First thing’s first. When I google “What’s my age?”, it says 29 years, 8 hours and 11 minutes as on 1930 hours on 31st December, 2020. So stop saying that I have turned 30. This is my Joey moment from ‘Friends’ and I can totally relate to him.

Secondly, for those of you who have been judging me for having no plans for NYE and blogging on this occasion, wait until you finish reading this post. This one’s all about how my birthday is absolutely unique (or as it may seem to people around me). I wish to tell you how people react to my birth date, some pros and a lot of cons of being born on the last day of the year. So let’s get started with a Happy Birthday to Me Song!

Some of the most common congratulatory statements that people come up with when I tell them that I was born on 31st December are as follows:

• Ek din ruk hi jata? Model naya ho jata! (You could’ve waited another day)
• Wah! Double-Double party tonight? (Yup they make sure to double that double in our country)
• Whole world celebrates your birthday. (No it doesn’t)
• No one can forget your birthday ever! (Duh!)

After 30 29 years now, I have been so used to these so called compliments, that I tend to get annoyed at times.

But there has to be some upside to it?

Well, apart from people not believing you when you say your birthday falls on 31st December, there are some upsides too:

The Endless Cycle:

So, whenever someone asks you when your birthday is, you usually respond by saying that it coming in X days or it has passed just Y days ago. Never in my life I have or would have to say that my birthday just passed this year. It always would be upcoming in the current year. Let that sink in for a moment.

Celebrities that share my Birthday:

I share my birthday with Psy. Yup, that’s Gangnam Style for you! Also, Ben Kingsley was born this day 77 years ago. So I tend to share my birthday with a lot of creative people. This may not be a real upside but makes me feel good.

Come on! There are no downsides of being born on 31st December?

Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence my friend. Here are some key issues I face just because I was born on this day.

Admission to School:

Schools generally have a cut off on the basis of year of birth. In my case, when I turned 3 years old, school said that they would only take kids born in 1992 for the session I was being considered for. Now, I am just 12 odd hours older but yet I don’t fit into the admission criteria. My father had to pull some strings to get me admitted to that school. What a start to my academic career right?

Birthday Bash:

Till date, I have not been able to throw a party for my birthday, outside my house. Either all the restaurants, hotels are booked and jampacked for the NYE. Alternatively, they charge 2.5x the regular price. Either way, I find it really hard to celebrate my birthday with my loved ones. So most of my birthdays are celebrated indoors.

Overshadowing:

And just because new years is just a few hours ago, I can very well expect a low turnout for my birthdays. People have commitments, hence double hatting between my birthday and new year party is a very common site for me.

Also, ever heard the idiom, killing two birds with one stone? My parents always used to do that. My birthday cake very read “Happy Birthday Raghav and Happy New Year”. Stealing the thunder much?

Traffic Jams:

Yup, it is super difficult to move around on my birthday. So even if you plan to go out to buy some party related stuff, expect long queues at the counter, dirty traffic jams on the way. Also, despite being ramped up security, you may expect some rash drunk driving later at night. It is absolutely unsafe to go outside on my birthday, I tell you!

Conclusion:

This is one of those situations where cribbing about it is not going to change anything. Also there isn’t any “may be next time” to console me in this one. However, until then, I have come to terms with this situation, and I do enjoy my special day like regular people would do.

Do you have anything special connected with your birthday? Let me know in the comments section below or you can hit me up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Until next time. .