In the evening just when I was about to go out for some work my doorbell rang. And to my pleasant surprise it was a birthday card from my parents. And moments later I was travelling across the time axis of the all the birthdays when the only common and the constant part has been my mom wishing me the first and with the same love and affection as it was when I was just a small kid. Well I guess there is nothing unique to it for almost every mom does it for the kid. But it has and still is the most special part of this day. As a kid I still remember waking up to the tunes of a song “Hum bhi agar, bache hote, Naam hamara hota, dablu bablu... khaane ko milte laddu... arre duniya kehti happy birthday to you.” I think every single birthday of mine till I stayed at home used to begin with this. And honestly, I loved it every single time even when I was 18.
Over the years the ways of birthday celebrations change for most of us. As kids it used to be yet another day, playing with friends and getting all the attention and affection, not to forget the gifts and chocolates and sometimes even money from the eldest member of the family. Like any other kid, I used to keep all the chocolates to myself give the money to mom to safely put it in my Piggy Bank( or to bring out the real feeling as we call it GULLAK).
In the primary school, it usually was all about distributing toffees to the class mates in the period of the favourite teacher and all of the friends singing the “Happy Birthday song.” But the best part was in DPS we used to be allowed to wear our informal (coloured) clothes and be clearly distinguished as the b’day boy. In its own innocent sense, it was the happiest times of the year.
As we grow smart and lost the innocence, mere toffees weren’t enough and well, it got promoted to a school canteen party where, the foodies would dive into the samosas and pastries. {I myself being one held a record for gulping down around 10 on one such occasion.) And of course, for me it was also finally getting to initiate a talk with those beautiful girls (seniors, juniors) whom I kept falling for every now and then. In the last years of school it was mostly about garnering the special affection and sharing beautiful moments with the first love of life.
But what has been remarkably different has been the last 5 years where the birthday begun with the royal treatment of the ass and being painted with the cakes, which on the next day continues to happen if you are bestowed with multiple groups of friend and then finally wallet being let lose. The last 2 at SIMSR hostel were even more remarkable as the number of kicks had no upper limit neither the amount of fun. To add to it, I shared my birthday with my roomie as well which only multiplied the fun we all had together. The one I did manage to escape was the CRISIL tradition where all the colleagues used to sing the HAPPY BIRTHDAY song and more often the poor b’day guy used to be more than just embarrassed.
And here it is time for another one. Life passes by real quick. A year earlier I felt like a kid amongst all my friends who had already crossed 25. And now, it feels like there is so little time and so much to do. I guess being 24 has its own manifestations. The year to come, will, in its own way, determine and shape everything I have been and want to be. All I need is to be as passionate I was as a kid. And while I turn 24 in the next few hours, this is all I could scribble.
Wide awake I stare far away
Into the wilds, roads and up in the sky
Closing my eyes, I pray on this day
Let me remain a kid and yet fly high
---Sriram
