We were having a discussion on birthdays and the topic led to how celebrating dates are the most important. Some did not care about the dates while, planning for the same was vital for others. All the discussion led to the conclusion that rejoicing did happen in yester years too but with time, the thought behind the celebration has changed. Some prefer calling thousands of people for their kid’s birthday while some do not like the idea of the gathering as it only gets tiring for the child. Some love lavish anniversary parties, while some love celebrating the love amongst them. Having said that, the ways of merriment has always been a personal preference, one celebrates it as, and how they want.

Some would love all the pampering and attention and some would not care if they were wished on the special day or not. The nature of women, in particular, love the feeling of festivity on the day of their birth.  It is special when others put a lot of energy to make their day extraordinary. The same perception might not be true for men.

While there are, many days and dates that one needs to remember, be it anniversaries, birthdays, many of us do not leave an opportunity to party.  There are many who want to celebrate their day with the underprivileged and share happiness with them. That is a noble idea while some have debated that this only makes the children miss all the privileges that they are not blessed with.

We need to understand that the short – term enjoyment is not making the less privileged kids miserable. The intention should be right and that is what matters. There could be another approach to this, which is called a shared birthday, wherein one makes merry on their birthday along with celebrating the birthday of all the kids, or finding a child whose birthday falls on the same date. Celebrating both their birthdays together is a win-win situation for both.

My personal experience on this: – Since couple of years, a part of my day on birthday has, been spent on the act of giving. It could be at the old age home or with the differently able kids or giving out Rs.500 to the people who have a hard time; earning Rs.500 in a day. This time I thought of celebrating it with the kids at Chahari. When I reached, I asked these 15 girls when their birthday was, many of them did not know when they were born. So what we did was,  celebrate the day with them as they sang the birthday song and wished themselves. It was such a special feeling when they sang: – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME~

~And as we wish for our birthdays, I hope all their wishes come true~