29th of August was my birthday. Everything was just fine, except that I wasn't extraordinarily jubilant just because I was born on that day 25 years back (the idea of "year" is itself a fictitious one) (and among those, the one we follow, i.e. Gregorian is another fiction (fictional construct, to be more specific) humans came up with).
And why should I be jubilant? If we look at it from another side, we are actually, on our so-called birthday's getting closer to our death. We are getting a year closer to death (assuming that the cause of our death would be natural aging). Or should we celebrate that we survived another year in this brutal world? If that's the reason, then why don't we celebrate every month, or week or even better, every day.
Come to think of it, we feel good just because all the people we know, wish us "Happy Birthday" and it satisfies our ego or self-centeredness. We all want people to pay attention to us, and birthday is the day when we get the most of the attention (except some exceptions). So are we celebrating a day just because our ego is satisfied? How good or sustainable is that joy?
Some people may argue, what is the fault in finding a reason to be happy? Absolutely nothing. But is that (fictional) construct sustainable and sensible in the first place? If not well founded, it might lead us into hurting us more than bringing joy
Or maybe its the conspiracy of the capitalists that we celebrate something called a "birthday" so that we end up spending non-productive expenditure on birthday cakes, balloons and all the usual useless garbage (which are highly not-environmentally friendly). Do not mistake me for a sadist or a perennial negativist. In fact, I'm the opposite. When we mark a specific day for celebrating our birthday, aren't we making ourselves sad on the very next day, when it's not our birthday? We "may" end up being not so happy for no good reason. Think about it.
You may then argue, why do we have festivals? Most of the Indian ones I know are celebrated because our ancestors identified some deep rooted reasons. For example, my favorite Makara Sankaranthi is celebrated to mark the arrival of farm harvest. Our forefathers mostly being farmers, used to feel happy and celebrate the welcome of harvest and thank the gods (by gods, I mean nature, not the one who "reside" in stones or pictures).
In the midst of all this confusion, when my mom called up me and asked, "Did you wear a new dress today??" all thoughts just went belly up.
And why should I be jubilant? If we look at it from another side, we are actually, on our so-called birthday's getting closer to our death. We are getting a year closer to death (assuming that the cause of our death would be natural aging). Or should we celebrate that we survived another year in this brutal world? If that's the reason, then why don't we celebrate every month, or week or even better, every day.
Come to think of it, we feel good just because all the people we know, wish us "Happy Birthday" and it satisfies our ego or self-centeredness. We all want people to pay attention to us, and birthday is the day when we get the most of the attention (except some exceptions). So are we celebrating a day just because our ego is satisfied? How good or sustainable is that joy?
Some people may argue, what is the fault in finding a reason to be happy? Absolutely nothing. But is that (fictional) construct sustainable and sensible in the first place? If not well founded, it might lead us into hurting us more than bringing joy
Or maybe its the conspiracy of the capitalists that we celebrate something called a "birthday" so that we end up spending non-productive expenditure on birthday cakes, balloons and all the usual useless garbage (which are highly not-environmentally friendly). Do not mistake me for a sadist or a perennial negativist. In fact, I'm the opposite. When we mark a specific day for celebrating our birthday, aren't we making ourselves sad on the very next day, when it's not our birthday? We "may" end up being not so happy for no good reason. Think about it.
You may then argue, why do we have festivals? Most of the Indian ones I know are celebrated because our ancestors identified some deep rooted reasons. For example, my favorite Makara Sankaranthi is celebrated to mark the arrival of farm harvest. Our forefathers mostly being farmers, used to feel happy and celebrate the welcome of harvest and thank the gods (by gods, I mean nature, not the one who "reside" in stones or pictures).
In the midst of all this confusion, when my mom called up me and asked, "Did you wear a new dress today??" all thoughts just went belly up.
