B'day Blues.....

What does a B'day remind you of - new clothes, chocolates, prayers, wishes, presents, a great day and hopefully a great year too....well, its not that simple anymore, atleast if you are someone in late twenties and especially if you are a woman ! 

In the last few months, everytime I send an email b'day wish to one of my friends, I get back a reply saying they are not happy about growing old....they want things to stay where they are.....and these are people who are married and some even have kids and they still want time to stand still.....well, it will be very interesting for Physicists to see how that works !

There used to be a time when all we talked about were.......exams, homework, annual day, summer holidays :D

There used to be a time when all we talked about were.......movies, music, clothes and ofcourse boys ;)

and now what are we all talking about......career, investments, real estate, marriage, lamaze classes, parenting.......wow !!!! we sure have grown up !!

All along, there are certain things we have to give up as a part of growing up atleast for the sake of good social behaviour...right from eating mud to sucking a thumb (as much as I would love to give more examples, I rather I shouldn't since I have no interest in revealing all the weird things I did growing up, in a public forum ;) :D)   

I still remember the time I had to give up............. 

...riding my tricycle (it was my little brother's turn)

...wearing my beautiful pattu pavadais (thanks to amma and appa's siblings that I got a new one for each one of their weddings !)

...wearing my school uniform (I loved those white shirt and box frilled navy blue skirts, I still have those !)

...wearing 2 plaits (the first time I wore a single plait I thought I looked 10 yrs older !)

...my international student id

and the list is never-ending !

Each one of these was not easy but I think there was always something better to look forward to - like a new bicycle, or a new half-sari, and moreover, as a child, everyone wants to become an 'adult' soon...obviously....the grass looks greener on the other side !

Its very simple to think that the same argument should be applied here...look forward to something better.....easier said than done ! There is no better replacement to ''aunty'' and maybe when one becomes ''paati'', the aunty might sound sweeter then but thats a long time coming......and hence the b'day blues !! Now, now, men aren't any better either, only they pretend to be - you should see one of them sigh when they see their school or college pics...its quite a sight !!

The surprising part is this hits everyone (atleast everyone I know), but not necessarily at the same time and I cant keep track of the bizarre incidents that blow the fuse ! I have heard everything from being denied an ''under-25'' discount to ''I wear the same clothes as the grandma next door''....ROFL ! 

Makes me wonder if there is anything really like ''aging gracefully'' !? This is probably a question to Hemamalini who still looks drop-dead gorgeous at 60 !

hmm...well...since many learned people have said that you are only as young as you feel, I am going to consider myself a school girl for as long as I can (with all the singing, dancing, playing, traveling that I can do :D) and make sure that all kids of my friends call me ''akka'' until I have one or two of my own and finally condescend to be called ''Aunty'' :D !

The days are long but the years are short....really short !