Yes, its that time of the year again. And this time, it's the one that makes me three decades old. I don't have a problem per so about getting older. It's just that I've been feeling pretty banged up recently, what with two back to back injuries and all that. So yes, when the day came around, I did feel a bit old if only in the aching parts of the body.
But.. but...
My wife made sure that it's been my best ever. She had a tough task, what with 29 of them birthday days to beat. Not that they were all spectacular. In fact, her being here would have made it special. But oh boy, did she knock this one out of the park. There were suprises after suprises. All of them extremely unexpected.
My real birthday came two days after my 'star' birthday - you know - the one where the mother looks at the Malayalam calender and declares a date. So friday - star birthday, Sat - bars close late, Sun - real birthday = a weekend of celebrations. The suprises were evenly distributed too. For example, we walked into a grocery store on Friday right after I got off class. I was headed to the wine section when I was stopped by the wife, who sternly told me no alcohol on star birthdays. I stood looking at her with my mouth open. She's never pulled the religious card on me, ever. So I muttered and told her I was suprised at her change of attitude. We reach home, and I discover tons of food in the kitchen. LIKE TONS! All of my favorite dishes were tastefully matched with other dishes to make it one big family package of a menu where every food item got along with every other. And payasam. And..there was beer in the fridge. I gave my giggling wife two seconds of a head-start before I chased her.
Saturday was drinking night. A bunch of people toasted to my general health, and there again another suprise. The wife had custom ordered a cake. There it was with 30 candles lit. 30 trick candles so that you blow and blow to get it out only to have it spark up again. The irony is that I had bought these candles myself a long time ago only to have forgotten it's existence. In short, I looked like an out-of-breath fish. The wife, of course, was giggling.
Sunday was the quiet day. We saw Dhobi Ghat. And liked it. A lot. We spend it with no one else but each other. I would have had it no other way.
If only I can keep this woman giggling for the rest of her life..
