“Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Aritra,
Happy birthday to you”
My bde cake
I
looked bewildered at the familiar smiling faces and familiar voices singing to
me at my doorstep. True, it was the last weekend before my birthday on the 12th
of November, and I should have been expecting this. But then I knew that my
husband, who is the best thing to happen to me, is not too great with dates.
And for his habit of discussing every little thing with me (I hope…wink), he is
not the best with surprises either. Every time he tells me “I have a surprise
for you”, I ask “what” with the hope that he does not disclose. He immediately
spills the beans unable to confine his excitement in himself. So I really was
not sure whether or not to expect a pre birthday celebration! Now the million
dollar question is, why a pre celebration? The simple answer being, “we live in
Mumbai”. Thanks to the traffic of the city and long travel time, it’s just not
enjoyable to party in weekdays, with the swords of “next day office”, hanging
over the head.
Every
year, I hoped that on my birthday the sky will turn pink, the clouds will make
a smiley or something like that. Actually I dreamed of something exotic to
happen that day, but “what”, I simply had no clue. So at the end of the day, I
would end up feeling not so satisfied. No! I am not insane; it’s just the side
effect of being the baby of the house, the baby who refuses to grow. So this
year I intended to be a little sane and behave my age. I forced my heart to
think, it’s OK for someone to forget his/her partner’s birthday.
It
was 8th November, the last Saturday before my birthday. Avishek (my
husband) told me to get ready, while he goes to get some groceries. He planned
to catch some Hollywood action movie and the
very idea sucked I thought. Eventually I somehow forced myself to feel happy
and got dressed up. While I sat all decked up, there were no signs of him. I
called him up several times, each time to hear the same reply “will be back in
a moment dear”, that moment was as if not coming. I was growing irritated to
angry to insane. I decided to change and say a BIG NO to his movie plan, I
hated it anyways.
And
finally he arrived and as excepted I exploded. “What the hell were you messing around?
“Unlike his usual self, he seemed unmoved by my antics, and that pissed me off
more. I made a poker face and started to work on my blog, but half-heartedly. Avishek pretended to be hurt or something and
excused to go downstairs. I was starting to grow uneasy by his awkwardness; he
had been too much into his cell phone lately, “Extra marital?”
At
that moment, that doorbell rang. I dragged myself unwillingly to the door, but
as soon as I reached there I was jaw dropped. I could hear familiar voices and
the eye hole confirmed the familiarity of my guests. Gang of my most close
buddies was waiting outside for what I guessed was pre celebration of my
birthday.
Collage made by Avishek
That
evening went great, loads of laughter, gossip, food, drinks and gifts. But I loved
the cake which Avishek got me the most, my pink Cinderella cake. Felt like a
pampered kid all over again. The Cake looked and tasted divine. I thanked God
for blessing me with such great friends and my bestie my hubby.
At
night when all my friends went back home, I sat excited like a child,
unwrapping my gifts. Suddenly my eyes fell on Avishek, he was looking at me
lovingly “Are you happy?” he asked.
Tear
of joy rolled down my cheeks and I ran to hug him tight! Now I knew what exotic
birthday celebration meant!!!
Collage made by Avishek
Thansk to Dolan, Bidisha, Bidisha, Jayeeta, Shalaka,Nilesh, Snehasis, Krishnendu, Soumit, Kaushik, Mainak, and specially Avishek. Loads of hugs and kisses to Darshu and Rhidi.
Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta
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