Memoirs of Birthdays
I got my birthday gift before my birthday and have even started using it. That made me reminisce my childhood memories of birthdays. Birthdays used to be a grand affair since that used to be the only special day when all children would treat you with unusual respect and the day you would definitely get a new dress, carry toffees to distribute to everybody at school and have a party at your own house and in which you get to be the chair person, without having to be bossed over by guests. You would get to open all those surprise gifts wrapped so beautifully. Wow! Birthdays were next only to Diwali. Only because Diwali brought with it more festivity and more food!
I started growing out of Birthday parties once I entered my teens and found it very embarrassing to wear a “colour dress” to school when everybody else was in their uniforms. With that stopped the distribution of sweets and party at home. I am sure my mother would have been waiting for that day. But, nevertheless birthdays were the most awaited, because you would still get gifts from parents and close friends. It also meant that you were a step closer to becoming an adult and making your own decisions. With college, the tradition changed from party at home to party at a restaurant. Mom’s worries just ended and dad’s worries had begun, having to take care of the bills. End of teens marked the end of childhood and a grand entry into adulthood.
After college, birthdays became just another day as a graduate student living a life away from home. Calls from family reminded me the beginning of a new year. The day didn’t seem as special or as eagerly awaited for as before. There were even times when I could have easily forgotten the day for it was so boring. I am wondering if it was a sign of aging or of more responsibilities. Either of them wasn’t doing me any good.
Marriage did change that to an extent, but the anxiety of growing older still bugs me. I feel like I am growing older than I was born to grow. But, when I thought further about it I realised, isn’t that the wondrous part of life, where everyday is so different from the previous day and you could never exactly predict a day even though you have been living so many of it. I realised that I needed no gift, living was a gift by itself and the surprise happened everyday. Come to think of it, isn’t everyday a birthday if birthdays meant growing older and celebrating our being on planet Earth?
I started growing out of Birthday parties once I entered my teens and found it very embarrassing to wear a “colour dress” to school when everybody else was in their uniforms. With that stopped the distribution of sweets and party at home. I am sure my mother would have been waiting for that day. But, nevertheless birthdays were the most awaited, because you would still get gifts from parents and close friends. It also meant that you were a step closer to becoming an adult and making your own decisions. With college, the tradition changed from party at home to party at a restaurant. Mom’s worries just ended and dad’s worries had begun, having to take care of the bills. End of teens marked the end of childhood and a grand entry into adulthood.
After college, birthdays became just another day as a graduate student living a life away from home. Calls from family reminded me the beginning of a new year. The day didn’t seem as special or as eagerly awaited for as before. There were even times when I could have easily forgotten the day for it was so boring. I am wondering if it was a sign of aging or of more responsibilities. Either of them wasn’t doing me any good.
Marriage did change that to an extent, but the anxiety of growing older still bugs me. I feel like I am growing older than I was born to grow. But, when I thought further about it I realised, isn’t that the wondrous part of life, where everyday is so different from the previous day and you could never exactly predict a day even though you have been living so many of it. I realised that I needed no gift, living was a gift by itself and the surprise happened everyday. Come to think of it, isn’t everyday a birthday if birthdays meant growing older and celebrating our being on planet Earth?
posted by Ace of Space at
8/25/2006 04:27:00 PM
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