GenNext

I happened to get a peek into my distant future last week. Nope, it wasnt the astrologer who read my cards, it was just a 15-minute conversation with my 16 year old cousin. She had just entered Standard XII. Her mom was worried, and not completely without reason, of her incessant companion- the mobile phone. Being just one generation away and the sister she was in awe of, the task of advising her fell upon me.

I kept a reminder on my phone and called her up. Spent a couple of minutes in useless banter and then slowly approached the topic. That it would be better if she left the phone with her mom everyday day during her study time(Did I ever study everyday?!). My words sounded disappointingly hollow to my own ears. I knew from the beginning that there wasnt much I could do to hold my stand but now that I had started it, I had to end it. I heard the usual ifs and buts and whys, but when she retorted that she's heard stories about how I used to talk endlessly on the phone and shoot up the bills, I was on the brink of breakdown. More senseless, trying-to-hold-ground answers and further admonishments later I hung up the phone. I thank my stars that I have years ahead of me to prepare myself for a full-fledged session like this. Or maybe I should start taking up courses on teen psychology as soon as I can.