Something special

There is always something special for us in different categories or classifications. If you ask anyone to choose something over several other things in a category, the result will be the one that he/she likes very much. That's obvious. In other words, the person would choose his/her special one. It will nothing but be his/her favorite. Unarguably, some people, in some cases, might have many favorites in a single category.

If you ask a guy, "Hey, What's your favorite football team?” it would be rare to hear him say one team's name. He, if an ardent fan of football, would end up listing at least a few. Worse, if you ask for his favorite food. But whatever be the case, he will have one thing as his special amongst his favorites list. Thereby, if asked precisely, he would not hesitate to point out that special one. That's the fact.

Likewise, take the special days into account. We people have one special day as our favorite. Of course, at any given instant, we must have quite a few days to remember and cherish - ones birthday, ones wedding day, ones lover's birthday, the day when you won something unimaginable, the day you first met the girl of your life, etc., are the few to name. But if we are asked to pick out one single date, it would, in most cases, be our birthday. That's, by far, something special to everyone. No wonder some think their date of birth as their lucky number. There can't be any other special day that we eagerly wait for, every year. And, unsurprisingly, we want that day to be special over any other, and people - our loved ones - make it special either with some gifts or simply with their whole-hearted wishes. Sometimes, their presence alone would do.

Having said that, how many of us care to wish our loved ones on their special day? Well, the immediate answer would be everyone. Or, in some worst cases, the answer would be almost everyone. Why do we do that? It can be put as simple as this - just because we want to be a part of their special day to make it extra-special. Okay, what do you expect from them in return? Is it nothing? If you say so, then you are unmistakably wrong. Just think again. What do you expect from them in return? Sweets, Treat, etc. Nah, come on, don't be childish. What anyone would expect is, a THANK YOU. Yes, a simple thanks. That recognition is what makes you gratified. That recognition is what makes your day [with the fact that you actually made someone's day in the first place].

Some might argue, “I don't expect such thing from anyone. I feel it's just my duty, or my way of showing my love to him/her. No matter whether that person replies to me or acknowledges my wish in any form.” Is that real? If you think deeply, then that's a certain NO.

In the present scenario, the following are the means of conveying ones wishes [to his/her friend] -

• Meet him/her in person.
• Give him/her a call.
• Send him/her a SMS.
• Send your wishes through the social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
• Drop him/her a mail.
• Send him/her a card/a gift.

For argument sake, ignore meeting the person directly and just imagine the other cases. For instance, suppose you are sending your birthday wishes through a SMS to your friend. Will you just like that get away after seeing the notification ‘Message Sent' in your mobile? Or will you keep staring or checking (once in every 2 minutes) your mobile for it to beep to deliver a reply message? I guess everyone would fall in the second category. It's not the THANK YOU that gets counted here, but the indication that the person had actually got your wishes. That's the point, and that matters, apparently.

But there are people who just ignore the message without even sending a reply as an acknowledgement. What the hell are they thinking? Are they really worth receiving the wishes? Unfortunately, yes, of course. That’s where the real love is. We wipe the disappointment only to send the wishes to the person the following year as well, and every other years to follow. We hardly care being let down as long as the person remains special to us. We just excuse ourselves, on that person’s behalf, thinking he/she might not have got the message, or he/she was too busy to reply then, and later, forgot it.

Consider you’re getting a birthday [wishes] message from a person who once was your good friend, and later, due to fate’s call, ended up on a wrong side. To make things worse, you haven’t seen or heard from that person for quite sometime now, say nine months. How do you react on seeing the message? Will you delete the message off without even responding? I never will. One has to respect the other person, his/her caring in sending you the message. Maybe, it’s since you’re not in talking terms with him/her, he would have send a message rather than giving you a call. Sometimes, people think why the hell should I reply to someone whom I hate, or whom I consider as a stranger anymore, or whom I don’t even consider as a good-old friend? It’s not the right attitude. Just remember he/she loved you once, and maybe he/she loves you still. And for that matter of fact, he cared to send you his/her wishes. What the hell will you lose if you reply to him/her? Obviously, it’s nothing that you lose. Just don’t push yourself up to a wrong note on his/her side. People – especially who cares for you - are priceless.

How many of us remember all our friends’ birthday? It’s hard. Isn’t it? But do we, to the least, remember our close friends’ birthday? Some might even find it to be hard as well. We can’t criticize them. Some are really poor in remembering the dates. Lucky them, they have several means to get a reminder these days. They are just a mail – which is promptly sent – away. But I bet people do remember the dates if they consider someone to be special to them. They hardly need any reminder mail (excluding certain unavoidable cases!!!).

Last month, I called my friend to wish her on her birthday. During the call, she asked, “Why didn’t you post your birthday wishes on my wall [in Facebook]?” It was jovial, I know. She knows the reason. In fact, she told that to me in the call. But as soon as the call was ended, I sent a birthday message to her in Facebook. She replied to that with a smiley. I’m sure that my message would have made her smile. And her reply made me smile. That’s what matters, after all. Hadn’t she replied to my message thinking we had talked over phone already; I wouldn’t have got a chance to smile. Or hadn’t I messaged her that day, she wouldn’t have got a chance to smile. Of course, that’s not the only smile she might have had that day, but it’s just an added joy.

The bottom line – Never fail to be a part of your special ones special day(s). And invariably, acknowledge anyone’s (be it a friend or an enemy of yours) wishes and make them feel countable. If you fail to do so, just remember that you're happy on your special day, but someone somewhere would be in pain just because he/she wanted your day to be special.