Happy Birthday to Me!!

What is it about a birthday that wants you to be more of a kid than a grown adult? And what is it about wrapped presents, the glittery paper with just about any color you can imagine, that kind of makes you look forward to it like a kid being promised a candy if he behaves in the party? (Were you ever bribed like that? Fortunately for my parents, I never threw tantrums except for not going to a party and if I ever went, I was so scared of crowd that I used to run behind my mom, not even dad, always mom :), but I know a couple of my friends who knew how to turn a party into a nightmare and they were promised anything they craved, as long as they behaved and boy, did you get to see the angels they were!). Though this birthday was far from being the best, it certainly made it to the top ten and considering I am half of half way there (wherever the heck it is) – that is the exact verse of my birthday wish!, thanks to my Mom for cheering me up, as she always did, to Sand (Sandeep) and Sri (Srikanth), my friends who still take the pain of my company, from miles away, with their warm gesture reminding me that I still am in their thoughts however busy they might be in their lives, to Puri (purnima), for her warm note, to Arch for the card that drove a point home, that Gemini’s are twins, evil and angel :D, to Su (Sumeet) for giving me the most thoughtful present and to all my colleagues who took the trouble of wishing me on my birthday, I was a kid again, a kid willing to rip the wrapping paper with eager hands and open the surprise package. 

Can you believe that at this age, I got carom board for a present? Su, thanks for that. Thoughtful because I just want to be by myself most of the time these days, that instead of giving me a chess board he gave me a carom board implying in his own subtle way that it sometimes takes company to walk through life and every battle need not be fought being alone or staying alone. Probably not his thought when he purchased it, but it somehow reminded me of the happy times I had, not so long ago, with Mom, uncle, Dad, Grand pa, friends. A lot can happen over coffee is the tag line, but a lot can happen over a game of caroms too (with me on the other side ) and all of my happy memories have been by being in company of the people I love, but not by pushing people out of my life! The present, true to its nature brought me to the present time. This present is as significant as one other present from my past, when my sir gifted me “The Fountain Head”, which proved priceless and is monumental in my life, which I read almost every time I want some sense of sanity. 

More than the gifts or the wishes of all the well wishers and the blessings of all the wise and elderly, the upbeat came in because of being with my family and do nothing but just be with them. Celebrating the birthday with my mom, my favourite person in this world and sharing it with her is awesome and the look on her face when the candle was playing Happy Birthday, the cheeky smile that lit her face was worth the year’s wait :D….

Having the habit of taking resolutions on my birthday, it generally means it is time for retrospection. I am a person who sets her mind on to something and gives her will to it, let the fate fall into place, but willing to fight the eventuality to let the outcome be as I desired it would be. But this year, it is my resolution to not fight fate, but to accept it gracefully. That does not mean I will not fight to see the outcome I want, but I will accept the surprises with same grace and elation as I would accept success. Other than that, I will try to give my best possible attention to every thing that I do, but more importantly, I will reach a stop by this time next year, a significant one, the one I am journeying towards. I will make the journey count, I will make the stop count and I will relish every single twist that life offers. With a hope that next year I will be proud of where I stand, personally and professionally, Happy Birthday to me! My present to myself has been freedom and compromise:)! It looks as though I was shut in a jail or something, right? :D, well, that is not the case. It is freedom from restraints. Sometimes we are bound by our own words so much that they tend to be chains tying you to wrought iron cast, but the will to see through the pretensions and open your eyes to reality can break those restraints. Compromise in that I wanted to be invisible on my birthday, but for one person and so, I played a good sport and let chips fall into place for the rest of the day, well, wasn’t that a resolution :D? Material gifts include an ipod with whopping 160GB memory, a phone (slide, I wanted a slide model since the day I held a cell in my hands :() and an action of a long laid plan (it took insanity to cure my fear of being rationale :D).

“You carve your own paths in life, you create your own happiness, no one is with you and no one will be with you. So, as long as you live, be happy and live life the way you want to. Today is yours and yours to smile, so cheer up and make this your day.” – Mom – her wish and blessing…

“Happy Birthday! God bless you with happiness and peace of mind.” – Dad, his wish and blessing.

“Happy Birthday! Hoping that your life is filled with prosperity, happiness” – Grand Mom, her wish and blessing.

Finally, Happy Birthday to me, live life, queen size :)…