You all might be wondering, “Why is the blog titled in this manner???” Well, the answer to this is USA follows the date system of MM/DD/YYYY and India follows the date system of DD/MM/YYYY. Well this blog is a story or rather a factual (kindly excuse some fiction) description of the things that transpired on All Fools day in 2010 and 2011…
Well to begin with as many of my readers know that it is yours truly birthday which falls on All Fools day. Last year during my birthday, I was at Clemson and trust me it was fun. In 2009, my ass was kicked very bad on the same day and I kind-of expected the same treatment in 2010. Nisarg had made it clear that no one is going to kick Hiren, but we will have something special for him. I was shit-scared. On 31st March, Nisarg updated his Facebook status stating that it is Hiren’s Birthday tonight and everyone please be present to treat him royally. I read that status and abused Nisarg royally. 😉 I came home from school early on 31st and Saurabh was already at home. We were sleeping in our respective rooms and Garima came in by late afternoon. We had a habit of keeping our doors unlocked so that anyone of our friends could get in even if we were not there at home. She came in very quietly, entered the kitchen and started preparing a birthday cake. Me and Saurabh didn’t even realize what was happening. After an hour, Saurabh was the first one to wake up and see Garima baking the cake. Immediately after that I woke up and we both told Garima that we love her for not waking us up and continuing with her work very peacefully. She was preparing a chocolate cake which looked yummy when it was out of the oven. Saurabh started decorating the cake by mentioning some keywords which according to them defined me (Gtalk, FB, Hmm K Cool, Wht Diff…). I abused him for doing this but I had no say in it as whatever I said often was on the cake :P.
Friends started to come in by 9pm itself. Celebrations at Clemson meant that people come in to wish at midnight, cake is cut, the birthday-boy (not girl L) is kicked brutally, eggs are thrown at him, a mix of all waste material from the respective homes and pour it on the birthday-boy. My anxiety or rather fear was increasing exponentially. I was wondering what is in store for me. Nisarg and Sushant got 2 separate cakes for the occasion – 1 for cutting and eating purpose and 2nd a much creamier one for smacking on my face purpose. They also got large quantities of eggs so that people could hit me with them. I was abusing them left, right and center. They all were making plans of how to hit me and what all to do with me at midnight. By the time midnight came, my mind was in multiple thoughts – whether to stay back for the birthday or whether to run away??? By midnight there were 50 odd people who assembled in our apartment for the occasion. I asked someone, from where did so many people come here??? The reply was, no one would like to miss a chance to hit you. While cutting the cake my hands were shivering. People who were besides me asked me what’s wrong? Why are your hands trembling? I had no answer. I fed the cake to my roommates and all my close friends and after that Nisarg and Aritra escorted me to the lawns in our apartment complex. Nisarg had already handed over 1 egg each to all those who had come and he also kept the spare ones near to everyone so that they could collect them and hit me again. They started hitting me with the eggs, smacked the cake on my face and I was standing in the middle, helpless. I tried defending the eggs with my hands but to no avail as they hit me from all the directions. By the end of it I was covered with eggs and cake. Anirudh came in late and he kicked me 4-5 times before letting go of me. I ran after Nisarg to hug him as he was the mastermind behind this and I wanted him also to have a taste of the cake and eggs but he was fast. The party continued at our place where everyone enjoyed and everyone had their share of fun. Gauri and her mom got Dhoklas, Gulab Jamuns for all of us. We were smart and opened them after majority of the audience left. Close friends waited till 3am. And suddenly there was a spontaneous egg throwing program on everyone in the house where luckily I was spared. Tempers flared but were kept under check very quickly. We enjoyed the delicious food and I was elated with all the gifts that I received that day.
I received numerous calls where some of them tried to fool me and Rucha was the closest to fool me. I had lunch with Gauri and Sudha and went home. Sudha baked another cake and we cut it in the evening which was again amazing and fun. After that we had a party planned at our place and booze flowed in there. Only close friends were invited and we had our in-house DJ SABU… In his 2 years at Clemson, this was the 1st time we must have seen him dance. Parrag danced a lot (there was some great inspiration around which I would not like to name). Karan Singh was at his Naagin Best and Sajit had his typical step in place. Garima, Sudha and Gauri too danced all the way through. Nisarg, Sushant, Himanshu, Satvik, Nimish too danced their hearts out. We all danced like crazy and the party ended at 2pm when we left for Waffle House to eat. Aritra was drunk as usual and he was at his best trying to explain some weird philosophy. Me, Parrag and Himanshu were hiding laughter and at the same time were trying to control him.
It was an awesome day for me and I enjoyed a lot… All thanks go to my roomies and all the friends who made it special for me. It has been 1 year now and I am in India now and I spent my birthday at home after 2 years. Dad used to be very excited about my or even Bhumi’s Birthdays. This was my first birthday without him. I missed him a lot but was happy by the fact that I was going to spend my birthday back home with Bhumi and Mom. My birthday came with lots of excitement this time as India entered World Cup finals which was to be played on 2nd April (blog on this is next) and everyone started telling me that team India will gift you the biggest gift ever… The World Cup. The excitement levels were on the threshold…
On 31st evening, I left office and met a friend at Borivli. We both caught up with few other friends and hung out together till midnight and then I left for home. Again I got numerous calls and messages. This time they were more from office colleagues as I count them more as friends rather than colleagues. I even got calls from close friends and roomies from USA and felt very nice about the same. I had to get up early in morning as we had seminars all across Mumbai on Sunday and we all office staff had ample of work before that. Avinash Sir wished me and told me he needs a ‘Daaru Party’ as soon as we meet next. 2nd April was monthly meeting day in the office and we both were supposed to go out, drink and watch the match together (description surely coming up in next blog). Coming back to 1st, I left for office and started work at 9.30 am. We had a new colleague (Shilpa) joining in on that very day and Shraddha had described me about her. She also asked me to hand over the responsibilities to her and leave office early that day. Shilpa came in with a bouquet and handed over to me and wished me. I was wondering how does she know and then I realized that Shraddha had told her more about me than what she told me about her.
I left for the day by 6, went to meet Shraddha and Sunil Sir at Borivli Office and reached home by 8.30. I had invited all my friends over for dinner. Mom and Bhumi made Pav-Bhaji and I got Ice-Cream and Soft-Drinks. Esha got cake and everyone was at home by 9.30. There were 14 of us at my place and we had a gala time. Luckily this time no one kicked me or smacked cake on my face or throw eggs at me. I was very happy with this Human nature of celebration as I could not have taken any cake on my face or particularly nose because of the surgery. With even Charwak and Alpa around, mom felt nice and the smile was evident on her face. The girls took over serving part except for Esha and Nidhi as Nidhi was not keeping well and Esha, well she doesn’t work… 😛 I should especially thank Payal and Alpa as they made the kitchen their own. Everyone ate together and had some good discussion topics. Everyone left by 11.45 thus ending one of the most joyous days of my life.
These were 2 of the most significant birthdays of my life so far. I can’t compare which one was better as both had their own charm. One had my family in USA with me while the other had my Indian Family with me. I would not like to debate or discuss over which one was better but with the year that has gone by, the birthday was a refreshing change and a welcome one and I am actually glad I actually celebrated my birthday the way it was this year. I do miss everyone from Clemson here but I know they are always with me. Well, the next day was Cricket World Cup final which everyone of us know that India Won… J I’ll soon be writing how my Birthday celebrations continues the next day and how I watched the finals…