Another birth anniversary means one has spent one more year of his life and has come nearer to the end of his allotted span of life. That should normally be not an occasion to celebrate. However, people have been celebrating the day as if something spectacular had happened. Photographs of lavish parties at expensive hotels are uploaded on social media for all to see.
There are many instances of famous people celebrating their birthdays in unique ways. Kate Moss, the fashion model, partied with her guests for nearly a hundred hours when she turned forty. Justin Beiber, the singer, rented an entire island to celebrate his 21st birthday. Simon Cowell, an entrepreneur and television producer, spent over a million dollars on his 50th birthday bash.
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The other day, a newspaper reported an Ahmedabad family celebrating the second birthday of their pet dog in style. They spent seven lakh rupees on booking a party plot and a singer, invited guests, cut a cake, and played Garba on the occasion. Unfortunately, spoil-sports came in the form of policemen, and they were booked on several counts, including violations of COVID protocols, continuing the celebration during the night curfew period, and doing everything without the permission of the authorities concerned.
Though we usually associate birthdays with ageing, it is not necessary that advancing age should diminish the talents of a person. Even after becoming ‘senior’ or ‘very senior’ citizens, some people have exhibited their talents, like producing world-famous paintings. Minoru Saito of Japan sailed solo and non-stop around the world at the age of 77. In 1998, John Glenn became the oldest astronaut when he went to space at 77. The oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest is Yuichiro Miura, at 80. Nola Ochs became a graduate when she was 95 and a post-graduate at the age of 98.
Moving with the time, our schools also recognise the importance of birthdays. Students are allowed to attend their school without their school uniforms on that day. That itself tells others that it is the student’s birthday. They are supposed to distribute sweets to the other students, teachers, and the principal. As rich students tend to show off, some schools have put a cap on the price of sweets distributed that day.
Hostel inmates have found ways to make birthdays more colourful. As the clock strikes twelve, groups of students would visit the room of the student concerned, drag him out, lift him, and kick his behind. Later, he is expected to host a party for all. More than eating the birthday cake, they are interested in smearing one another’s faces with the cream.
There used to be a time when birthday celebrations were confined to one’s home. We used to celebrate the day on the basis of the star under which one was born, and not on the date according to the English calendar. Wearing a new set of clothes, we would visit the village temple to seek the blessings of the presiding deity by offering special pujas. The lunch would be a feast of vegetarian dishes with members of the family and close relatives.
