We need celebrations in life to break the monotony of living, and we reserve
special celebrations for the day when this chain of living started- the birthday celebration
Each year we have a story of how we celebrated this day last year and over the years this one day can serve as a good pointer of life. Some birthdays are just stellar, some not so great but still there is always a silver lining, some loved one manages to salvage the day for you :)
I can try to describe the birthday celebrations with the help of some alliteration I remember from early childhood-
Cut, Cute, Cake
Do, Disco, Dance
Sing, Sweet, Song
Live, Long, Life
This is how we signed the birthday cards with generous wishes for the benefactor distributing birthday sweets in class. The sweets were ‘Ravalgon’ one year then moved to ‘Dhishum toffee’, ‘Cofffee Bite’, ‘Alpenliebe’ and I guess by the time I reached college, kids in schools had graduated to ‘Centre Shock’- who wants the boring sweetness after all for the birthday. I am not the most updated person but I am sure the kids generation today must have found a way cooler way to celebrate birthdays than our dinosaur generation who flaunted a super frilly frock with matching hair bands on this day and gifts that parents chose for us!
So we have covered all things sweet so far and we can now move forward to the tradition of giving gifts and how it gets complicated with every passing year. All humans are not born equal, some are better gift givers and some are hopeless at this skill. Gifts are difficult because it entails making a judgement both at the givers and the receivers end. How big? How small? Does it? Does it not?
All these questions somehow go into formula to calculate the ‘special quotient’, you have no control over the variables, no one knows the exact formula but each one of us imperfectly run these calculations. However all I care is I manage to smile and get a smile in return..
Birthdays in the Facebook generations have advanced in some more ways. Somehow now the entire world knows that it is your special day. 'Rosetta stone' & 'Starbucks' wants you to send a birthday gift to your friend. Google will celebrate your birthday with a special doodle and on clicking the dooddle your own profile on Google+ will open. A bunch of emails from some other services will also be there to greet you in your mailbox. Welcome to the party unwanted attention!
But most importantly, birthdays are the day to stop and appreciate the people you have in your life who try to make the day special for you in their own way.We need a day when friends should make a call and wish you if they want to stay in your good books.We sure need a day to feel loved and appreciated!
This post is dedicated to bhai and bainu and thank you for the special musical performance!
Each year we have a story of how we celebrated this day last year and over the years this one day can serve as a good pointer of life. Some birthdays are just stellar, some not so great but still there is always a silver lining, some loved one manages to salvage the day for you :)
I can try to describe the birthday celebrations with the help of some alliteration I remember from early childhood-
Cut, Cute, Cake
Do, Disco, Dance
Sing, Sweet, Song
Live, Long, Life
This is how we signed the birthday cards with generous wishes for the benefactor distributing birthday sweets in class. The sweets were ‘Ravalgon’ one year then moved to ‘Dhishum toffee’, ‘Cofffee Bite’, ‘Alpenliebe’ and I guess by the time I reached college, kids in schools had graduated to ‘Centre Shock’- who wants the boring sweetness after all for the birthday. I am not the most updated person but I am sure the kids generation today must have found a way cooler way to celebrate birthdays than our dinosaur generation who flaunted a super frilly frock with matching hair bands on this day and gifts that parents chose for us!
So we have covered all things sweet so far and we can now move forward to the tradition of giving gifts and how it gets complicated with every passing year. All humans are not born equal, some are better gift givers and some are hopeless at this skill. Gifts are difficult because it entails making a judgement both at the givers and the receivers end. How big? How small? Does it? Does it not?
All these questions somehow go into formula to calculate the ‘special quotient’, you have no control over the variables, no one knows the exact formula but each one of us imperfectly run these calculations. However all I care is I manage to smile and get a smile in return..
Birthdays in the Facebook generations have advanced in some more ways. Somehow now the entire world knows that it is your special day. 'Rosetta stone' & 'Starbucks' wants you to send a birthday gift to your friend. Google will celebrate your birthday with a special doodle and on clicking the dooddle your own profile on Google+ will open. A bunch of emails from some other services will also be there to greet you in your mailbox. Welcome to the party unwanted attention!
But most importantly, birthdays are the day to stop and appreciate the people you have in your life who try to make the day special for you in their own way.We need a day when friends should make a call and wish you if they want to stay in your good books.We sure need a day to feel loved and appreciated!
This post is dedicated to bhai and bainu and thank you for the special musical performance!
:-)
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