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 I added yet another candle to my cake
recently and, yes, it sometimes scares me to imagine being more
grown up and take more mature decisions in life. Well, this year
I just paused to think about my birthdays over the years and how
things were and are…a peep into the past
Cakes, all homemade by mom lovingly and
yummy! The butterfly cake with pink wings and pale green veins
running all over when I was 5 or was it 6 is still fresh in my
mind… the birthday party where mom and dad painstakingly cut out
chart paper and made party hats decorated with craft paper… the
birthday when I wore my pink and white plaid frock and climbed
atop the old Ambassador car and waited for my grandpa to come
back from work and take me out for dinner… the big job of
deciding what chocolates to buy for my friends, the happy
birthday song sung by friends in class, the fun of wearing the
new birthday frock instead of the usual green and white
uniform.. it was being the princess for the day…These are just
memories today and sweet ones…to brush up my memories I go
through those big photo albums every time I am in India.
 As I grew older and left home, midnight
parties, greeting cards and ecards, long phone calls, dinner
treats with friends at our favourite
dhabas became the norm of any birthday party. The laughter,
the gossip and the fun which is what college friends are all
about. The unexpected phone calls from old friends from
schooldays now spread around the country is search of their own
destinies… those were some days...the age where studies was the
only responsibility in life.
 And today, birthday just gives me an excuse
to sleep in late, to dress up and dab a little make-up, to head
out for dinner at a favourite restaurant and enjoy a meal
without thinking about what needs to be done at home…simple
things which I never seem to have the time to indulge in… a
little pampering, a little being the queen for the day… just
like those days… but what a difference since then…no cakes, no
parties… just time with loved ones. A few phone calls from
friends long-lost, a few e-cards from others who remember, a few
Orkut scraps… this is probably the time I get to speak to many
of my friends...old friends like old wine are the best… you know
you can so easily fill the gaps in each other’s lives and keep
chatting for hours… and it is the time I just pause to wonder
why on earth has someone not been in touch for ages… it makes me
wonder if they are fine and how I could have forgotten all those
special moments I shared with them… it is also the time I feel
angry at some of them for forgetting my birthday… darn it! I was
their best friend and that was difference… their best friend, in
the past tense… with time our friends change and the way I
celebrate my birthday changes! And I wonder how I’ll be
celebrating my birthday 10 years down the lane.
(Thanks to Karthik Anand Chinnakani for the
photos)
- V
http://poohsden.blogspot.com/
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