She knew she had very little time.. his birthday was only a few days away… his birthdays had never been celebrated grandly.. he had never asked for it, and no one had ever felt the need… considering that the only thing he spent money on were books and cassettes,he was never difficult to please if his birthday presents were any of the above… except for the occasional games or toys, much like his life, the presents he got were also routine, not that he was complaining… he was, well, like that…
but this time, she wanted it to be different, it was his 15th birthday, the one after his tenth standard board exams had got over, the first big hurdle in life… and she wanted him to celebrate it in a slightly better fashion than they usually did… and the first and perhaps only difficult task was convincing him.. because, although she was very strict about everything he did, lately she had understood he was growing up, and increasingly left his things to his judgement.. well, she was his mother, and knew what was best for him..
besides, she knew things he didnt..convincing him was difficult, for he was a shy child, with a handful of close friends, and ran away from attention of any kind, except for the ones which his extra curricular activities demanded.. for she was still very strict about that… and so he was trained in classical music, played in the cricket team,and was a member of the school quiz and debating teams… all of which he liked in a very matter-of-fact way…
all said, he was a very reluctant social animal…but she wouldn’t have any of that.. with 2 days left, she forced him to accept the fact that he would have to invite at least 10 of his friends to celebrate his birthday.. the only thing which he could decide was the place…and so it was, that for the very first time he could remember, he was doing something more complicated than distributing sweets for his birthday..
but after all was said and done, he was happy, and grudgingly thanked her… and she in turn, thanked her god, for she had survived the day…but he doesnt like celebrating birthdays, because she died 9 days later..
until next time, some things arent forever…
The Birthday
Comments
17 responses to “The Birthday”
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*glaring at you*
How morbid! You and Pingoo are ek-hi-thali-ke-chatte-batte (I think its sth like that!… was never too good at hindi! *grin*)
Anyhow… morbid story but poignant… Geez… i so thought the shy reserved kid wud kill himself after board results or something!
Ever consider writing thrillers?
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why did she die? how did she die?
was it suicide or murder or was she sick or something?
wait wait. what happened after that?he survived? what about the next birthday?
did he choose the place this time too or invite anybody?
🙂 -
memorable b’day indeed but then the memory is eternal for that 15 yr old. mothers do have premonitions about certain things and maybe that prompted her to have the “last supper”
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Hi,
Is it autobiographical ?
*hugs* -
Thats depressing.
Hope its not true …
… if it is, then a big hug goes out to that little boy. -
hope this was fiction….
*hugs* -
hug.
wont say nothing more.
so now you know why i dont celebrate mine.a sibling.
the plates were warm at dinner that day.
austere -
garfy: uhuh, kid doesnt die… and yup, definitely considering writing thrillers, but dont know how to go about it..:(
arunima: except for one, no bdays have been celebrated after that..
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blokes: yes, memories are eternal…
pearl: very …. *but wondering how u thought of it*
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ash: true, unfortunately
stone: sometimes ‘hope’ doesnt deliver…
buuuut, congrats and welcome to the club 🙂 -
austere: i understand ….
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aww thats such a sad ending. but celebration of life should carry on nonetheless…
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awww…i hope that was fiction?!:(
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Hey… *bawl* (shud have read the first line a lil more carefully!) Make that Pingoo alone as morbid and dreary! N am still feeling terrible.
But hey doesnt the kid not celebrating bdays defeat the entire purpose???
Also if you really want to write try the Sulekha site… they have some penguin contest going on! (er.. this is a terrible choice of space to say this.. but me really thinks you shud write!)
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we dont celebrate papa’s bday coz da only two times we did, he almost died. call it superstition or fear…
warmest hugs manu -
aqua: its a life to be lived…
judy: uhuh
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garfy: woman, stop feeling terrible!! did try the site, contest over :(…
elixir: to u too…
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