Memorable Birthdays – Part 1

My woes about turning 30 are well documented. Not really freaked out as I thought I would be. But not floating on cloud 9 either. Mixed feelings per se. I want to begin my 30s with earnest, promise and hope. Still 2 days of 20s to go. So all is ‘still’ well.

But just because I have been thinking of it quite a bit, I also tried to recall some memorable celebrations I’ve had in the last 29 years. Honestly, the first one that comes to mind is my 10th birthday. Back in the days, we didn’t celebrate birthdays with too much pomp. Just went to school with a box of chocolates. Stood in front of the class while everyone sang ‘happy birthday to you’, distributed sweets and that’s it. Ofcourse, I kept aside some extra chocolates for my best friends. Anyways, on my 10th bday, dad mom decided to have a big bday bash. So about 20 of my classmates, neighbor friends etc were invited home, lots of decoration, lots of food and we had a super time. I still remember a lot about that day. And many gifts. One of my closest friends back then gave me a video cassette of ‘Twenty thousand leagues under the sea’. I still have it. But don’t have a VCR to play it! But the standout bday gift was the one given by my family. In a box as big as me, they filled it paper and god-knows-what and inside there some where was the gift. They bought me a wireless remote control car. 20 years back, that was a novelty. I also remember the price. I cost a fortune. I was so overwhelmed that I rarely played with it. Only opened the box, cleaned the car, replaced the batteries, drove it around for a minute and neatly put it back. Into the top closet where no one could reach it. We didn’t have rechargeable batteries also. So if I spent more than 15-20 min, the batteries would dry out. And buying new ones, obviously, cost a lot. But those were the days. I was on top of the world. Nothing could be any better.

The next memorable bday was my 17th one. The last with my school mates. Before we traveled all over the world for higher education. We had no clue what life had in store for us. And if we would ever meet again. So that year, everyone celebrated their 17th bday grandly. I hosted my party at a high-end restaurant, booked a banquet hall, buffet, music, dance floor…the works! It was awesome. Ofcourse no booze. And because we were older teens, we behaved. That was the most fun I’ve had ever. Even till date. We partied till late in the night. It was perfect.

Part 2 tomorrow. Cheers.

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