I recently read a post on whatsApp which said, “It is scientifically proven that people who have more birthdays live long.” The message reminded me of the random birthday celebrations of my son.
His birthday falls in the month of April, when all schools close down in Karnataka. He never liked it, so he decided to celebrate any day he felt like as his birthday. He did this at least three times a year, once before the school closed, and again soon after it reopened. For the third celebration, he simply chose a random day. He would tell us a day before, on a short notice, before the shops closed down. We had to rush and get chocolates to distribute in the school next morning.
He enjoyed going on the stage during the morning assembly where the whole school would wish him and sing for him, he loved it the most !
Whenever we brought new clothes for him, immediately he would plan for a birthday celebration in school.
One year, he celebrated his birthday in quick succession, that was when the whole school staff along with the principal came to know about it. All of them had a hearty laugh for his love of celebrating his birthday!
Since I was working in the same school it made easier for him to celebrate his birthday as many times as he wished!
This slowly disappears into thin air as age catches up. He will turn sixteen this year and will go out of the schooling phase – a phase of comfort and carefree days getting over – he will soon be stepping into the big world of competition, to run a race to be someone someday. Even if we don’t want to run, many a times we are caught in it and made to run for survival.
In this process we lose our childlike attitude because we are required to be matured and handle situations, ironic, but it is the way of life.
Still, I find comfort in the words of the British playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, “If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.”
Published 12 April 2016, 18:13 IST