Are you afraid of your 30s?

Turning 30 can feel like a deadline you never agreed to. There’s the pressure to have your career figured out, know what you want, hit certain milestones and, somehow, have your life neatly in place by the time the number arrives. But what if 30 isn’t a finish line at all? We spoke to people across generations, careers and stages of life about what turning 30 really meant to them, what they wish they’d known in their 20s and why getting older might actually be the freeing part.

Rod Anker
Co-founder, Off Days Haircare
*Undisclosed*

Celebrity hairstylist and entrepreneur Rod Anker refuses to disclose his age for a piece very much based on, well, age. When I first approach him, he cheekily says: “You know I’m 21, right?” When probed he says he would rather not disclose it. And, if we must write something, we can say over 30. I give in; I’ll make do. 

“(When I turned 30), I think the biggest point of growth for me was letting go of other people’s opinions,” he says. While he insists that he has never been someone who altered himself based on what others think, he admits that the ‘nagging feeling’ can have a hold. “Essentially, what happens is that we try to conform to what is ‘expected’ until we realise that what we want is different,” he says, adding: “We thus spend our 20s realising we have our own dreams that may not be possible to fulfil if we only seek to appease others. The faster we learn this, the faster we stop trying to ‘fit in’ or do what’s expected—life changes for the better. It’s freedom!”

Harshita Singh
23, model
Gen Z

At 23, Harshita Singh is still several years away from turning 30. Her words, however, do not betray any hesitance. She speaks with the surety of someone who knows, or may have even experienced, the age. 

“Thirty is the new 18. My friends often tell me, ‘Harshita, till 29 you’ll feel so old, and the minute you turn 30, you’ll feel young again.’ And, I agree. In our 20s, it’s a little chaotic. We are making up our minds, still figuring out a lot of significant things. But I feel like at 30, the clock resets. You know yourself better and you’re more certain about where you want to go.” 

An upcoming model from Varanasi and now based in Delhi, Singh approaches the milestone with confidence that may well be characteristic of her generation. “I am less afraid and more excited about it. I’m even looking forward to it, because at 30, as they say, the clock resets and I cannot wait!”

Suhana Sethi
38, co-founder, Snkrhood and content creator
Millenial

If you’ve come across Suhana Sethi’s online persona, you’d know that her signature style is a great guide to Indian streetwear. She is also cheery—and her thoughts are equally optimistic. “I genuinely feel the fear around turning 30, is a myth. It’s just a number!,” she says. “Your 20s are about growing, learning, experimenting, and figuring out what you want to do with your life. In your 30s, you have more clarity, you’re more focused, settled and, hopefully, have some money, too!” 

Unfettered by the prospect of ageing, Sethi says, “I feel every age has its own beauty. Staying curious, playful, and childlike, no matter how old you are, is what really keeps you young.”

Tushar Tyagi
36, filmmaker
Millennial

“As I finished my teens, taking the leap from 19 to 20, it didn’t bother me as much. However, the transition from 29 to 30 definitely did,” says the Noida-born filmmaker. Tyagi had certain ideas about all that he wanted to achieve by 29: his own home, certain titles, and projects under his belt. The unfulfillment of this checklist propelled him into a crisis. “I remember thinking I’ve lived on this planet for 29 years, the midpoint of an average life, and what have I achieved up until now?” Now, he questions the anxiety. “It’s akin to when you’re in high school: you’re bullied, and you’re so scared all the time. But over the years as you make sense of it, you ask yourself, why couldn’t I just speak up?” 

The time of transition thus also meant a lot to him. It was a time when he introspected and came up with roadmaps ahead, but with the knowledge that life doesn’t always go according to the plans we make. Unlike at 15, this time, he made much more realistic goals. At 36, Tyagi, who lives between Mumbai and Los Angeles, is enjoying it all much more.

Manisha Melwani
36, stylist
Millennial

Stylist Manisha Melwani has already built a substantial career. However, when asked about turning 30, her focus is a little different. 

“For me, it’s been less about arriving at an answer and more about everything I’ve learnt along the way. We put so much pressure on ourselves to achieve everything in our 20s, to secure a better future, that sometimes we forget to actually live in the present.” 

For Melwani, then, the 30s offer something more valuable than a checklist—possibility. “You can still dream, fall in love, change direction, build something from scratch, or discover an entirely new version of yourself in your 30s. It’s okay not to have all the answers. Maybe your 30s are less about proving who you are, and more about giving yourself the freedom to simply be.”

Yogendra Saniyawala (Yogi)
47, poet, composer, musician, The Tapi Project
Gen X

The genre-defying music of The Tapi Project is known to often echo the experience of the contemporary urban Indian. 

And the role of the songwriter, which Yogi occupies, is particularly significant. He believes that life doesn’t follow a timetable. “I have met people who were old at 25 and those who were completely alive at 70,” he says. “I have seen great wisdom in those who had barely lived, and great ignorance in those who had lived for decades,” he says, adding: “Perhaps experience has very little to do with how many years have passed. It has more to do with how deeply we have allowed those years to touch us. So I don’t believe in thirty as a deadline, a milestone, or a crisis. Thirty is simply thirty.” In a way only a songwriter can think, he says, “Life doesn’t ask: ‘how old are you? It asks—are you here?’”

This article originally appeared in Cosmopolitan India's September-October 2026 print issue.

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