The Good of Small things..

I have always been very excited about celebrating birthdays. Mostly my own. I love feeling special. I love the fact that one day of the year is just to celebrate me, my very being :) When I was a kid, I never really had big birthday parties with a theme and a designer cake and lots of friends over. Mine were mostly simple affairs, with Mom baking a simple cake and a lavish dinner, a few balloons and the neighborhood kids and cousins. But I always attended some of my classmates` birthday parties. Most were lavish affairs that I secretly wished I could host. And it was pretty mortifying, not be invited to someone`s party, especially when your best friend was! In the later years of school, I remember 'going out' for lunch with friends. Mom would give me money to pay the check and I remember feeling so important! But nothing could quell the secret longing for a swanky birthday bash(the kind I never had!). And so over the years as I grew up, celebrating birthdays became more and more of a child-like obsession (like the 8 year old ones I once had and never grew out of!)!

This year I had the perfect birthday. I woke up to a bright morning and a flood of emails and birthday messages! From friends, from people I was not in touch with, from people I`ve never met too! I cannot explain why this was so moving, but it was! And one of the high points of the day was a surprise card by Sagarika, which completely blew my mind off (in the nicest way possible!). I couldnt imagine doing the same - making special efforts for someone I hardly know, just to make the other person`s day a little brighter. I am so touched by this gesture and very, very humbled too! It brought back several fond memories.

My best friend since school always took special care to prepare birthday cards for me. She once gifted me an assorted collection of all our favorite songs(including our all time favorite 'That`s what friends are for'! Check this out, J!), having made special efforts to look around for the songs and record them herself! I have cherished all those cards and much more over the years.

Which is what set me thinking.

I dont remember a single thing I may have gifted or done, not a single gesture that someone might have cherished over the years. But then, I think about all the times when I`ve just been around, heard someone out, cried together, whined and complained or simply laughed together. And I wonder if that is ever enough. I wonder, because sometimes it isnt with me. Sometimes I need to be pampered, made to be felt special just because. And I`m not talking of gifts that one can buy by throwing money at them. Expensive jewelery or clothes or perfumes or what have you! I`m not even talking of everyday things like waking up 10 minutes early to pack a fancy lunch for the kids (though there is something fascinating about the immense love hidden behind such diurnal monotony too). I`m simply talking of simple heartfelt gestures which show that you care and how! A thank you note. A hand-made card. Flowers. A surprise dessert date after dinner. An assorted collection of favorite songs. Surprise concert tickets. You know, little things like that, which touch a single chord and the notes resound forever..

I realize that I have truly never done anything like that for anybody! And so I step back, alarmed! Am I always taking and never giving? And more importantly, is the 'Art of Giving' something that one has to cultivate or does it come naturally to people(and sometimes not at all to others!)? Here`s the time to pause and think. Have you ever made an extra effort to show someone you care? Have you ever surprised anyone with a thoughtful gift??

And now for the cards I was talking about.

This one is by Sagarika : Album covers of The Gods(Pink Floyd!). I especially love the bday cake with my name on it!

And this one is a collection of old bday cards especially made for me! (This one`s for you, J!). Please click on the individual snippets in the collage for a better view.

Sometimes, I see magic in little things.. Do you?