To Me, Celebrating a Birthday means Getting A Step Close to the Deathbed…!!

Note: The author of this write-up is Naveen Kumar Chowdary (photo inserted right, source: facebook), a friend of the author of this blog. Naveen shared his write-up for a review. It was so pleasing to go through that I asked if it could be published; Naveen agreed. I would prefer to publish it as it is from the author itself. The purity of the thoughts poured in, is same as that of Kolaveri song, which could touch heart of millions around the world. If it touches your heart, feel free to comment below.

and the story begins now...


Don’t start considering me as a psychopath talking his nuts out after reading the Title. Just ponder over the statement after putting you in the shoes of a lonely Gentleman of an 85 year old..!!

I know the reflections won’t leave any pleasurable experiences, especially if they were to happen on your Birthday……, and yes it happened to me on my 28th Birthday…!!!

Birthday that started in a Hangover:

The topsy-turvy nature of things around with the feeling of a heavy head immediately gave me a feeling of immense regret about my lack of self-control and series of failures to restrict my alcohol consumption to limited pegs. The excruciating pain in the back bone, reminded the previous night’s bumpy bouncy ride to have dinner at the midnight Murthal dhaba (40 km away from Delhi – Karnal road).Redlining the Volkswagen’s engine and bass of its Boss music system to its utmost capacity…, became a lethal combination under the influence of high spirits...

For once, I am reminded of the memories of midnight dhaba where girls with ringlets, wearing sleeveless tops and shorts, the huge uproar of entire crowd in sync when the lights went off at the dhaba, occasional drizzles with super cool climate setting stage to the winters. These visuals almost transcended my pain into a pleasure in the memory chunks of my brain. However the sudden bashing noise at the entrance door brought me back to present state along with the forgotten pain. 

Exhibit: Naveen with his friends Deepesh (middle) and Rohit (left) while pursuing Masters in Great Lakes, Gurgaon

I hate the punctuality of my maid’s time-sense, especially on weekends..!! The crackles of dishes in the kitchen produced a strange noise which forced to me to get up from the bed (My alarm clock must be feeling jealous of these dishes). My Daily conscious routine starts with an unanswerable question asked by the maid…Something to which I am unable to find an answer for, since her joining.

She asked me with a scornful look “Bhayya aaj Khane me sabzi kya banau” (Brother what shall I cook for lunch??). I walked away from the scene ignoring the sarcastic smile of my maid who knew that there is no such species called sabzi(vegetable) exists in my kitchen. I approached the cupboard to address another prominent issue on “What to wear on a weekend”. This realized me of my failure to acquire a new dress for my birthday springing forth an old conversation with my mom.

Birthday Dress:

“Have you bought the Birthday Dress??” enquired my mom a week before today (my birthday). She exuded her confidence while saying so, fully aware of my nature of postponing things till the last moment, and yes she was right again. I didn’t buy yet. While I am trying to anticipate the next course of our conversation, she started once again trying to convince me to re-think about my decision to buy a new dress and importance of being Contented with the “less”; the Indian version of “Silks and Satins, Scarlets and velvets put out the kitchen fire” (– Poor Richard’s almanac- Benjamin Franklin).

After a brief session, coming to the specifics of our discussion agenda, she warned me of not to splurge money in purchasing and accumulating my clothing cupboard with extra stock. She suggested me to find a new way to spend wisely by “Doing some charity”. When my monkey mind’s curiosity sought to explore the available options in charity, one way she suggested is to distribute food and clothing to the elderly of an old-age home and receive their blessings in return.

I disconnected the call displaying my usual haughtiness, belittling her suggestion and told that I will try to consider her suggestion only in the case of my failure to purchase a pair of dress before my birthday. The exploration in the abundance of clothing mines available across all e-commerce websites failed to impress me in choosing even a single pair of dress and the postponement of purchase continued till the D-day. Finally the D-day has started with an extravagance of celebrations organized by friends expecting a larger ROI in the form of a birthday treat..!!!

Recognizing and acknowledging my failure, the votary of truth, deeply ingrained inside the layers my heart expounded me to follow the idea of charity as suggested. That moment I called up a friend (Brahma, a friend who knows and stays near an old-age home) and expressed my desire to distribute fruits. Without even considering the pitfalls of losing budget from the Birthday treat fund, he appreciated my decision and asked me to share the positive omens received from the charity as his consultation fees. He estimated and told me the required quantity of apples to distribute. He also explained how the superstitious positive omens from the elderly can improve my chances of receiving serendipitous fortune.

Old age home:

The entrance is filled with lush of green grass grown tall during the monsoons and left uncut. We tried to sneak inside calmly with little movement of entrance gate, but the creaking noise had disrupted the ongoing discussions of the staff there and turned their attention towards us. After a cheerful exchange of greetings, Brahma nudged me to walk towards the main gallery inside where there are individual rooms for the residents of building.

Room 1: An elderly man sitting under the tube light was reading a book, trying to stress on his spectacle frame hoping to improve the visibility. Brahma told him the reason for our presence there. He blessed me and enquired about my whereabouts and appreciated again. He said glad that you identified early in your life, about the things where you can find happiness without any cost…!! And expressed concern over current generation’s foolishness and thinking that Happiness can be found in those things which come at a cost..!!

Room 2: An elderly woman sitting in an armchair intently focused on an Amitabh’s movie in the TV felt visibly disturbed by our presence. After explaining the reason behind our procession, she touched my cheek and said in Hindi “Wish you and your parents will never find a day to stay in these kinds of palaces”. I did not understand the meaning of what she said but my mind recorded it easily, but after deep reflection I am moved with the depth in her statement (both of her children settled in overseas and left her there)

Room 3: The Old man hugged me and explained me the power of positive feedback loop; how the cheerful blessings received from all these old people will create a positive resonance inside my mind increasing my potential to do more such good things..!! He immediately prayed the god to increase my lifespan including the remaining years of his life..!! Brahma joked with him saying that we will celebrate his birthday also soon.

He then told that he is more than 80 years old and calmly said “to me, celebrating a birthday means getting a step close to the death bed”. A sudden profusion of silence occupied in the room with both of us staring at each other. He then smiled and said “Life will unfold as giant picture (of memories), when you are nearing to deathbed, make sure to paint it well now to get a better picture then”. I left from there feeling confused and upon deep reflection decided to put down these thoughts.