Tuesday 27 July 2010

Magical Birthdays

Yesterday I welcomed another birthday in, amidst much singing (Adiv), presents (Rohit), and phone calls (friends and family). Adiv and I were equally excited, posing for pictures, blowing candles, and finally cutting a cake. Adiv wasn't so excited about my presents though.
"No car?", he asked sympathetically!
*
Birthdays have always been big in my house. As children, my brother and I always got parties. We'd wake up to presents, and then find our mother baking. Our parents would then work on the cake together, icing it, decorating it, and then sliding it into the fridge. We would hurry to school with chocolates for our friends, and gush about the party later in the evening. A small group of close friends were always invited back home for a movie, food, and ofcourse cake. We'd play games and dance to popular tunes. After the guests left, we'd then excitedly open up presents. We'd then go to sleep, dreaming about the wonderful day we'd had.
This went on for many years, till I actually left home. My first birthday away from home, I missed my mother's cake, but my roomies made up for the absence of family. In our modest kitchen, they made me a huge omelet with a generous helping of cheese, onions, and tomatoes. At night, we got dressed up and went out to dinner. The pictures from that night still bring a smile to my face.
After college, when I was working in Chennai, my mother began baking again. However, I didn't have friends over. Instead, I took them out. One year, my friends pretended they hadn't remembered my birthday. They put together a bouquet apologetically, and gave me generous hugs. Just when I'd stopped pretending that I didn't care, the surprises followed.

Post marriage, Rohit has been doing a great job of surprising me on my birthday. The first year, I got presents all day long (as I did yesterday. Grin). He always got me what I wanted, and gave them when I was least expecting them. This year I also had Adiv who sang excitedly for me.
"Happy Birthday Mimi. Happy Birthday Kuttu", he added happily. Before going to school, he made me promise that I'd bake a cake.
"Put sprinkles on top", he added, before he said bye.
Luckily for him, in addition to the cake I baked, Rohit's little nieces brought another cake. So Adiv cut that one as well, pointing out portions of the cake that he wanted to eat.
I want that "A".
"B now."
"What is that", he exclaimed pointing to a piece of fruit on the cake.
"Guava", said Rohit. "You want it?"
"I don't like."
"Give me pink piece."
At night, when we went to bed, Adiv wanted to know when he'd have his next birthday.
"January", I said.
"Hmm", he responded, with a smile on his face.
While he dozed off, I began thinking about my gym instructor. I'd need to work really hard, to get rid of the calories I'd gained on my birthday alone.
*Sigh*

5 comments:

Unknown said...

duh!!! there were instances when my family forgot my birthday... thankfully I didnt remember either till mom would tell it out...

as you can guess it was "no big deal" in the family.... but I can see that things will change once I am having my own family...:)

The Ketchup Girl said...

you are blessed, to be surrounded by loved ones on your birthdays! God bless :)
Mishmash wants to know if its her bithday eyet, every 3 days. When I say January, she asks, when will January come, in 5 minutes? or tweeennnnnnnnnty minutes?

Primitive Lyric said...

Aww Abe! Good things will change in your own family. I thnk birthdayys ought to be special.

@KG: Yes, I am.
Adiv has a birthday every time I bake (which is often). He only wants to cut the cake. Not so interested in eating it.

Deepa said...

Aww!! Happy belated birthday! Your family reminds me so much of mine! What a blessing!!

Birthdays were a huuuuuge deal for my family as well, but not that big a deal for the family I married into. Knowing how I felt about that, my husband arranged for my parents to surprise me on my first birthday after marriage. It was a birthday I'll chedrish forever.

Primitive Lyric said...

Thank you scatterbrain! Luckily for it, birthdays are a big deal in Rohit's family as well. So I got several calls from his side of the family as well.