Thursday, March 5, 2009

HPY BDAY 2 U

I celebrated my birthday sometime in February and I was overwhelmed by the amount of attention I received. My mailbox was flooded and my phone beeped throughout the day as a flood of sms-es poured in.

Crossword, the bookshop where I am a regular browser-buyer and a member, sent me a card, a gift voucher for a spectacles shop (smart connection, that) and a discount coupon (smart business strategy).

My beauty parlour rang me up to wish me many happy returns and to remind me that I would get any service for Rs 100 free, an offer which I promptly accepted (resulting in a few golden streaks of hair upfront, and an additional spending of Rs 260).

Shopper’s Stop mailed me their greetings to ‘celebrate in style’ (presumably clothed in outfits purchased at their premises).

HDFC Credit Cards sms-ed me their good wishes, and the un-smsed hope of greater card usage in the next 365 days.

HSBC Bank did almost exactly the same (the differences were perhaps due to the fact that there I have a debit card).

Various Mutual Fund Managers e-mailed me their wishes, advising me to ‘invest in a happy future’.

Even my LIC agent joined the birthday-bandwagon by sms-ing similar good wishes with ditto advice.

Amazed at suddenly being showered with so much technologically-preset TLC and pre-recorded public attention, I felt like a virtual star. Nobody can feel lonely in today’s technology-enabled corporate world. I was bowled over by PR-pyaar (love). Care and Comfort for the customer is just an sms-away. I purchase, therefore I am. I buy, therefore I get wished on my birthday. WOW, that’s absolutely great for my self-esteem, is it not?.

Oh well, in the corporate PR-whirligig, I almost forgot to mention that my mother, sister-in law, brother, in-laws, cousin and some of my friends also called (I suspect they had all set reminders in their phone calendars, the way I always do). I’m just joking, many of them would have remembered, hopefully. The spouse did, without setting any reminders (not that I know of anyway).

And then, there were my daughters. The Lil Cat folded an A4 sheet of copier-paper and made a card in her crawling-uphill handwriting (complete with a Bible Verse advising me about the value of hard work – which she had apparently learnt in school that day). The Copy-kitten followed suit with a similar sheet of paper filled with scribbles in a yet-undiscovered script. On the great day, Lil Cat serenaded me on waking up (she, not me) with a rather complicated and uncommon birthday song invoking birds and animals, which she forgot midway. The Copy-kitten enthusiastically added to the chorus, with the emphasis on all the wrong places because at that time she was sitting on her potty and had to simultaneously attend to other pressures. And then they demanded, what’s for breakfast?

So that’s the way it is. Birthdays remind you of who you are (along with how old you are, of course, let's not get into that aspect of it at all). A customer. A mother. So if you want to be sms-ed and serenaded all over again next year, better get on with the job.

25 comments:

Alexi Frest said...

Hello,
so nice to meet again.
Being somewhat better, I'm a bit more communicative now.
Many happy returns!!
Are you Aquarius or Pisces?
Cheers,
Mina Jade

Ugich Konitari said...

Sucharita,

With all the bday wishing varieties, maybe one was left out.....wishing you on the blog ! So here are some (belated) heartfelt wishes for many happy returns of the day , with many more wonderful songs are cards from the two kittys. ....

Deepa said...

awwwww!!!

Your daughters are the cutest!!!

Lazyani said...

Sucharita,

wish you a very happy Birthday(Belated).

No , I do not sell credit cards, mutual funds and their ilk. But I do look forward to your posts. Here's hoping that you keep on posting more and more.

By the way, I do work in a company which sells real estate. Hence, in lieu of the above wish , -----------------.:)

§ωατι §ετhι said...

heya!! Wish you a Belated Happy Birthday.. atleast tell us the date so that we can wish you in future.. :)

Your daughters are really adorable..glad tht u had such a special & warm birthday..
Cheers!!

pradipwritenow said...

Wish you a very happy birthday in which my wife Susmita also joins with me.
Hope you cooked Payesh for yourself.

Anil P said...

Belated wishes to you. No wonder folks wish 'many happy returns for the day' :-)

Mystic Margarita said...

Belated Happy Birthday to you! Cat and Kit's actics crack me up - did I tell you I adore them?

Sucharita Sarkar said...

Hi Mina, UK, Pradip, MM, Scatterbrain, Lazyani, Swati, Anil,

thanks for the wishes...I'm a Pisces, older but none the wiser.

Alexi Frest said...

Pisces is one of my most favourite zodiac sign. My favourite fanfic author, Shadowycat is one; and, of course, my best friend, Vanda is a Pisces, too. That is why I did call her on her birthday now, and we made peace after two years of misunderstood. I'm so glad to have my bff back.

Lilly said...

Oh Happy Birthday to you for last month. How adorable that your little kittens celebrated in style. This post was fantastic and very clever. I loved the line, I shop therefore I am.

jyotsana said...

happy birthday sucharita....tho its quite late....

Sucharita Sarkar said...

Lilly, Jyotsna,

Thanks.

Mina,

So glad you got you BFF back.

Scribbit said...

well Happy late Birthday!

Nancy said...

Very cool. I used to wish that I shared a birthday with some glittering personage, historical, Hollywood, what have you. There seemed to be no one except Amerigo Vespucci -- and the wedding anniversary of Napoleon and Josephine.

In the past few years, however, it seems that the Barbie doll's "birthday" has become a big thing. Wouldn't you know it -- there's my glittering personage. We're talking about March 9, by the way.

nsiyer said...

Many happy reurns though belated. Customer is the king and is shown in more than one way.
Mine is this month and let me see the experience.

Mozi Esme said...

Sounds like a sweet birthday!

!Teq-uila Del Zapata said...

its been while not been to ur blog, u would have forgotten me by now.
Happy buday.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@ Scribbit, Nancy, NS Iyer, TD Zapata, Mozi Esme,

Thanks a ton.

Alexi Frest said...

I'm all too glad, too :-)
I'm healthy and all right again, and my friend is back - I'm fortunate now, I really am.

Sukku said...

I'm sorry...."Happy Belated Birthday" and may the Good Lord Bless you....for what you are

Indyeah said...

awww..your daughters are so cute:)
and Happy Birthday!wishes from me too although a bit late:)
may you have many more:)

Sucharita Sarkar said...

Hi Mina Jade,

thanks for following.

Hi Indyeah and Sukku,

Thanks so much.

Wendy said...

Happy Belated Birthday!!! :)

Sucharita Sarkar said...

Hi Wendy,

Thanks, also belated.