It was some time during school. I was beaming that day. My friend wished me a happy birthday. He always had weird, fanciful ideas. “Well tell me, why we celebrate our birthdays, why party??” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“No, what are you on a birthday, a year older? Is that why you celebrate? Aren’t you closer to the day you die?”
I saw the point, but went ahead and celebrated my birthday.
On the day of your graduation, you celebrate because of the sense of achievement. On your wedding day, you celebrate because it’s the start of a new life. On an anniversary, you have fond memories of that day; you celebrate to keep it going.
Yes, the only reason that birthdays seem to make one happy is that other people know it’s your birthday. In my book, that’s reason enough. It is a reminder that you matter to the people around you, the way you are. They celebrate with you not because of something you have done. It’s just because you are with them, because they are happy to have you around.
Go ahead! Celebrate! And yes, call me to the party. J
7 comments:
alideit’s the only day that’s completely YOURS. Stop looking for reasons. Go ahead! Celebrate!
i guess that sums up the whole idea of a birthday...
its that one day which is completely dedicated to the birthday boy by all those people who matter to him the most...
its no different from another day... it has the same 24 hours as any other day... what makes it different is that it shares the same date as that of your birth...something that differentiates all the other days of the year from that day...
ofcourse i dont recollect the day i was born like one would remember a wedding on its anniversary ... but i am sure my parents would recall this day that year and it definitely was a special occasion for them and worthy of celebration...
one can say that we can celebrate any day of the year and dedicated to him whenever he wants...(as long as he can afford it:p)
but who has the time and money to celebrate and dedicate a day more than once a year to someone...its possible ... but then the novelty factor goes out of the window...
its 20 hours before my birthday starts and i wonder what provoked the author into writing this article ....:)
I suppose i would agree on pure reason that you have no reason to celebrate your birthday, since you did nothing, its the parents joy of having had you on that day that is understandable. So they go all out, and throw you a birthday bash. As you grow, just as all other activities you want your friends in on it too, so you get your friends along. Maybe one day you might feel that i am grown up, i will give my birthday at some fancy restaurant and thus a system is established.
Slowly but surely the charm of the birthday party diminishes. How many parents do you see celebrating their own birthdays?
But all of this reasoning is getting me nowhere, nor does it to anyone, so I think its safe to say it’s a fond habit. As long as you can afford to, celebrate it.
By afford I mean the time and money. And its not just small sums of money spent on birthdays. For a child in Bombay's slum, birthday means nothing. It’s just another day to sweat it out in the grime, and bite down on hunger. And probably a few scorns from parents who find him a burden.
true fr sum it mite jus b another day.....but fr dose who can find another day to be happy....neednt find a reason...dat kinda makes the thing too analytical....nahi?even if u have a bad day u feel lyk being in a good mood jus becoz its ur b'day.....besides celebration is not nly hanging out wid frns...der r people who decide to do sumthing good on dat particular day (i agree they cud do it on other days too) but for no days....1 day is good enuf....soooooo :) advanced happy b'day vivek.... :D
I agree that we dont recollect the day we were born. Our parents are the ones who decided to celebrate this day
We are just following it..plus who doesnt like to celebrate and have fun. We ppl normally dont need a reason to celebrate...
But the sad part is that many of us choose to celebrate this day only with our friends around and we hardly have time to spend with our parents without whom the day wudnt have been so important.
kudos
well put indeed
good stuff
one should enjoy every single day of his life
and you have summed it up in a goodish fashion
people should generally not need a chance to be happy
because every moment of their existence is actually a chance to be alive and breathing that is not easy to come by
and also birthdays are special because they give us an added excuse of taking time out of our daily routine to spend some quality time with friends and family
@reshma - i dont know about many others but i for one spend at least half the day on my birth day with my parents because the day reminds me of the greatest debt of gratitude that any man can feel for another human
@ nikhil - i do not see how money can be a factor in celebrating any occasion .lack of lavishness can not be a factor to undermine happiness
what i mean is if ur "friends" think u r being cheap on your birthday (this is if u r not really being a miser and a cheapskate) then i will have to ask such friends to get the fuck outta there ! take a hike or sumthn rite ???
:)
HA! What a weirdo that second commenter is- the one about affording to celebrate. LAME!!
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