Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick is the sound that I can hear now, apart from the sound that my keyboard emanates as a result of my fingers pressing its buttons to type what you’re reading now. As I write this piece, sitting on a comfortable armchair, locked up in a soundproof apartment in one of the coldest places on the planet, Finland, the sun is still up there in the sky. It’s not even ready to set, even though, the digital clock in my laptop displays the time as 7:54 P.M.

It's this culprit, the wall clock, that’s breaking the silence and letting the time pass swiftly. Does it also reflect my biological clock? Oh Yes, I am aging. Organs or parts of my body are getting deprecated at the atomic/subatomic level which may not be so observable at this stage. A series of questions come up in my mind, should I rush into them just because my biological clock is ticking away? I am in, no way, going to get the medals that Yamraj is already holding in his hands for giving to those who married at the age of 25 years and had kids at the age of 27 years.

I’ve seen a lot of posts on X (formerly Twitter) about people in the age group 20-30-year-old Indians asking questions about important stages of life like marriage, career, etc. along with their age. It’s because Indian society has set a time bomb for the age of 25. It’s as if someone who’s not married at the age of 25 or has kids by the age of 27, is a failure and all his/her achievements are nothing but waste. I’m sure that those who have achieved these milestones, will not get rid of other milestones that will appear once they achieve these and such milestones will tragically percolate to their next generation.

I'm glad I never paid focus to these societal standards as I've other milestones to achieve in life other than these two! I never rushed into a relationship during my college days under any peer pressure. I spent time working on things that I felt, would accompany me throughout my life. I dedicated my time to developing my hobbies like singing, writing, painting, reading, etc. I’ve realized lately that the solace through which I searched for my individuality, is the same skill that has helped me immensely in foreign lands. I have individualistic goals or passions to pursue despite being in a marriage where responsibilities tend to overshadow them, with time.

In this era of social media full of distractions which has reduced our attention span to a few minutes, it’s a privilege to sit away from distractions, look into yourself, and try to seek answers to those questions that are there within your mind. The wall clock which showed 7:54PM when I started writing this blog post, is no longer the same now. Time has slipped away and the realization of me growing old is the only constant. None of my worries can ever slow down the speed of the moving hands of this wall clock. It’s doing its job the way it is supposed to. Have I lived those moments that have slipped away? Oh Yes! I’ve because I am writing something that has to be always talked about. I’ve not let my worries stop me from living those moments that just slipped away.

All Rights Reserved!

Swati Sarangi

24.04.2024

  P.S: This post is a part of #BlogChatterA2Z 2024Challenge for Alphabet ‘T’