The biggest change in the transition from your mid-twenties to the wrong side of twenties is the exponential increase in the invitations to kids' birthday parties. If you were born during the seventies-eighties like me, I can bet most of you would not have celebrated your birthdays as a kid. Celebration, as it is known today.
When I was a kid, mom would make bisi bele bath, curd rice, some sweet and invite a few relatives over to breakfast or dinner. "Mane maTTige" was the mantra then. The old people would bless me with vidya, buddhi, ayassu, arogya, aishwarya - all combined together did not make much difference to my happiness as lets say a Lacto King candy did then. The not-so-old ones would gift a pen set - an ink and a dot pen - with a clearer instruction - "You should study well and get good marks". Go to school, the class teacher would announce that you were the birthday kid. Yes, we could wear "color dress" when mere mortals suffered in their hapless uniforms. The class would quickly sing a "Happy Birthday" with the hope that you would have got some candies for them (small candies mind you, not a chocolate bar!) in that bag overloaded with books. Best friends were privileged to get two candies. End of party, birthday over! Back to homework in the evening.
Twenty years is a long time, I tell you. Now, celebration has to be in a party hall! Make the poor helpless kids wear conical birthday hats (or is it comical birthday hats?). The birthday cake is generously sprinkled with the bits of shiny paper from inside the bursting balloons. Photos, videos et al. As far as I know, this will not stop after the kid's first birthday party. You see parents celebrating their kids' 2nd, 3rd, 4th birthday in *.Sagar party hall. I am a lil curious here, when would they stop celebrating a kid's birthday at a party hall? 5th birthday? 10? 20? I dont know, young parents should tell me!
Lets say you decide to stop after age 5, you have no idea how depressing it could be for the child. The kid will start wondering why their parents stopped celebrating his birthday from this year, if they dont love him anymore etc. etc. Imagine your kid in class two. His friends would come up to him and ask - "Hey, how come you have not uploaded your birthday videos to YouTube yet? Internet down still?". Believe me, even the strongest kid will find it mightly traumatic to answer a question like that.
In order to make sure the kid wont feel that way, you will never stop celebrating. I can clearly visualize a 2030 bidaai scene where the father would tell his son in law - "Please take good care of my daughter. She is the apple of our eyes, orange of our noses etc. etc. And we have been celebrating her birthday from the last 24 years, dont ever miss celebrating her birthday every year in New Shanti Sagar." [Note: New Shanti Sagar was opened in 1998]
Go a little further in time. Circa 2050. A conversation will sound like this - "Do you know any good party halls in town? We are trying to book one for our grand mother's birthday. We are not finding any. She will be heart broken if we dont find one in time".
New Shanti Sagar will come up with a Lifetime Party Hall Membership Card for birthday celebrations (People born on Feb 29th can avail 70% discount, please hurry!) You might get a call from an unknown number during a very busy project meeting, you pick the call and the caller would say - "Hello sir, we are calling from New Shanti Sagar, we are offering you a Lifetime Gold Party Hall Membership Card. No activation charges, sir. Not interested? Okay sir, thank you, sir. Have a good day".
When I was a kid, mom would make bisi bele bath, curd rice, some sweet and invite a few relatives over to breakfast or dinner. "Mane maTTige" was the mantra then. The old people would bless me with vidya, buddhi, ayassu, arogya, aishwarya - all combined together did not make much difference to my happiness as lets say a Lacto King candy did then. The not-so-old ones would gift a pen set - an ink and a dot pen - with a clearer instruction - "You should study well and get good marks". Go to school, the class teacher would announce that you were the birthday kid. Yes, we could wear "color dress" when mere mortals suffered in their hapless uniforms. The class would quickly sing a "Happy Birthday" with the hope that you would have got some candies for them (small candies mind you, not a chocolate bar!) in that bag overloaded with books. Best friends were privileged to get two candies. End of party, birthday over! Back to homework in the evening.
Twenty years is a long time, I tell you. Now, celebration has to be in a party hall! Make the poor helpless kids wear conical birthday hats (or is it comical birthday hats?). The birthday cake is generously sprinkled with the bits of shiny paper from inside the bursting balloons. Photos, videos et al. As far as I know, this will not stop after the kid's first birthday party. You see parents celebrating their kids' 2nd, 3rd, 4th birthday in *.Sagar party hall. I am a lil curious here, when would they stop celebrating a kid's birthday at a party hall? 5th birthday? 10? 20? I dont know, young parents should tell me!
Lets say you decide to stop after age 5, you have no idea how depressing it could be for the child. The kid will start wondering why their parents stopped celebrating his birthday from this year, if they dont love him anymore etc. etc. Imagine your kid in class two. His friends would come up to him and ask - "Hey, how come you have not uploaded your birthday videos to YouTube yet? Internet down still?". Believe me, even the strongest kid will find it mightly traumatic to answer a question like that.
In order to make sure the kid wont feel that way, you will never stop celebrating. I can clearly visualize a 2030 bidaai scene where the father would tell his son in law - "Please take good care of my daughter. She is the apple of our eyes, orange of our noses etc. etc. And we have been celebrating her birthday from the last 24 years, dont ever miss celebrating her birthday every year in New Shanti Sagar." [Note: New Shanti Sagar was opened in 1998]
Go a little further in time. Circa 2050. A conversation will sound like this - "Do you know any good party halls in town? We are trying to book one for our grand mother's birthday. We are not finding any. She will be heart broken if we dont find one in time".
New Shanti Sagar will come up with a Lifetime Party Hall Membership Card for birthday celebrations (People born on Feb 29th can avail 70% discount, please hurry!) You might get a call from an unknown number during a very busy project meeting, you pick the call and the caller would say - "Hello sir, we are calling from New Shanti Sagar, we are offering you a Lifetime Gold Party Hall Membership Card. No activation charges, sir. Not interested? Okay sir, thank you, sir. Have a good day".
Comments
when it's someone's birthday in my class. sweets are obviously distributed. and each takes more than one. i myself take about 2/3 depending on whther they are good or not :D
That's how my BDay used to be and I loved it. Now a days its more hoopla hoo for adults than the BDay kid itself!
I could relate pretty well to this blog except that it used to be an in-house party only with my parents and brother... I was laughing all the way that I had the same thoughts regarding chocolates at school and how we were just waiting for the "Happy B'day" song to end... :-)
Avi.
now it is hype I remember having attended a birthday party at a marriage hall and he expenses would have been sufficient to celeberte a simple marriage of a poor family.
vasuki nicely written and visualised too life time reservation patry hall gold care!!!!!! super ha ha ah aha
pranesh
When I mentioned New Shanti Sagar - it was not a proper noun, it was more of a common noun :D
@serendipity
eclairs...aah! I simply love it!
@savitha
I guess adults live their "unfinished childhood" through their kids! Too bad, I tell you.
@Priyank
And expensive parties mean less aishwarya too ;)
@Avi
:)
@pranesh
Thanks!
Would rather take a membership than go thru the trauma :-))
@ 70% Discount not bad at all..Hahaha