“It’s going to be legend-wait for
it-dary… Legendary”
Barney Stinson’s most famous tag
line from “How I met Your Mother” is what my friend quoted when she reckoned
how my Birthday is going to be.
Midnight phone calls, FB
messages, parties and treats constitute any Birthday. But it has also become a
routine isn’t it. The human touch to it, the effort that goes into putting a
great Birthday party is missing these days. Mostly it’s booze and restaurants. My
28th birthday celebrations had all the above along with the element
of human touch to it. In fact, I felt the overwhelming feeling of being loved
by everyone on that day that I just had to write about it.
So, how lucky can a guy get on his birthday?
One of his best friends makes her
folks believe that it’s an OFFICIAL work, travels all the way from Bangalore to
spend the Birthday weekend with him.
His best friend defies family,
claims that he is going on an OFFICIAL work and joins his friends and starts
planning for the day.
His best friends tricks him to
believe that they are busy, but in fact, help arrange in secret an amazing set
of gifts (28 for his 28th Bday) handpicked by the darling of them
all who also masterminds the timing of each gift.
The evening before his Birthday,
they take him to one of the city’s most happening clubs to kick start the
celebrations. (Agreed the music was only okay, but still…) They have the DJ
wish for him but he barely remembers anything coz he was absolutely sloshed by
then. He cuts the cake before blowing the candles (“Dei Panni..! Modalla
Candlea oothura..!”) J
Guess what he gets as a gift at that time? A cough syrup and a strip of
Paracetamol tablets, cutely gift wrapped because he had not been well for the
previous few days. How thoughtful yet cute! He also gets an amazing set of
Liverpool Football Club accessories because they knew how big a fan he is of
the club. Then in an amazing sequence of events, each gift is unveiled at a
specific time throughout the 24 hours of the day. Merchandise, Puzzles
(Apparently my intelligence is on the LIGHTER side it seemsL), Cards, Coffee,
Books, it just keeps coming. His close friend, who is Manchester United fan,
gifts him with a Liverpool Jersey (Gerrard 8… Yay. How is it possible Machi?)
He and his friends gather at CCD
inside IIT to leave for the treat, when all of a sudden, the heavens open up…
The racketeer of friends inside CCD, the sound of the rain outside, the view of
IIT’s greenery from the glass walls as it rains, it was pure bliss.
Finally the climax at Zha Café in
Adyar. The Birthday Boy chose this spot for the final act because of its close
proximity to everyone and for its distinct Tamil theme. His friends close to
his heart, who reside in the city comes to wish him. Despite his wife not
keeping well, his childhood best friend makes time to come and wish him. His
best friend who has become so much like family that she never really bothers to
wish him on his Birthday before, actually takes time off to come see him. So
what’s so unique about friends wishing? It’s the fact that except the birthday
boy, no one knew everyone in the group. Despite the obvious awkwardness, they
all came for one reason. They have heard him talk about every one of them but
never really met them. But at the end of 3 light hearted hours of banter, they
all become friends like they have known each other for a long time. And that is
the return gift he gave to everyone, new friends. It’s amazing what silly
school time games like Dumb Charades and Snakes & Ladder can do. But then
what is friendship if not for the silliness. At the end of the day, he had
everything. His room full of gifts, his heart full of happiness and a day full
of memories that will stay with him forever.
I have never really been a
materialistic person. I am an old world person who believes that the time spent
by someone is the greatest gift that they can give to another. But what amazed
me is that the gifts they gave would not have been possible without knowing who
I am. They picked the gifts from their memory of me and not some random ones
which really made me feel special. The most special gift of them all was… Naah
I’m not gonna reveal that coz it’s just too special and too personal. This
coupled with the amount of time they spent with me… I can say for sure that
this is my best birthday ever.
Yes you were right sweetheart… “It
was indeed legend-wait for it, no why wait for it coz everybody knows by now
that it’s indeed-dary… Legendary”
