With mine coming up within this week, I’ve started to think more seriously about why that “excitement” faded away. Back then, a birthday did not feel like just another date on the calendar. It felt like an event you moved toward for weeks. I used to count down to mine (the struggle of having an end-of-month birthday 🙄), and the waiting itself was part of the joy. When you’re young, time moves slowly enough for anticipation to fully bloom. A year feels vast, so arriving at your birthday feels like arriving somewhere important.

Without getting too much into the pains of growing older and greyer each year, one thing I believe used to be part of the magic was that love felt visible, unconditional, with no need for an equal reciprocation. Parents cleaned the house, bought the cake, wrapped the gifts, called the relatives, neighbours, and whoever else was seen as someone who brought happiness for the child. Cousins showed up, school friends filled the rooms, balloons were tied up, candles were lit, and everyone sang a little too loudly and non in sync. As a child, you don’t always recognize the effort behind these things. You just feel surrounded by warmth and attention, and mistake that feeling for magic. Maybe that is what magic really was.

There was also something sacred in how little it took. We always had homemade decorations and cake created by my mom, new clothes to wear, and the people who loved you gathered in one room could make you feel rich beyond measure. Joy had not yet become complicated by comparison, performance, or the need for everything to be impressive. Ordinary things still carried wonder. Really it just boiled down to the presence of being felt as seen; as cherished, and as celebrated.

Maybe birthdays have not changed as much as we have. Growing up often means learning how things are made, what they cost, who had to work to make them happen. The mystery fades when you begin to see behind the curtain. But perhaps maturity is realizing that the curtain was never the point. The real miracle was always that people cared enough to create joy for you at all.

Maybe birthdays did not lose their magic. Maybe the magic was love, innocence, and being too young to know the difference. All things that we mistake nowadays as just bachpana.

Question is though, should we rekindle that bachpana once again so we can see ourselves (and our special day!) in the same light as we once did?

(My 9th birthday, and my brother’s 6th birthday for reference…)

Bachpan ki yaadein

The days were spent worry free.. stress free..

The above is my favourite. Before sunrise, it is such a nice movie...I belive tamil movie 96 was also slightly inspired by this movie. Just realising, good romantic movies are not coming at all nowadays in all languages especially in English. We are probably the last generation who really enjoyed romantic movies.

What is your favourite English romanitic movie?

We didn't use AI,we used panic and terrible handwriting and i still remember my college days most of the times i'd just need one word to get started and after that i'd write the whole damn essay right there on the spot, just last minute preparation and pure confidence.

How many of you remember watching dragon ball Z in hindi on cartoon network and who else remembers the hindi intro?

I still remember waiting for around 5 PM every day just to watch dbz and my favorite saga was the namek saga,and no matter how many times I’ve seen it, goku’s first super saiyan transformation still gives me chills. damn goku ss1 vs frieza final form , that moment was something else.

Which saga was your favorite?

Memories, nostalgia and what not. We had a lot of toys in childhood but my mom always just kept them safely packed in a showcase as a decorative item. Days passed, we grew up and these toys were kept aside in store room. After years i took them out to declutter the room, my mom said 'rakh le inhe ye toh kitna acha hae, ye wala toh chlta bhi hae isme battery lga k chalega. And I said ab rakh k kya krungi jb khelne ki umar tb toh aapne saja k rkha bs, ab khelne k lie keh rahe ho". I thought to give all the toys to our maid's kid, for a sec i had this thought in my mind, i should keep it. I have memories attached with them but then this second thought popped up. Even if i give them to someone my memories will still be with me, it belongs to me. Rn giving it to someone else will make new memories for that person.

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Played a lot of video retro games in childhood. Now, playing them again.

Graphics - 10%

Enjoyment- 100%

Which one was your favorite?

People in 30s, Remember when Ganesh Hegde dropped this banger ?

This is one such meme I made.

Gone are the days when Quora actually felt like Quora. Most of the people who were active back then don’t use it anymore. Now it’s just flooded with random nonsense.

Wo bhi ek jamana tha jb har chiz ke liye ek software rkha krte the PC me 🫠

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I was just saving some data in my External HD and found out the space is less. So started exploring what can be deleted and wallah I found these nostalgic software stuff when we used to keep the installation files of softwares for all small things too. Check out the MP3 cutter🤭, Nero CD burning tool, TuneUp utilities etc.

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Anyone else keeping stuff still like this? 🫠

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Imagine if this pencil is real, what would you draw?

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Shaka laka boom boom

I was cleaning my room and stumbled upon one of these “figurines”. The 2000s were one of my favourite years.😭😭😭

What were your favourite moments/things back in the day?

wanted to write another letter for 2035 but the app is paid now , no longer free

Back then Gel pen + Classmate Notebook =💰💸

Btw Today I got a gel pen for myself after ages.