to connect with and understand the younger generation; they can also comprehend the eccentricities and weird ideologies of the older generation…making them acceptable in both societies. This may or may not be correct. It's just my perspective :)

Anyway, Happy 30^th Birthday to me! :)