Flash Post 276!

Button, I am in my early sixties and till today, I didn’t know my father’s date and year of birth!

Don’t tell me. You mean to say that even after you grew up and kept celebrating your own birthday, it never struck you to find out his dob and yob? I can’t simply believe this.

This morning, my brother-in-law texted us a riddle saying “A special day which, the four of you (that’s our family), perhaps, don’t know! When all of us expressed our ignorance and asked him for the answer to his riddle, he had us all beady eyed and awe-struck when he told us that today was the day my father was born. Apparently, about a fortnight back, while going through some dusty old files, he chanced upon this invaluable nugget.

I am bewildered as to how you didn’t know or care to find out your father’s birthday. Do you, at least, know the year he was born?

I came to know much later after deducting his year of birth from his year of death. I am so ashamed of myself, Button. And I was the apple of his eye.

When was he born?

Today, which is March the 6th in the year 1919.

Do you know your mother’s dob and yob now?

I do.

6 Comments

sukriti bhandari March 19, 2018 at 11:58 am

I don’t think people celebrated birthdays that long back. Birthdays became popular when the gifting lobby started putting pressure on people to go out and buy things for their loved ones. Having said that, I have everyone’s birthdays saved on my calender. Lest I forget! Nowadays people are really unforgiving if we forget their birthdays..!

Reply
- author March 21, 2018 at 11:46 am
  
  Dear Sukriti,
  
  You could be right. And I was wondering all this while as to why we never remembered or celebrated our parents’ birthdays.
  
  These days, it’s very easy to recollect birthdays using phone reminders.
  
  Reply
parul hussain March 19, 2018 at 12:01 pm

I never forget my parent’s birthdays. My parents live by themselves in Bangalore and I had to move to Mumbai when I got married because my husband works here but every year I fly down to Bangalore and we have a family get together. Best thing is that their birthdays are one day apart so we call it in together!

Reply
- author March 21, 2018 at 11:27 am
  
  Dear Parul,
  
  It’s not about forgetting and I have no clue as to why my sister and I never bothered to find out! It was after my father’s death that I actually dug out my Mother’s day and year of birth.
  
  Reply
medha dhanwant singh March 19, 2018 at 12:02 pm

Did you and your father go fishing? The picture suggests so…

Reply
- author March 23, 2018 at 7:25 am
  
  My dear Medha,
  
  Of-course I did. He also taught me to hook a bait and toss it far out into the river.
  
  There is this one incident which I’ll never forget. It was my first catch and it was a fairly big fish. In my excitement I ran at breakneck speed, fish and fishing rod in hand along the banks of the river to show off my trophy to my grandparents. My mother, who got really scared, gave me a walloping with the fishing rod. All because she felt that I could have slipped and fallen into the river!
  
  Reply