Another Day Older

Another Birthday.

What is it about?

Phone calls rudely awakening you at midnight

Because some well-meaning but misguided 'friend' wants to be the  first to wish the 'birthday boy'

Learnt how to get around that... I just turn off all the phones after 9 pm.

Most of my friends know by now that I don't like to answer phones between 9 and 11 pm.

That's my personal 'quality time' with the boob tube.

SMS messages cluttering up your mobile phone

and edging out the really important stuff...

like the confirmation of the shipment of the special gift you bought yourself

Dozens of notes on those 'social networking sites'

many from people you have never met, 

have never spoken to,

and haven't the foggiest idea of what they're all about!

I believe that a birthday is an intensely personal thing

and I am usually deeply embarrassed at public displays of affection especially from people whom I don't know that well.

But then, not much is left in the private sphere nowadays.

Sign up for a web-page or some such thing in cyberspace

and hey presto, everybody and his twisted sister  knows the date on which you came out, screaming and protesting

and landed into this madhouse called planet earth.

The great things about a birthday

Being remembered by friends old and new

Reconnecting with others whom you have somehow lost touch with

Receiving surprises in the mail and at your doorstep

like that wonderful flower arrangement from ferns and petals sent by a past student

Its nice to have a day of your own where you can take stock of what you've achieved 

in the past year of your existence...

Personally, I did not do badly the past year... but I surely could have done better

Thanks to all of you folks who were so kind to 

drop me a line, a note, an e-mail or an sms