Happy Birthday to me.

You know what the best thing about birthdays is?

The cake you say? The gifts? The calls at midnight? The calls all day through? The cards, e-cards, mails? Orkut and facebook scraps? I hear you, I hear you. They’re great. You might be absolutely swimming in self-pity…luxuriating in the stuff, until a b-day turns up one day and forces you out of your self-indulgent misery. And part of the reason is all of the above that you mentioned.

However, I would say the best bit is something quite the opposite. I wait till about 10-ish on a birthday night to see whom among my friends and relatives have remembered my birthday. And then, after a tot up of the people who did and a quick soul search about why the others didn’t, I put phase two of my yearly birthday plan into action.

I systematically write, scrap, and send facebook message-thingies to all the people who forgot. Guilt is my source of sustenance, like a chubby Dementor out of Harry Potter. Along with a love for the arts and wavy hair, I inherited this talent from my great-grand aunt on my mother’s side. Give me a reason to make a person feel guilty and you give me the greatest gift of all. Needless to say, birthdays are prime occasions for a guilt-fest and cheer me up enormously.

My family was rather disappointing this year, with every single person in the immediate tree calling or writing. My husband very annoyingly pulled out all the stops and silenced me for a whole year. Seven years of my company has tipped him off, and he didn’t give me even the slightest fodder for a future “I can see I’m not important” mini-guilt-trip. Damn it.

But some of my friends…hehe…you know who you are!(pointing an accusing chubby finger) Had it been that I was really in doubt as to whether you liked me or not, I would’ve been actually upset. But at the risk of being presumptuous, I shall say, that since I’m fairly secure on that count, and am well aware that you simply forgot, (because we’re all busy people and at some point or the other I’ve forgotten yours too) it’s just fun to write emails that say “You forgot my BIRTHDAY!” (frowny face). And wait for the guilty replies to line up in my inbox.

And now if you’ll excuse me, there are a few phone calls I have to make, since one or two of my emails haven’t been replied to.

…And so the festivities continue!:)

P.S - For those who plan to point out how bad I am with birthdays and how many times you've had to remind me that 'its so-and-so's birthday please call him' (yes, Haimanti I can read you like a book), all I can say is...sod off. It's my birthday and my blog and I shall say what I like.