How do you get the maximum out of the heady seven — those seven turbo-charged teenage years? This is what Arikatha Tanuja wants to know. Now that’s a really good question. Well, my young readers, any ideas? Would you want more of the fun things? More entertainment, more thrills, more girlfriends and boyfriends, and less of the not-so-fun things? Less study, less parental control, less of boring home food...what exactly is your wish list?

Indulge your fantasies for a while and let’s for a moment really wish that they all come true instantly.
More entertainment would lead to quicker boredom. Too many thrills would soon take you into a state where nothing thrills you anymore. Several BFs and GFs would also lead to a mountain of headaches. Lesser studying would make you idle and vacant minded, lesser parental control would lead you to commit monumental mistakes (the neighborhood drug peddler’s wish-list, however, would then come true), and lesser home food would mean you would gorge on junk food, grow fat, corpulent, and as you grow older, become a museum of diseases.
Many readers would be shaking their heads and reaching for their cellphones to type up the mails. Hold the thought for a while. And then reflect on the hidden truth that eludes most teenagers.
Hidden Truth 1 — Teenagers tend to focus more on what they don’t have and less on what they do have. In other words, they don’t really enjoy what they have — because the moment they have it, they want something more or something else.
Hidden Truth 2 — The heady seven years of teenage are largely spent in feeling miserable, with few rare moments of real happiness. Much of this misery is self-inflicted, and can be wiped out if they took a good look at themselves and changed their thinking patterns.
So what are those patterns?
Here’s the first — Stop wanting every damn thing that comes in your orbit of attention.
The second — Pour the whole of yourself into what you have.
So, if you have just one girlfriend, stop wanting another, and yet another. Stop fantasising about juggling them around. Invest your complete attention into making that one relationship work.
If you can afford just one outing a week, focus on enjoying yourself to the maximum in that outing — and let those memories power you through the rest of the week.
If you have a math exam coming up — stop getting superstitious and praying to all the Gods, they wont help you get one extra mark. Open your mind to the concept that scares you the most and soak it in gently, with the inner confidence that it’s not some rocket science — it’s just algebra, which is nothing great.
If mom’s cooking doesn’t taste as great as those juicy burgers you eat in a fast food joint, stop and think — home cooking is designed for your health, not just for your tongue. Junk food makers shove in many chemical taste enhancers that grab receptors in your brain and create addictive cravings, much in the same way as tobacco does. Your mother will never put in those chemicals in her food — so learn to appreciate the wholesome taste of home food as opposed to the chemically enhanced taste of junk food. Or at least learn to enjoy both.
I can go on and on but I won’t — at least not right now. I will appreciate if you write to me and fill up the balance. After all, it’s your life we are discussing. The best three replies will be published right here, in this column. I promise to personally acknowledge all replies. So go ahead, tell yourself, and us, how you can get the most of what’s left of your teens.

The author is a film director