Nostalgia

I recently received a mail from my friend, in which she had wished me for my birthday and reminded me of our birthday celebration during our final year in college. She had also mentioned how happy those days were and how terribly she missed it in her current stature as a mother of a two year old. That mail took me back in time as I remembered the day.

Usually the School/College would be closed on the day of my birthday and I would spend it with my family. I was always envious of those who got to celebrate their birthday during the school days. However during my final year in college, It fell on a working day on the last week of our college days. The spirit of friendship was quite high in our group, as we had only a few more days of togetherness.

I was hyping my own birthday among my friends. Giving it an extra push every now and then with questions like ‘Hey, have you decided on what you should gift me?’ I made sure that it was an eventful day ! anyways, they also got the message.

I had bought myself a dress for a princely sum of Rs.838 thus adding to my wardrobe, the costliest of the lot .The day came. I donned the great dress and felt so pretty. I went to the bus stop smiling and glowing. As soon as I entered the class, I saw my friend hide something from me. I asked her, ‘Hey is that my present ? good ! keep that a surprise’ She called me hopeless and handed it over to me. It was a handbag and I liked it.

Then I went around asking people if they were going to come to my house as a surprise! Lots of them did. We had a rocking time. We sang, we danced, we made our neighbors wonder what was wrong and we made merry. I cut 4 cakes in different places, with different groups of friends.

In my house, my sister and my cousin had baked a cake for me.
They were also the ones who poured water over my head when my face was all covered with cream. One of my friends (the one mentioned in the first paragraph) stayed back at home. We went to a movie with my sister and my cousin and then to a restaurant.
That was my greatest birthday !

The dress now sleeps in my wardrobe, just a memory, for I no longer wear it.
Guess I have left that spirit behind and call it growth !