Global Handwashing Day & World Mosquito Day & what not !!

As any young child grows up, she becomes more and clearer that not only the seven  days of the week have names like Monday, Tuesday  but there are many more. To begin with, her own birthday is most special and then there are many family festival days. By the time she starts attending school, she learns that Sundays are more special; Saturdays equally welcome, although only in half measure.  

Soon she learns, as a victim of some prankster that there is All Fool’s Day on 1^st April. And  her learning continues as she comes across Children’s Day, Independence Day, Republic Day, Teachers’ Day, Martyrs Day, Army Flag Day. Yet the list would hardly stretch  beyond this point at this point of her innocent life.

One wishes the sweet  little girl’s life were kept this simple and not complicated beyond!  But if she created this lovely “My Special Days Calendar” , taking innovative & creative tips from  Trina’s highly creative blog , the book would have enough space for her entries and would not  be overflowing!  ( Visit http://trinamagnolialove.blogspot.com/2009/07/special-days-calendar.html) 

As she grows up as teen, Valentine’s  Day &  Friendship Day bring a new charm in her life alongwith saying hello on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day , which in the eyes of the elders in the are ‘external  influences’ in their traditional values.

Then, with the torturing & insane  recurrence every day, the Sun rises with the GoK (God-only-knows)  type of  some new, never-heard-before types of  special days. Some,  of course,  are solemn ( and hence bearable ) days like Global Hand washing Day (to save children dying from waterborne diseases, because  as many as 5,000 die daily). 

But these are outstripped by not-so-solemn newer, funnier, funkier, quirkier and often dumber names for the ‘special’ days in her life which she has to encounter. For a while, the list of these special days brings a chuckle on her face and then, but  she is soon dazzled and  it more often brings a feeling of awe and amazement rather than of admiration !

She would  hardly have energy to explain her plight of reeling under  the bombardment  of  No Smoking Day, World Laughter Day,  Hugging Day,  Left Handers’ Day, World Mosquito Day, World Hello Day, Boss’s Day, Secretary’s Day, National Ice Cream Day , Pop Corn Day,  World Thrift Day, Buy Nothing Day, International Goat Day,  Mule Day, Cranky Co-workers’ Day, National Knock Knock Day, etc , etc,

As though this is not enough, people are creating new ones. Take , for example,   Tom Roy, a US actor, who has created and trademarked as many as 72 new days for the sheer fun of it and  many of them have been taken by people ‘seriously’. Roy started inventing them in 1980s and   "Wellcat Holidays" is a trademark of Thomas and Ruth Roy, which owns the rights to these special days ( more about it on at www.wellcat.com )

He is not alone  ! Roy's holidays compete with more than 12,000 other holidays  for recognition, Most are generated by special-interest groups, trade associations, lobbyists, self-promotional authors or celebrities.  All these appear in Chase's Calendar of Events which is regarded  as the USA’s  annual bible of extraordinary occasions and special days and events ( and is a part of renowned  McGraw-Hill Companies).  But Roy's are funnier than most, They are regarded as America’s biggest holiday makers.

To our sweet teenager’s amazement and bewilderment, Roy’s list includes  Panic Day, No Socks Day, No Underwear Day, No Housework Day,  Have Bad Bad Day, Repot Your Plant Day, Donut Day, Loosen Up & Lighten Up day, Laugh & Grow Rich Day, Eat What You Want Day, Talk Like a Pirate day, Cook Something Bold & Pungent Day, Make Up Your Mind Day, Blah Blah Day, Be Late Day,  Stay Home Because You Are Well Day & to top  this all, there is Make Up Your Own Holiday ( March, 26),

The little, sweet girl finds, to her further despair that some are working hard in creating  special months, especially in USA and she is worried ! Because the rest of the world is too quick to import such a stuff home.  The list is sometimes serious, well-intentioned, light-hearted and appears sometimes out-of-this-world and funny too, It makes an interesting reading if you are little worried about the little girl's  future !

Read on :

Change Your Stars Month,  Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month,  Wealth Mentality Month,  Bird Feeding Months, Boost Self-Esteem Month, Library Lovers' Month, Mend a Broken Heart Month, Pet Dental Health Month, Plant the Seeds of Greatness Month, Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, Ethics Awareness Month, Expect Success Month, Ideas Month, Listening Awareness Month, Poison Prevention Awareness Month, Umbrella Month,  Card and Letter Writing Month, Emotional Overeating Awareness Month, Fresh Florida Tomato Month, Month of the Military Child, Gifts From the Garden Month, Meditation Month, Military Appreciation Month, Personal History Month, Smile Month, Teen Self-Esteem Month, Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month, Dairy Alternatives Month, Potty Training Awareness Month, Bereaved Parents Awareness Month, Cell Phone Courtesy Month, Share a Sunset with Your Lover Month, Wheelchair Beautification Month, Women's Motorcycle Month, Get Ready for Kindergarten Month, Happiness Happens Month, Win with Civility Month, Children's Good Manners Month, College Savings Month, Shameless Promotion Month, Church Safety and Security Month, Eat Better, Eat Together Month, Squirrel Awareness Month, Workplace Politics Awareness Month, Family Stories Month, Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month, Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, Rising Star Month, etc , etc,

Creating a new, special day or month would be totally  absurd if there is no  detailed activity list  for celebrating it. One  wonders how would  people participate in the celebrations, remember the event and carry home the message or  spirit or fun!

Fed up by the sometimes sensible and often senseless list of days and months which clutters her calendar, she takes a hint from Roy’s Make Your Own Holiday, which falls on March 26.  Unable to wait so long, she takes a serious, concerned look around her life in her own country and starts jotting down her wish list of new special days.

Her moving finger writes, as though with a fervent hope for a better future ( and also with a little but sweet sense of innocent reciprocation ):

No corruption day  celebration by all corrupt  as well as corrupting  people; No walk out Day in Parliament and state assemblies, etc., No work delaying tactic Day,  No food adulteration Day, No spitting on the walls Day, No urinating on the road Day, No ticketless travel Day, No black money transaction Day, No child spanking Day, No needless operations and pathological investigation Day, No cheating the consumer Day, No flirting-in-office  Day, No simple people exploitation Day, No electricity outage Day, No public transport delay Day, No soiled currency note Day, No jumping the queue Day, No quack medicine Day, No tall claims advertisement Day, No traffic discourtesy Day, No senseless-email / SMS forwarding Day, No poor jokes Day, No “missed” cell phone  calls  Day, No sandalwood cremation day for VIPs, No noisy siren-fitted VIP cars day, and No  intolerance Day etc, etc, 

Amen !

In Memoriam

Blessed and privileged are they  whose parents are still with them. When the memory of departed father (or mother) flashes all across, the emotions  obviously surge. At those times, one has no words of his own and he leans to some one else - who is more eloquent - in his search for expressions. One here is in picture and another is in words.

Father and son : what a relationship & how well portrayed here by artist Ashley Ng ! 

In his very touching poem in Gujarati titled Punaravartan (Repetition), poet  Jashwant Desai (1926 - )  narrates a simple yet poignant incident – that of  putting his Father’s portrait on the wall when his eyes are flooded with tears. 

The poet’s memory takes him back to some what  similar incident   when, twenty years ago, he was watching his father hanging the grandfather’s portrait. His father had tears in his eyes too and, for a while the entire surrounding was engulfed in dark gloom. 


Time flies and two decades later, the grandfather’s portrait has moved elsewhere in the home, making room for the father’s portrait ! He ends the poem saying that the scene & the stage have not changed but only the actors have – and hence the title.

This lovely poem can be best savoured in Gujarati only  and here it is.

The only solace is that one generation's photograph will keep replacing the previous  ones. On signing out, I am also reminded of a very soothing  verse ( anonymous?) :

Ev'n for the dead I will not bind my soul to grief;

Death cannot long divide.

For is it not as though the rose that climbed my garden wall

Has blossomed on the other side?

Death does hide 

But not divide;

You are but on Christ's side!