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February 24, 2006

Twenty Seven!

One more year come and gone. Happy Birthday to me :) Yes, I did get a lot of the, "so, are you like 46 now?" and "Hey, know what? Am still only *random-number*..." and all that fun stuff.

This time, we didn't have the oh-so-predictable coke-chips-cake party with friends. You know what I mean? People come because you called them, they probably did not even remember that it's your birthday. So now that they have come, they are thinking of when they can leave without being rude because the next day is a working day. The card has been passed around, people have signed it, unrecognizable music is playing in the background and the some people have been brave enough to smear some cream on your face (on the tip of your nose, if you are a fussy girl, I usually got a whole bunch of cream on my face, hint, hint ;)). Ah, traditions! Now that the traditional activities have been duly completed, people are standing around in bunches waiting for the first person to leave and then there is a mass exodus!

Anyway, this year, I decided to do away with all that. Its more fun when people actually remember to wish you and ask you why there was no party.

So, what have I accomplished in these twenty-six years? If I were to vanish tomorrow, how many people will think of me? Have I left a mark behind or did I just exist? Few questions that birthdays challenge me with every year. I guess I get apprehensive not because am growing older but because I know I have to face these questions again. It's like Morrie asks Mitch (Tuesdays with Morrie) "Its like there is a little bird perched on my shoulder, asking me each day, 'If you were to die today, would you leave peacefully knowing you have done all you could have done?'" or something to that effect. And I guess the fun part of life is that the answer is -no, you have not done all that you can and that's why you live - you can do so much more and the drive keeps you going. The need for a constant challenge to feel alive, maybe we are just made to be restless, to be seeking and searching, lucky if we find inspiration and ideals to keep us occupied this lifetime, not so if time was not so gracious a host.

So, farewell to 26 and its lessons, goals, dreams and emotions - all in the past now, but also a part of me. So long and thanks for all the fish ;)

9 comments:

kamal said...

The need for a constant challenge to feel alive

Just to say that again To feel Alive, I wonder if we live from one thrill to the next, always looking for a new experience, while we deal with the mundane (cleaning restrooms and kitchens :) ) The things that once used to amuse us, keep us occupied, seem trivial; all the while we are looking for the next thrill or as you would say "passion" :)

Krish said...

Happy Birthday! So, now you are three-cubed or is it nine-square minus eight-square plus ten or is it...well I had better stop here :-)

Hellboy said...

Many more happy returns of the day :-)

Anonymous said...

hey! am still 26... hehehe.. so can i call you akka now ?? :P

BZ said...

>>Its more fun when people actually remember to wish you

Hm, this makes me feel sad.
All my birthdays have come and gone with very few remembering it, and wishing me. Well, K makes up for it.. but still.. :(((

I blame it on me not staying in one place long enough to make thick friends.

IBH said...

i got the hint eh :)

during school days , i remember how my birthday was remembered by lot many people than I could count ! my best friends made sure I always had a Rasana party at my home ( sounds weird eh??:)) and have always made me special....once years started rolling the numbers are dwindling but those best friends and now hubby dear make it a point that i have a rasana party :)

but guess when years roll for us it rolls for the others too :)))

so have taken it in my stride when i can no more not-count those people who wish for my birthday! :))

Happy Birthday RS!

RS said...

kamal - true true.

thennavan - :))

hellboy - thanks :)

ak - grrr...phonela vechukaren unnoda!

saranya - sometimes you stay put and friends still go away, part of life :)

IBH - so have taken it in my stride when i can no more not-count those people who wish for my birthday! :))


Hmm, I must learn to do that, I still give those friends who forget my birthday a really hard time :)

Rasana party - cute!

Rubic_Cube said...

MMHROTD! All too common acronym. So I reserve the expansion for the same. Long long ago, in a certain philosophical moment of divination, I had written this... (still incomplete!)

I am travelling in time...
Standing at the doorstep of a new generation
Is it a new beginning, I wonder,
Or has it been this way since epoch?

Candles are blown, cakes are cut
Merriment made over growing old?
To know that you are closer by a year
To the end? Or would it be a new beginning?

The scrolls talk about rebirth
Soul that transcends from one to other
Does this date hold as much importance...
In this big metaphysical sense?

Birthdays come, birthdays go
Some make merry, some just let it go
I just enjoy the journey...
For time's just the stretch of measure!

RS said...

rubic_cube - I likes! I really like it :)

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