" what's in an age"

In a time and at a nation, which is becoming more and more age sensitive - being at a right side of 25-nowadays, i almost beginning to feel as a senior citizen myself (where are the people gone in the facebook who could have written early 80s as their birth year). when i was in school, may be in class 6 0r 7 , i used to look upon the people who are in their late 20s as a bunch of senior citizens.I kept thinking in those days that " when a person is 25 or 26-there won't be much time in their hands to enjoy their life" Very little did i realize, that someday this thought will backfire on me ! Now i am 26+ ( i feel secured with this "+" sign added with my last birthday's age) and still i don't know a helluva of things which i supposed to know by this time . One of my freinds who recently got married- advised me once with a i-have-wisdom-of-the-world -as-i-am-married-now attitude that " see, this is the high time you should also get married- otherwise it would be problemtic to raise children at a later period of life". RAISING KIDS?? it sent a cold chill up and down my spine. It is also amazing to see how girls transform after marriage. Once she gets married, she takes up the noble responsibility of marrying off all her other girlfriends by constantly reminding them of their age and how little time they have in their hands to raise kids ( little monsters actually !) . I wish to know , whether married men give similar piece of advise to their bachelor friends too.

It really irritates me sometimes to see the condradictions of the society. On one hand, they compose song like " Age ain't nothing but a number" , with fashion magazines flooded with the pictures of " Substatial women at their 30s and 40s" with their high-flying careers and elegant looks, their inspiring stories n all. On the other hand, the pressure of getting married and having kids is all the more same as it was 20 years ago. They say "life begins at 30" or " 40 is the new 30" etc etc but in reality i feel there is push on all of us in getting "settled down" at the right age ( where for me the emphasis should be put upon the right kind of partner, instead of the age). And this business of settling down is still very unsettling to me. In a fast-paced world, when technology and education- which is significant today can be useless in tommorrow, when it is said that if you want to survive in this big bad jungle, you have to change yourself and learn constantly, when people walk out of their established jobs and plunge into a new career path or women call off their marital vows and juggle between their career and raising their kids as single mothers- does such a thing called "settling down" exist? I have read a piece of an article by Shobha De where she expressed her horror when at a party, she met up with a bunch of beautiful girls in their early 20s who were discussing among themselves - the usefulness of anti-aging cream to mend their "already" wrinkled facial skin. Even in west, there are a bunch of teenage stars who do everything to hog the limelight , apart from behaving like their age and rest of us- the mortals do everything - from doing up fake birth certificates to ask others about their age directly and basking in secret glory if that person happens to be even a year older than us or feel humiliated if the other person happens to grace the earth - after us. Then i look up at Elizabeth Hurley and what she did at 45..n i feel all hopes are not lost yet- the life is full of possibilities..* wink*..