Family.

A group of people you love. A group of people you live with. A group of people you are closest to. A group of people you share almost everything with. They tell you what to do and what not to do. No, I am not talking about your blood relatives. I am talking about the friends you hang out with, you eat with them, share your room with them, (well, share a lot more than a room actually). Gone are the days when you used to live with your mum and dad (no offence to the ones who’re still living with their parents). It’s just that if you haven’t lived with friends, you haven’t still grown up. You have a lot to live yet. A lot to understand, a lot to experience.

If you’re thinking, you won’t have a mother when you need one, or a father when you are in trouble, well I’ll say of course you will. There will be times when one of you will become a mother when someone needs a hug and a lap, while at times, you will find yourself pampering someone like a dad and will always have their back. This way, you’ll have more than one mum and dad. If you take a stat from the people around you, I am sure you’ll find out that we listen to friends a lot more than we obey parents. But of course the guidance given either way might just be on similar lines.

Once in life, it’s necessary to know what it’s like to live without parents. Now, you’ll say you’ll have to do just that after marriage anyway. So, why start now? Well, for the exact same reason I say. Now you tell me, among a certain two beings, one has been staying with parents and the other has had a hostel experience or something similar; who will find it easier to start a new home with their partner?

But mind you, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t give heed to your parents. Peer pressure is a completely different thing. Although it only comes into picture if you are fed up of the house you’re living in, and when you are looking for a way out. That’s when you take refuge with the friends around. Most of us make a mistake here. This is so not the experience I’m talking about. It’s when you have your parents around, you love them, you listen to them, confide in them and yet your roommates are your family. Parents you’ll always have even when you’re in some distant land teaching your kid to ride a bike. But the friends you’ve lived with : a very short-lived family. A family you are too afraid to lose. So afraid, that when it’s time to part, you’ll find yourself getting closer to them. It’s like a tsunami. When it’s about to take over the whole village, at the peak moment, the water will first be sucked right into the sea, and then comes the biggest tide.