Every year when I get close to my birthday,the most common thing that flashes in front of my mind are those wonderful memories of the birthdays gone by, so i thought it would be nice to rewind and recollect those beautiful memories.
In the Shah household in Anand Vihar, the Birthday was considered a really big event,I don’t know if it had anything to do with the fact that my father and his siblings never really had the opportunity to have grand birthday celebrations so they wanted to fulfill it by celebrating my birthday or whether it was to do with my aunt( Bhuji) who herself was quite an enthusiastic soul.
In the Shah household in Anand Vihar, the Birthday was considered a really big event,I don’t know if it had anything to do with the fact that my father and his siblings never really had the opportunity to have grand birthday celebrations so they wanted to fulfill it by celebrating my birthday or whether it was to do with my aunt( Bhuji) who herself was quite an enthusiastic soul.
The Actual Birthday
By far this still remains my favourite birthday story, and this has been so well narrated to me by my Dad, that even today, when he is not with me, his words echo in my ear.
It was a dark winter night 21 Jan 1982 to be precise,Pa was already tired and frustrated with the fact that I wasn’t coming out, He had made Ma walk for more than an hour in the balcony of the Purandare hospital(where i was to be born) facing the Queens Necklace,without any success. Having given up on getting any result that day, Pa decided to take my Masi and Masa out for a snack. They walked out of the hospital got my Masi to have strawberry milkshake at Bachelors, this is the first time she ever tasted strawberries, and she loves them now, and thanks my Dad for introducing her to strawberry milkshake. Masa and Masi leave, Pa then walks down to the Ideal Corner restaurant, grabs a beer and then decides to unwind by getting his favourite Malish on the chowpatty beach. As the masseur massaged his tired legs and head he starred at the stars and wondered in amazement how his first child would be.He wished it would be a girl,a girl who he could design exquisite dresses for, a girl who he could weave all his dreams into.Pa had always wanted his first child to be a daughter for some reason. At the end of that relaxing malish session,it was almost quarter past midnight and Pa thought it was a good idea to just drop by at the hospital before he went home just incase there was some development. Indeed Ma, had got her labour pains, and Pa was standing right next to her, the reluctant fool, I was I just wasn’t willing to come out, finally I did and when the doctor announced it was a girl, Pa just could not help but jump up in excitement,while my Nani (Mom`s Mother) who still subscribed to the old school thought in the 80`s, was quite grim with the addition of another granddaughter in her family. This episode ensured the famous Malishwalas had earned themselves a role in my birth story, but Pa, who himself was connoisseur of Champi Malish,ensured that I was introduced to the craft, as he would always Malish my head with oil.When I was kid I hated it, coz I hated putting oil in my hair, but when I was in college I liked it, it seemed so nice as it calmed my tired nerves, and then when I longed for it, my Malishwala, Pa was not there anymore and the magic of his champi fingers will remain only as beautiful memory in time
Pudding`s Birthday
My first birthday cake said 'Happy Birthday Pudding'(Pudding was my pet name) I was literally arranged like a pudding in our fruit basket so that i could be seated to cut the cake and as all my cousins, uncle aunts, and family friends gathered at Anand Vihar A wing terrace to witness that grand moment of cutting my first birthday cake, i had a rather grim expression, as seen in the photographs. I am told it was quite a grand celebration, while my uncle and aunts spent the morning and afternoon blowing balloons and decorating the terrace,our favourite cycle idli wala treated all those lovely idlis and mendu vadas, which wel all savoured on Sunday`s at Anand Vihar Also the family tradition continued as Vimu Dadi and Dadi made my first birthday dress a lovely white frock. I am told they stitched a frock even for Bhuji`s birthday
The Kiddie Birthday parties (Age 1 to 8)
There had always been a lot of fuss about my birthday, days before my birthday, Dadi would start looking through design books and begin stitching a new dress for me for my birthday. Menus would be discussed days in advance, ideas for return gifts get shortlisted and sometime papa would decide to bake a cake. From a lovely chocolate bridge to a house, to a shoe house all have made it to one or other of my birthday parties, all baked and designed by Pa. I still remember making him a baker hat with a greeting card and singing the famous rhyme Pat a cake as he would be busy making the cake i would trouble him a zillion times by asking” Papa when will the cake be baked, when can i eat it’’ and he would silently reply Beta patience rakho, cake takes time to bake.
Apart from the highlight being the cake, another thing i did as a kid is when we would organise a birthday at Siddharth hotel, i would nicely go round and invite everyone and anyone who i even faintly knew in the building so that i would get more birthday presents. Opening and counting birthday presents was one of my favourite things. I still remember my 8th birthday, coz Mom was not there, and Papa gifted me my first Barbie doll( I had numerous other dolls, but only one Barbie doll in my lifetime). Having a Barbie doll was a big thing in those times.
The Exclusive birthday parties
As i grew older, my birthday parties graduated from being snack parties to lunch and dinner parties, as my dotting parents went out of their way to layout the most scrumptious lunch and dinner for my friends. Starting from the most popular party menu`s of the household of samosas, biryani and chole puri, to ragda pattice, Shahi paneer etc. One time Pa and Ma cooked up an exclusive Chinese menu with Sweet corn soup, American chopsuey, fried rice and Manchurian. The exclusive item on the menu was steamed wantons and momos which was quite exotic for our time, as popular Chinese restaurants in India had still not introduced this item on their menu Ofcourse the most memorable one is the last birthday I spent with Papa.
We had moved to Kandivali, i was in my second year of degree college, for some reason after so many years he decided to bake my birthday cake and put up a lovely chat party for my friends. I have not eaten a better cake then that in so many years, because it was made with Pa`s secret ingredient his passion and love to feed people.
The Birthdays after 2001
Some how after Pa left us I never was too excited about celebrating my birthday, although i must salute my Mom`s enthusiasm to keep the celebration part alive, as less then a month after pa passed away was my birthday and she cooked up my favourite meal of mutter paneer and Biryani. That was an emotional birthday, coz as i came home from college and silently ate that meal, i could not believe my Mom had decided to keep behind her sorrow and ensure that i didn’t miss my father` s absence on my birthday.
I had unconsciously started following Pa`s philosophy that a birthday was not a celebration, as you were loosing one year of your life. But as the years passed by, mom and my dear friends ensured that i brush of this morose philosophy of mine and have a gala time. There was this one time when Mom was in USA, that 4 of my best friends just hijacked my house while i was at work with a key from my building friend and cooked up a party meal and invited 25 of my friends for a surprise party on my terrace. That was one of the most sweetest and memorable birthdays of my time. Then there were the other birthdays where i invited a whole lot of people home and treated them to Mom`s lovely khanna.
My first birthday party after marriage was also interesting a surprise birthday party put up by my inlaws at a banquet hall. From then on we always celebrated my birthday at exotic restaurants and my husband ensured we carry back some cutlery from the restaurant as a memory each year. However one of the most romantic celebrations, which actually looked like a scene from a Yash chopra movie, which honestly even i couldn’t believe was this one time, where the husband spent hours arranging and lighting the candles to say happy birthday ( we spent countless days trying to get the candle wax out of the floor) and gave me heart shaped orchid bouquet.
All in all it feels good to look back birthday lane as i have been blessed with a wonderful family and lovely friends who have ensured i have a blast.
Thank you, every one who have been a part of this wonderful celebration for me at some point of time or other and helped me create wonderful memories for a life time
