Dates Go By..

As the years of our lives fly by, dates of importance to us change as well. For a long time, in fact all my childhood, the day 31st Oct was a very special day for me. It was my "best" friend's birthday. It meant buying an expensive gift for her, spending all day with her, watch movies back-to-back, and perhaps an evening dinner or party. But these days, its like any other day. Its been a few years since i have met my friend. In our life's worries and routines there is hardly any time for ol' friends any more!

I remember one 6th of March, quite some time ago- thats my grandparent's wedding anniversary. I remember when that year, my brother and me, both kids, walked up to a small gift shop in the neighborhood to buy a handy alarm clock for our grandparents. I still have that clock. It needs to be wound up everyday to keep it going. We never celebrated my grandparents anniversary again.

During all my college days, every friend's birthday was a treat indeed. An excuse to party, a reason to hit the theaters or just go out together in our motorcade of bikes and cars to newest restaurant on the block just to chill out. Nowadays, i barely make the effort to scarp them a message online, forget making a call or try meeting them. Its not that i don't care but somehow, the days go by and priorities change.

Every festival was a welcome holiday at home. A time to wear a traditional outfit, decorate the portico with rangoli, help my mother in cooking up the delicacies of the day and in the evening, go out in daddy's car to my grandpa's house to meet the other cousins. Thats a dream now for me. If I am not working on a holiday (which is more often the case than not), I am too exhausted to even cook a regular meal, forget making the traditional feast or decorating the place!

As a kid, summer meant 2 whole months of plain, uncorrupted fun, a gang of 40 friends, a mind boggling array of street games, playing on the roads till the light was too dim to sight the ball or till grandma called you for dinner; now, its just another season, only worse- sweat and grime plus routine!