tro11 shelita:
I know of several gedolim who would get an aliya on the day closes to their birthday.’
That’s because they viewed birthdays the way I do. They did it to get the zchusim. Similar to the way people get an aliya for somebody’s yartzheit.
You never answered my other point, why a present is indeed very appropriate.
Now that we’re here, we celebrate the opportunity to do mitzvos and to “earn our bread”. The birthday present symbolizes that we’re here earning our bread (reward in the real world).