Opinion Divided

Today is Yusuf Rassiwala’s (see pic) birthday. As he did not come this morning, let us wish him many, many happy returns of the day through this blog. May he have a long and healthy and prosperous life.
Rane raised the issue of whether we should be celebrating members’ birthdays at all. “Birthdays bhool jaao,” he opined. Nafisa concurred and seconded the idea. Many heard them in the course of our exercises, but chose to keep quiet. And therein hangs a tale.
For quite some time now, there has been growing dissent over the manner birthdays are celebrated in the Club. From a time when laddoos and toffees were distributed we moved to phapra-jalebi birthdays and then graduated to giving away Vyanjan packets and now, we often end up having sit-down lunches at restaurants. Even ‘outsiders’ are partaking in them. According to some members, all this is an avoidable extravagance.
On the other hand, there is the standard argument that nobody is holding a gun to your head to celebrate your birthday. It is purely voluntary and optional. For several members (particularly the ladies) the Club provides the only opportunity for socializing outside home and celebrating birthdays is just one way for asserting a sense of belongingness. Besides, it is a way of ‘giving back’ to the Club, after having enjoyed the goodies from other members’ birthdays during a year.
Now, there can be pros and cons to both arguments. But really, it is pointless turning this into a contentious issue – so long as nobody feels pressurized. This would negate the very spirit of observing birthdays. After all, it is in our nature to wish one another well, birthdays or no birthdays and all the world’s phapra-jalebis notwithstanding.
--Big Laaf