Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

(The above poem was written by Mary Schmich, I found it quit nice...)

The Regional Crowd

It was my first year in coll when I first come in to touch with these creatures, if I may call them creatures. Possibly the most queer species I have seen. They looked acted like humans from outside and came in all sizes and shapes. But thats where the similarity ends. Their strange way of talking, eating, doing things and most of all their mentality and outlooks towards others took me by surprise. I began to wonder...r they normal ?? or am I abnormal ??!!

The way that act in class or group, could make u feel embarrassed and often in a position, where you would not know what to do...n this happened to you because u committed the grave mistake of being with them...n lettin them think that ur his 'friend'. One such incident happened to me: It was first year...we were yet to no the whole class. It was common that they discussed girls of their respective batches. I happened to b present during one of those 'hot' discussions bcos it happened in my room. One girl used b the hot topic for discussion. I committed the blunder of sayin "luks lik shes a nice girl" (goin by their praises for the girl). The very nxt day I was suddenly called by my 'friend'. It looked as if he was in sum kinda emergency. To my surprize, he took me to that girl n said..."he's my friend n wud lik to b ur friend" and went away !! Now it was the first time that I saw that girl n came face to face with her, n moreover she looked like an aunty, definitely not a coll girl. At that point, wt the fcuk ws I supposed to do? I felt too embarrassed to say nethin. I jus ran outta that place, thinking...what hit me? Was it the girl (aunty) or was the way in which intro had taken place. It was clear that I was not expecting such a blunt intro and sounding as if I was a big despo who wants to befriend a girl. And not 2 4get that all this happened because I was his 'friend'.

With them around, if sum1 is talking to a girl, he working out his 'setting' with the girl. Teasing somebody if they chatted with a girl was a common site. C'mon we were in coll...not in some govt school. There etiquettes are outta this world, whether they are talkin to you, teacher, or worse, when talking to a girl. If ur out with them, its obvious that they will make u feel embarrassed but they dont mind any action of their's and think it to be perfectly justified. Bitching about others, faking things, to gain attention of girls was a common thing during those days. Later even girls came to no about their true nature. When it come to money matters, their parochialism was the worst I have ever seen. They would use ur things, even if they had their own (eg deo, pen. etc) so that it saved them money (will sum1 ask them how many paise did they save?).They never seem to be outta words when it come self praising. Possibly the best of best blowhards ever (esp in front of a girl).

Its a gud thing that they are limited in our coll...otherwise lyf cud have been hell. Imagine, what u do particular thing is wrong, but if they do same thing is absolutely FINE. Try listening to there choice of there music, I really dont understand how do they find such useless music tracks? I listen to both English and Hindi songs, but cannot stand a single minute of their 'best' of their songs. One more thing worth mentioning is that u dont want to stand near them. If for sum reason u (god forbid) had to, it wud have been difficult because the body odor of most of them would make a skunk shy away. And if ur around when they are taking their socks off....well...the smell could knock u off !!

It is not that all the regional crowd is alike, there are exceptions also, but they are very rare. I would not mind having friendship with them, but I cannot stand their behavior, there narrow-minded thinking and most of all double standards. My experiences with them leaves me always uncomfortable whenever I meet another person who is from the same region even though I do not know him. I hope you no why................