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.
I agree with your thoughts but even after the harvest we need to sow and reep. And the whole cycle repeats. Celebration is just about taking a break and enjoying what we did for why we did. Birthday could be just another such celebration. Nonetheless it has become notion that it should be celebrated extravagantly throwing parties and spending mindlessly. It could also be so simply done by spending that day with your loved one's or giving time to yourself. Just putting my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAny celebration is good as long as it doesn't hurt..I start having issue when things go out of control
DeleteWhy not we remember and celebrate the day. Review your year long activities and try to spend with dear ones or do think some thing new or helping hand to the needy Of course one may ask why only that day, I agree but you can not do every day as you have certain things and responsibilities to perform. Nevertheless, one should be good and graceful at heart. Then every day can be a birthday. After all we are all human beings and deferment level thinking so every one has their say for the birthday reasoning. Let us not worry about these small things and think what we can do to the society.............
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the write up! However I find that the following may be deliberated:
ReplyDelete1. Gregorian may be a fictional calendar but it has brought uniformity in the way the world operates. Well you are a PhD in economics you understand the importance of globalisation more than us. The economies of scale can't be reached with each of us adopting different dates and times!
2. You are closer to death every time you EXHALE! So that point needs further thinking.
3. Humans are emotion driven animals, marking a day for an emotional upliftment is actually a good thing. Serotonin is the idea behind it!! Again as a PhD in Economics, you would appreciate that spending money drives the economy upwards and not savings.
4. I guess your mom is a better economist than you. She understands human emotions and the economy ☺️
Harish Ji you played with the words proficiently to deliberate your obeservations. #Bunty
ReplyDelete