The Birthday Special

I have always fancied and expected the nearing of end of July. A clear guess would be due to the climate change as the monsoon slowly shows its head in this part of the country, though not full-fledged. But my excitement at this time of the year is always different. It is so special for me – yes it draws me closer to my birthday.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve enjoyed birthdays. I enjoy them even now – yes, even after marriage and even after having a kid. Unlike typical dads who ignore the enthusiasm associated with their own birthdays to concentrate on their kids’, I will never be willing to shed mine. People around me make it so memorable that I relished every birthday of mine till date. One dearest friend of mine starts wishing me in advance from a month before and is very particular that she is always the first person to wish me right at the stroke of midnight and that too with her trademark “Happy Birthday” song, until she accepted to give away that privilege to my sweetheart wife later on. I bet she still wishes that she be the first.
As a kid studying 2nd grade, I distinctly remember one of my birthdays in school where I loaded my backpack with a packet full of chocolates easily more than twice my class strength. When the teacher asked me how many chocolates I was willing to give each student, I said, “One” with almost no hesitation. Was it a weakness with Maths? Or with my chocoholic attitude? – I don’t know. I was just another kid who loved to swim on chocolates. No prizes for guessing what happened after that – I ate chocolates for lunch and for snacks too – I finished the excess happily all alone before I reached home. Guess what – I was down with stomach germs for the next few days.
The birthday I will remember the most is when I turned 25. 2 years into marriage and being acquainted for more than 6 years with my wife, I thought it was just another wonderful birthday ahead. With wishes flowing in since midnight, I was already into a dream as to what my wife would gift me – as though I gift her something for all her birthdays. Let’s forget about that for now. My wife was carrying and she had no opportunity to go out for any purchase and I wondered how she would be able to get me something. I convinced myself that nothing would come from her this time – poor thing. As the day progressed I got many more wishes from all my friends world-wide and was happily enjoying my time, till my wife called me into our bedroom and slowly dragged out a greeting card from between her stuff with a gentle smile on her face. Of course she had to be appreciated for somehow arranging this in spite of her restrictions. I was touched – touched deeply. I went close and hugged her with a ‘thank you’. The card was awesome, the words melted my heart. It was one of the beautiful moments of life – one of the beautiful birthdays I have ever had. I read the card again and again and loved it so much. I again hugged her – for a longer time now. Hours passed and I was still touched by her lovely gift until she came to me with a sarcastic smile and said, “This was the card I gave you on your last birthday!!!” I was stunned. :)