Birthday is a day when you celebrate a year around the sun, your anniversary, or a day where your family and friends come around to celebrate your birth. Birthday traditions are different around the world and have evolved in time. But have you ever wondered how did the tradition of birthdays begin? 🤔
Birthdays were not celebrated until the calendars were created. It is assumed that Egyptians were the first ones to celebrate birthdays and the Romans to celebrate the birthday of a common man. It is believed that birthdays were started as a form of protection from evil spirits and the candles symbolised win over the dark evil👿 And birthday cakes never came into play as it is today, until the late 18th century.
However, birthday celebrations are not for everyone. According to students from different countries, people don't always celebrate birthdays. "I lived in a small village in the South of China," said Man Wen Ye, who is a junior in school. My parents didn't celebrate birthdays for me and we didn't have any parties or presents," she said. "I don't feel special on my birthday. It seems nothing to me." 👎
Anyhow in India, we do celebrate birthdays. I think the western culture has a huge impact on how we celebrate birthdays nowadays. But what's different is, in some part of the country one person's birthday is celebrated twice a year 🥳 It's just that we tend to follow two calendars. It's a normal thing. Especially for Hindus. A person tends to have a birthday according to the Christian calendar that most people follow and another one with the Hindu lunar calendar. Hence, we have two zodiacs.
I think I'm slipping away from what I want to say. In my personal view, the whole social conundrum of wishing someone birthday is so confusing and weird. I don't believe in birthdays, because if you think about it, it doesn't matter when we are born. We just need a day for celebration is all. If we take the exact meaning of being born is, to come out of the mother's body & exist, why does it matter so much? Well, time is something that is man-made. As I said before, in the Hindu calendar, I was born 6 days before, when compared to the Christian calendar. So the exact time of you being born is lost in the time itself 🥴
If you think from a different perspective, you are being born in many ways. Your thoughts change, you evolve into another person. Literally, you are not even the person you were a few years back because every cell in your body is getting replaced, you shed your skin in a 2,3 weeks gap and it's said that you might not be the person you were 7.15 years back.
If it's about ageing then again age is entwined with time. Age is just a number. And mentally it's up to you to age. You can be old and yet youthful with your thoughts and energy. Also spiritually speaking, you are only truly born once you find the true purpose of your life(debatable)🤐
Simply put you cannot wish someone, birthday, just because he or she is born that day. It also depends on how you define birth.
Another futile thing is, how this generation celebrates birthdays. Birthday traditions have changed over time. Popping stories on Instagram or WhatsApp, all those big birthday parties, long lost friend texting you and some random crap is how birthdays are celebrated today. The birthday vibe that you're putting out into the world is that you are the most important person in the world, that day and you are the only one that matters. This happens on many other occasions too. What you should do is to embrace the things other people have done for you to become who you are today 🥰 Still, it's all up to you to choose right?
Again for me, the weird thing about birthdays is gifting. Let me quote Sheldon Cooper here -“Oh, Penny. I know you think you’re being generous, but the foundation of gift-giving is reciprocity. You haven’t given me a gift. You’ve given me an obligation. The essence of the custom is that I now have to go out and purchase a gift of commensurate value and representing the same perceived level of friendship as that represented by the gift you’ve given me. It’s no wonder suicide rates skyrocket this time of the year," 😂 Like I sometimes don't wanna put statuses (nor wish) for anyone's birthday and I think that's ok. But it makes me nervous that if I don't put remember or show the fake representation of how I care for his/her birthday, I might lose a friend 😪 Yah it's that serious. But yes sometimes it's fun. I do succumb to this old custom. Yet I don't give a damn if people forget to wish me or put a status. Because I don't believe in birthdays. But I am much obliged to the people out there who made me what I am today. It's just that, it doesn't need a birthday to remind me of that. Are birthdays overrated? Tell me what you think about.
Anyhow in India, we do celebrate birthdays. I think the western culture has a huge impact on how we celebrate birthdays nowadays. But what's different is, in some part of the country one person's birthday is celebrated twice a year 🥳 It's just that we tend to follow two calendars. It's a normal thing. Especially for Hindus. A person tends to have a birthday according to the Christian calendar that most people follow and another one with the Hindu lunar calendar. Hence, we have two zodiacs.
I think I'm slipping away from what I want to say. In my personal view, the whole social conundrum of wishing someone birthday is so confusing and weird. I don't believe in birthdays, because if you think about it, it doesn't matter when we are born. We just need a day for celebration is all. If we take the exact meaning of being born is, to come out of the mother's body & exist, why does it matter so much? Well, time is something that is man-made. As I said before, in the Hindu calendar, I was born 6 days before, when compared to the Christian calendar. So the exact time of you being born is lost in the time itself 🥴
If you think from a different perspective, you are being born in many ways. Your thoughts change, you evolve into another person. Literally, you are not even the person you were a few years back because every cell in your body is getting replaced, you shed your skin in a 2,3 weeks gap and it's said that you might not be the person you were 7.15 years back.
If it's about ageing then again age is entwined with time. Age is just a number. And mentally it's up to you to age. You can be old and yet youthful with your thoughts and energy. Also spiritually speaking, you are only truly born once you find the true purpose of your life(debatable)🤐
Simply put you cannot wish someone, birthday, just because he or she is born that day. It also depends on how you define birth.
Another futile thing is, how this generation celebrates birthdays. Birthday traditions have changed over time. Popping stories on Instagram or WhatsApp, all those big birthday parties, long lost friend texting you and some random crap is how birthdays are celebrated today. The birthday vibe that you're putting out into the world is that you are the most important person in the world, that day and you are the only one that matters. This happens on many other occasions too. What you should do is to embrace the things other people have done for you to become who you are today 🥰 Still, it's all up to you to choose right?
Again for me, the weird thing about birthdays is gifting. Let me quote Sheldon Cooper here -“Oh, Penny. I know you think you’re being generous, but the foundation of gift-giving is reciprocity. You haven’t given me a gift. You’ve given me an obligation. The essence of the custom is that I now have to go out and purchase a gift of commensurate value and representing the same perceived level of friendship as that represented by the gift you’ve given me. It’s no wonder suicide rates skyrocket this time of the year," 😂 Like I sometimes don't wanna put statuses (nor wish) for anyone's birthday and I think that's ok. But it makes me nervous that if I don't put remember or show the fake representation of how I care for his/her birthday, I might lose a friend 😪 Yah it's that serious. But yes sometimes it's fun. I do succumb to this old custom. Yet I don't give a damn if people forget to wish me or put a status. Because I don't believe in birthdays. But I am much obliged to the people out there who made me what I am today. It's just that, it doesn't need a birthday to remind me of that. Are birthdays overrated? Tell me what you think about.
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