THE ADVERTISEMENT from Cadbury spawned many threads in my mind.

Pehli Tarikh...First day of every month is the day of happiness and joy for every service man. After all, it's the day when they get get paid for the efforts they had put in for a month.

Coming out from a critical and broke month-end is definitely a moment of joy for everyone. I wonder what must be going on through the mind of a man while receiving the salary? About his/her kids to whom one had promised, "Dear wait for next month, I'll get you the book," or thinking about the wife whom he had promised a new dress/jewellery.

Pehli Tarikh is the one day when a man feels he is the king of the world...a feeling of richness...and yeah, before I forget let me tell you it is the only day when a married man feels "Meri ghar mein chalti hai...."

I still remember the days when me and my brother used to wait for my father to come back home  on Pehli Tarikh. Expecting some chocolates and candies, mom waiting so that she gets some money to clear the pending bills. Being a middle class family, this day used to be a day no less than Diwali/Christmas/Eid for us.

And if that pehli tarikh is the day of your first salary, then that day would be cherished though out the life. Mixed emotions pops up while receiving the first salary. Whenever I go back to my first salary day, I feel equally thrilled as I felt that day.

But the joy, the happiness of pehli tarikh has vanished somewhere...I don't feel joyous as my father feels (even after 20 years of his job) on pehli tarikh.

Electronic age has snatched the happiness of feeling the money. Earlier cheques used to get handed over to employees, he used to feel the money; he used to look at the digits printed and feel proud looking at his name right at the top.

Electronic transfers made the job easy for employers but the feeling of 'My hard earned money' got lost somewhere...