Saturday, June 9, 2007

Birthday!!!


From the day a baby is conceived in a mother's womb, umpteen number of expectations and hopes hover around the unborn fetus . As the baby starts kicking and makes its presence felt , there dawns on the mother an innate joy of holding and experiencing divinity within . When the bundle of joy finally marks his\her presence with the first expression of sound the proud parents are once again elevated to the heights of untainted joy and unconditional love ! Each phase in the infants life now is appreciated and applauded like a miracle of existence .Like the bud which slowly blooms and blossoms into a flower showcasing its unique beauty accepting energy from the Sun and life source from water , the innocent baby too slowly treads into the cycle called life , accepting love , and care from the parents .

Too much of Sun's rays can wither and too much of water can decay the plant . Similarly too much of expectations showered in the name of love can retard the other wise abundant growth of your child's talents . All these thoughts meandered through my mind when I was just watching my kids play in our back yard . Today was surely a very special day for me , as my younger son turned two . I watched with wonder the two kids running about and falling on top of each other , listened with joy the sudden bubbles of laughter emanating from their tiny shrill voices , and felt with totality the joyous moments of motherhood .

Yes, today was my son's birthday . When I think of birthday celebrations, my thoughts snake back to a birthday I once attended a few months back . It was hosted in a five star hotel , and it was a first birthday . The AC banquet hall was decorated with giant sized stuffed toys, and the hall echoed with thunderous songs ! I was intently looking out for the birthday boy , but could only spot many cranky one year olds yelling at the top of their voices , appealing in their own baby language to escape from the scary looks from the giant toys ! With much difficulty I spotted the star of the day who was dressed up in his newly tailored blazer , the weight of which was quite heavy on him . He looked like a lost warrior who had given up fighting . What he needed was a warm cuddle and a kiss .....but what followed was a cake cutting ceremony and loud applause which confused the baby whose shouts faded into the surrounding excitement . Then followed a photo session , where the parents posed for snaps with their little angel forcing the well frosted cake into the well shut mouth. Murmurs and rolled eyes from parents was not going to work magic here . Next followed games ....and dance to rocking rhythms , where the parents tried to convince themselves and all around the heights of enjoyment by swaying to the music with their beloved bundle of joy clinging to them . What followed next ? A grand sumptuous dinner which covered both North Indian and South Indian dishes , with a choice of various desserts . The guests were happy but the birth day boy preferred to sleep after this dramatic event .

Which would be the best way the child would have wanted to celebrate his birthday? First of all a one year old is yet to know the concept of a birthday. Then why succumb to this birth day drama ? May be it has become a trend in todays society to have one accepted? Won't it be better to just spend a day with your precious little darling ? I asked my five year old, as to how he would like his birthday to be celebrated... He thought for a while.....then said he would want a hug , a special kiss , he would prefer his birth day on a weekend as the whole family could play Frisbee and ball in the back yard... I was amazed and relieved .” Don't forget to buy me a gift “, he added .

We did exactly that today . We tried to spend more time with our little one... played their favorite games... cooked some delicacies which we shared with a few friends . Instead of blowing out two candles we preferred to light two aromatic candles . It was nice to see my birth day boy admiring and bowing down before the lighted candle pronouncing “ Devabu” meaning God in our mother tongue .....

22 comments:

Naveen Prabhu said...

sree seems to have really enjoyed himself on his birthday .... we'll really miss "growing up" with the langurs ....

Dr Sudha Kilikar said...

right way to celebrate birthday,u must have enjoyed the day.....

krystyna said...

Hi Nanditha!
Love your writing! Great job and great birthday!
In Jun my grandson turned two as your son and my new grandson was born. (they both will be celebrated birthday together).
For me last Jun days are very special too.
Wishing you and your family all the best!

Mishmash ! said...

hmm....you hit the right chord...vanity ! But sometimes people are in some loop where they dont have any other option but to swim along!!

Shn

Susan said...

Thank you for this. Less is definitely more. So many people think that if you don't overindulge, you are neglecting. Why is it always the middle road between the two extremes that is the hardest to navigate?

Sriram said...

Nice description and my best wishes...

srijithunni said...

Cute little son, you have there..! Truly what more could a mother need than to see her child smile.! What better gift or happiness could she get..?

Wish your son a warm and glorious birthday.!
Wish you and your family all wealth, warmth and Happiness.!

Have a nice day.!

With Best Regards,
Srijith.

Kalyan Panja said...

WoW...some really wonderful shots & a lovely description along with it. Wishing you all the happiness in your life.

Movie Mazaa said...

sweet!
belated bday wishes to the young one!
:)

Keshi said...

How very cute. He looks so ADORABLE!

Happy FIRST to ur beautiful bubz!


Keshi.

Keshi said...

btw he's a June baby..he's gonna rock. Cos I was born in June too ;-)


Keshi.

Sindhya Govind said...

Nicely written post..Our warm wishes and love to Sree. Cute photos too..Looks like he enjoyed alot on his b'day with frisbie..

Bharathy said...

Amidst all these food and recipes,your writing and the pics,really cool my brains..

Wishing you all happiness,peace and prosperity..

Nanditha Prabhu said...

naveen, sudha , yes we enjoyed the day.

kyatyna...thank you for stopping by...

mishmash , you are right people are forced to swim along....but why?

susan , yes less is definitely more!and its great to do what your heart feels.

sriram and velu nair, thanknyou for your wishes.

srijith, it gives great happiness to see kids smile! thanks for visiting.

keshi, i`m also a june baby!

kalyan , thankyou! my shots are definitely not as good as yours!

sg ,thanks for the wishes!

bharathy , nice to know that my writing cool your brains!:-)

Cynthia said...

Dear Nanditha, thank you for visiting my blog. I would love for you to try the recipe and make the muffins for your kids.

Belated birthday greetings! Sounds like the family had a wonderful day on Saturday. I firmly believe that life is about the simple things, it is in those simple moments that clarity is evident. We understand and appreciate then how truly special life is.

Hope to see you around often.

diyadear said...

hey nanditha,
u write soo beautifully.. the first few paras made me feel awestruck!!! a very happy birthday to ur little angel n hope u had a gr8 day.. janmdivas chang jaavo ;)

dharmabum said...

yes, expectations, even from our own children can, and often do lead to misery - on both sides, and u've put it well. had written about my parents a while back -

http://debum.blogspot.com/2006/06/amma-appa.html

the birthday celebration thing is all way too much these days, very pseudo methinks.

abu in my mother tongue is grandpa, and deva is god :) which language is this ur talking about?

Nanditha Prabhu said...

cynthia, thank you for the warm wishes! yes I will keep visiting .

diya,dharma,
both you seem to know konkani, my mother tongue! thank you for visiting and dropping in comments.

dharmabum said...

hey!!! am quite excited about this. i quite guessed u must be a konkan - from ur surname...i speak it too, though am sure there are varying accents - like the ones spoken in goa, coastal maharashtra, mangaloer and then down south in and round kochi. :)

How do we know said...

hmmm.. nice food for thought here.. Thanks!!

Prashant said...

hi nandukka.... ur posts r soo much fun to read...even i am very lucky to grow up in an similar environment like this... bappa also likes to celebrate bdays like this... and i knw they have high expectations from me.. but they have never imposed anything on me....
ne way... very well ritten...
wud have luvvvvdddd to play frisbie wid my "bacchoss"

Anonymous said...

spoke my mind...