That’s all for today. Because today was the first day of class, I’ll give you the simplest of all assignments; so simple it will leave you thinking for hours. ‘What is growing up?’ write in a sentence. Yes, one sentence.”

It was a simple question and demanded an answer in just a sentence—maximum 10 words.

“Growing up is becoming mature.” I was about to mail it to the teacher, but then a message on my phone said that I had to renew my data plan to do so. Since, I was on a bus, I decided to wait a little and saved my answer for later. I now had almost an hour to think of a better answer, to impress at this very simple first assignment.

I am a science student. I thought of joining a philosophy class—an hour a day—just for a new taste, and a new experience. They say learning new things or new languages, or playing a new musical instrument helps sharpen the brain.

Philosophy seemed like a great alternative path in my life—a fun way to sharpen my wits. I wanted to be a scientific mind with philosophical wisdom.

‘What actually is growing up? Becoming mature. What is maturity? Body and brain development,’ I mused. But we were talking philosophy, not science. I had to bring emotions into my rationale. It had to go beyond cells and nerves.

So I tried putting myself under inspection, and looked back at how I have grown up to draw out a one line answer. It seemed simple enough, it just demanded some brainstorming.

I am 23 now, I was 13 ten years ago. What has changed in that decade? I didn’t drink then, I drink now. I was scared of horror movies and dogs, I am still so now.  I used to play FIFA 07, today I play FIFA 17. But, nothing suggested to me that I was actually growing up. Except for maybe, my parents who back then controlled what I drank and what I bought. Today, I drink with my own permission, I buy my own gadgets and I protect myself from everything that scares me.

That was it. Growing up means becoming independent. But, I felt like I hadn’t hit the bull’s eye yet. I was still looking for a better, stronger answer.

How right my teacher was when he said the question would have one wondering for hours. After scratching my head for the longest time I realised that I can easily reason with people and convince them to do things a certain way. I can make people listen to me through my logic.

Perhaps, growing up means being logically independent.

Then came the realisation: When I was little, I was asked a question, ‘Why do monkeys and apes still exist if humans evolved from them?’ Through my entire childhood, I never found the answer. It was only in my high school, after studying about human evolution, that I finally had the answer. Humans didn’t evolve from monkeys, they just shared common ancestors.

But, the one thing I still reminisce from back then is how I was never ashamed of asking questions. I liked to question anything and everything that amused me and I went great lengths to find the answers.

One thing I did growing up was constantly look for answers. I was innocent like every other child I knew. My lack of prior knowledge and judgement resulted in queries that demanded answers.

Today, I don’t ask as many questions. I think I stopped asking questions when I started to grow up.

Maybe growing up means knowing more and questioning less, accepting more and rebelling less? 

I purchased a new data plan. “Growing up is answering all the questions of your childhood,” I wrote. And emailed it.

Luitel is a Bio-tech student at SANN International College