That Unforgettable Birthday

It is human nature to feel that unusual emotion when birthday is arriving near. A friend of mine told me once that she starts feeling butterflies in the tummy a month before her birthday to which my reaction could be nothing less than a big laughter, because I am not that type of a person. Birthday to me means any other usual day but yes the only thing that I keep in mind is to feel very ‘optimistic’ and work even harder that particular day.

But there is one birthday which is difficult for me to forget. I was in twelfth standard and this birthday was going to be the last birthday of my school life. So I was naturally very excited (for the first time in my life about my birthday). My birthday comes a day before Teacher’s Day. But latter was falling on Sunday and therefore the school was going to celebrate Teacher’s Day on my birthday. As we were the senior most students we were going to be the teachers for that particular day and pay a tribute to our esteemed teachers. I love teaching and I was super excited thereby. We were given our duties a day before. I was extremely honoured to have been allotted the role of Vice-Principal. I reached home and started the preparations for the occasion that had two reasons for me to be enthusiastic. I along with my mother went to the market to buy a suitable dress for the event. I bought a greeting card which I was going to present to Vice-Principal Ma’am. I had decided which topic I would be teaching to the class that I was going to take. Everything was perfectly done and I went to my bed knowing that after two hours I will have to wake up to receive phone calls from friends. My phone rang two hours later at 12’o clock as expected. Half asleep half awake I attended all the calls and finally slept.

And finally it was the ‘special’ day. I got up on time, received best wishes from the family and got ready for school quickly, dressed in the new outfit, excited to be the Vice-Principal. I had to report at 8:00 am and it was 7’o clock. My brother was going to drop me so 7:30 was the time we would leave for school. It was drizzly outside but I was sure it wouldn't rain heavily by the time we had to go. But it happened exactly opposite. By 7:30 am it started raining so heavy that it was next to impossible for us to go out in such weather. We could do nothing but wait for the rain to stop. By 8:15 am, rain slowed down a bit and this was when we could try to go. We went out, started the scooty and left. Roads had turned into big swimming pool but my expert brother somehow managed to drive safely. On the way we reached a spot where water was coming up till my knees. Scooty seemed to be drowning. Above it was the heavy rain and down it was the blocked water. And then suddenly our vehicle stopped to move any further, it had kind of surrendered. We tried hard but it wasn’t getting started. Somehow we brought the scooty and ourselves on the safe road walking some fifteen minutes. I was numb, had no idea what I was going to do next. My dress was all spoiled and my watch was showing 9:15 am. Now we were left with only two options, either to go back home or to wait there for some help. Going back would prove fatal as we couldn’t again take the risk of crossing that ‘ocean’. Waiting for some public transport was time consuming which I was already running short of. But we chose the second option. My brother parked the scooty at someone’s place (God bless those helpful beings) and we tried to stop some vehicle which could help us reach our destination.

After waiting some time there came an auto rickshaw and we asked the driver if he could take us to school. My kind brother came along with me. Auto driver charged Rs 50/- and finally we reached school safe and sound. My brother went back and I went inside the campus. As I reached the reception area, I saw my friends who stood there greeting me and wishing me birthday. I had tears in my eyes as all I had imagined took an entirely different shape. They consoled me and asked to cheer up for we still had the whole day ahead of us. The Teacher’s Day celebration had already started and some other girl had replaced me as Vice- Principal. But when my teachers came to know that I had arrived they welcomed me and gave me the chance to greet Vice-Principal Ma’am. I apologized to her for not being on time . She understood my plight and told me that it was okay as she knew that weather was terrible outside. My mood got a little better then. After that some of my friends presented me greeting cards and that felt really special. I was cheered up receiving all the good wishes from my classmates. All my teachers wished me and blessed me with their love. Then my role as the Vice-Principal began. I took two classes where students and I had a good time. Discipline maintenance and monitoring everything was one responsibility that I enjoyed the most. After the celebration was over everyone started clicking pictures. This was the most interesting part. Weather was also better now; in fact it was soothing and refreshing. Boys and girls posing in different styles in the lawn were huge fun to watch. I was looking not-so-good-and-all-messed up as my dress and footwear had got spoiled due to that heavy rain but my friends were nice and welcoming enough to make me enjoy all those moments despite my appearance. We clicked innumerous pictures and the day ended in a pleasant manner. Today when I look at those photographs, it brings a genuine smile on my face.

At the end of it , that day became a truly unforgettable day not only because of the ‘adventure’ that I had but also because this was the last birthday of school life and it gave me a big experience and countless memories to cherish all my life. So, I realized all's well that ends well.