Letter to a 10 year old Abhiram

Dear 10 year old Abhiram,

Hope you are well.

Very recently, I was wondering what it was like to be you. I contrasted my current situation (goals, priorities, responsibilities, etc) with what they must be for you and I have come to the conclusion that I am far cooler than you. This letter is to rub your face in it.

Look around you. You are probably surrounded by a lot of stupid friends, just like you, happily playing silly games like hide-and-seek, chor-police and what not. Life probably seems great to you. No big decisions to make, no interviews to take, no advisors to answer... Your only worries are your final exams and whether or not you will pass them. You probably read articles of people reminiscing their childhood with great pleasure, telling yourself that you are actually living their dream. Let me tell you something, life is far more awesome than what you make of it now, and I am getting to see it.

You know what, I don't have to be back at home after 6. I can drive, legally. The same parents you have, who give you instructions on how to cross a busy road, now go to the extent of trusting me with amounts of money you can't even say in one breath. At public gatherings, adults don't just make nonsense small talk with me like - which class are you studying in, which subject do you like the most; they treat me like an equal. I understand and do math that you don't even know exists. I don't have to study history and geography like you do. I know what it feels like to have money of my own and decide what I want to spend it on. Your parents, whom you turn to for everything, now turn to me for quite a few things. I get to travel alone. And you know that thing you heard of called a computer - I own one today. I will not even begin to go into what all it can do, you will only think I am lying. You know something even better, I can even make it do things. I get marks for studying it well.

I understand the world far better than you do. Those college graduates who make you stop playing cricket just so that they can play, I AM ONE OF THEM! To top it all, I know all that is going to happen to you in your next 13 years. Don't worry, nothing too bad will happen :)

Yes, the bad news is you are not living anyone's dream; in fact, I am living your secret dream. But you know what, you are going to have all that I have now. And once you grow older than me, you will have even more and can even make fun of me.

I write this letter, not to mock you, but to advise you to concentrate on the present and fully enjoy it. That is all you have in your hand. There are things in your present you have never had nor will ever have again. Not that you will miss them; but you better enjoy whatever you have right now, rather than thinking about what you had when you were younger or what you can have when you are older. That way you will have had fun at every point in life. God bless you.

Yours affectionately,

23 year old Abhiram.

P.S. - The Indian cricket team has still not won a world cup. I am waiting for it too.