Turning 36
Somewhere along the aging process, crossing our date of birth during the year turns from joy to indifference to concern. At school, it was a lot of fun to distribute chocolates to friends, wear new clothes, be the centre of attention of everyone for a day.
At least till my class 5, I remember my school did this part really well. Birthday was one day you could get out of the boring 'uniform' and wear a trendy dress. I felt 'different' just by wearing new clothes amidst others who wore the school dress. There was this ' Happy Birthday to you' song that was dedicated to the birthday boy by those innocent, sweet 'prayer song' girls who never spoke to me , but would smile at me just this day . Many teachers would not punish me that day for talking in the class or laughing secretly at a joke. No matter how much a loner I was, I always had two or three friends around me on my birthday in school.
Then, during the teenage years began the 'acting big'. Though I loved all the attention, I acted big [ Come on, it is 'just another day' !!]. In my twenties, when my economic freedom gave me a supreme sense , I splurged on clothes and shoes. Birthday was the perfect opportunity to spend on myself.
Before even I realized it, I m on the wrong side of 35 and suddenly, the feeling of growing old just seems overwhelming. It is funny that we try to act big when we are young and try to act young when we are actually big [ I m referring only to age and not anything else ;) .
What doesn t change is enjoying the attention you get. All my friends and loved ones wished me and it was fun. What was not so much fun is that I am getting older and not younger. Seriously, we should be counting age in a different way. Where is all the talk on 'Change is the only constant' ? Why haven t we changed the way we count our age after we are 30 ?
At least till my class 5, I remember my school did this part really well. Birthday was one day you could get out of the boring 'uniform' and wear a trendy dress. I felt 'different' just by wearing new clothes amidst others who wore the school dress. There was this ' Happy Birthday to you' song that was dedicated to the birthday boy by those innocent, sweet 'prayer song' girls who never spoke to me , but would smile at me just this day . Many teachers would not punish me that day for talking in the class or laughing secretly at a joke. No matter how much a loner I was, I always had two or three friends around me on my birthday in school.
Then, during the teenage years began the 'acting big'. Though I loved all the attention, I acted big [ Come on, it is 'just another day' !!]. In my twenties, when my economic freedom gave me a supreme sense , I splurged on clothes and shoes. Birthday was the perfect opportunity to spend on myself.
Before even I realized it, I m on the wrong side of 35 and suddenly, the feeling of growing old just seems overwhelming. It is funny that we try to act big when we are young and try to act young when we are actually big [ I m referring only to age and not anything else ;) .
What doesn t change is enjoying the attention you get. All my friends and loved ones wished me and it was fun. What was not so much fun is that I am getting older and not younger. Seriously, we should be counting age in a different way. Where is all the talk on 'Change is the only constant' ? Why haven t we changed the way we count our age after we are 30 ?
Comments
Look at it this way - Your Birthday was the right time for everyone to rehearse for the New Year Bash :)