ESSAY
When self-obsession is all . . .
Happy birthday to me!
Whether you liked to be born or not, whether you desired to be born or not, whether you planned to be born or not (the last being an impossibility of the highest order), you are born!
Whether this overpopulated planet of ours called Earth welcomed you or not, you are born!
Let us therefore assume that it is a happy beginning of your life, at least in the circle of your near and dear ones, the opposite of which may as well be true in some cases or perhaps in rare cases. A number of factors can readily be put forward to account for the latter. However, as things have been changing too fast in the whirlpool of one's life, it is often quite challenging to keep pace with it --- a situation hitherto unknown to many of us. Thus we keep on creating and re-creating phenomena, some of which appear as fads, some others as fashions lasting longer and yet some others making an intrusion to carve a permanent niche in the heart of our society.
People look in awe at the profusion of newly born ideas while struggling to store, rather 'save' as is the terminology these days, the newly acquired knowledge, thus constructing one's own model of encyclopaedic entries, however haphazard that may be. After all, what most of us appreciate these days --- and have appreciated quite long --- is the factor of speed as the determinant of success. Another equally strong determinant is the exterior of things, including those which hide our shortcomings by putting a garb of ego-centrism on us. In fact, we ourselves put it on us. The motive? To make oneself look important, superior to others and obviously different from others. Self-love leading to self adulation takes an upper hand at the cost of having the right degree of esteem for oneself which truly leads to the building of a healthy personality.
A very new phenomenon that has emerged in the recent past in our society is making a pleasant yet queer-looking news item on the birthdays of people in various walks of life. This has come about all of a sudden as things in Bangladesh every time undergo an onrush of birth and growth. For example, there are garment factories, private educational institutions and hospitals, English medium schools, Chinese restaurants, fast food joints, boutiques, newspapers, television channels, discovering 'fabulous' singers sprouting up overnight, skyscrapers, shopping malls, supermarkets and what not. Start one or two, the rest grows at an alarming rate. Things get dated as they are born, each having a birthday as we people have been covering all three hundred and sixty five days of the year on account of our arrival in this world.
Hence, these birthdays galore! How one will look at the recent matter of revelations of dates of birth and that also through publicity in newspapers and on television news is a subject of serious concern open to public debate. In the case of women, it becomes all the more intriguing as there is often no mention of their years of birth, thus creating an air of mystery around them as if they had not been calculating the years since they were born. It is thus left completely to the power of one's imagination in which not all would like to engage themselves. However, the psychology underlying this particular behaviour centering around birthdays of this mode is anybody's guess, befitting the trend of the modern-day craze for show --- or call it exhibitionism. It may very well be argued that that they being famous, some others feel like bringing the news and the attendant celebrations to the attention of the public. All focus is to be given to such observances. Whatever the reasons, it is obvious that the source of the news is the person himself. He desires it, so it is done. Exceptions are there, of course.
We observe the birthdays of a revered teacher, a philanthropist, a great politician, dedicated people in any field, a valiant freedom fighter, a sacrificing social worker and such others. In these cases there is an outpouring of emotions that come from within the heart. No one asked that these feelings be there. But when the owner or occupier of a certain date is the cause of such a notification, it sends some other messages to people, though to some it is a great trait --- albeit to be regarded as sycophancy --- that serves their own interest, which is to solicit favour this way or that. In cases of well-known people who are deceased, their works, achievements and contributions are recalled on their dates of birth in a befitting manner which again fulfills a great historico-socio-educational purpose. Arrangements are made by the organizers with a clear view to publicizing the objectives behind the holding of such programmes. In contrast to this, whatever we happen to be witnessing these days is, if not bizarre, certainly awful. Some ethical norms are at stake here. It smacks of drawing one's own portrait by oneself, marinating it in the sweetest essences of one's own heart,
Be that as it may, this practice has come to stay. Indeed, it may proliferate, 'enriching' our culture. In this age, when most of us are involved with our own selves, self-applause becomes a normal part of life. It may well be that the majority of us might get conditioned to such realities sooner or later. Whatever may be the case, one thing that will keep ringing in our ears is: these birthdays are not those birthdays.
And so, happy birthday to me!
Dr. Nazma Yeasmeen Haque, an educationist, is a music buff and literary enthusiast .
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