9th July 2010 - Another unique birthday memory

Oh yeah! It's that time of the year again. Once you cross a certain age, every added year looks like a millennium. All of a sudden, ankles, knees and everything begin to act up. And you realize - it's your birthday. But then, you have the life you've built around yourself over past years that ends up making your day go beyond just those creaking joints. It's all about being remembered by different people, who've had or who have some stake in your life, who in many cases, have perhaps not been in assiduous touch with you, but still remember and make the day special for you.

As usual, it was my favorite cousin who started it off. Her agenda was not to just wish me, but rather to ensure that she disrupted my sleep and that I was awake thanks to her! And then it was the ever dependable friend of mine from the Eastern part of the world, who had the privilege to wake up a few hours ahead of us Indians. But unlike me, who woke him up in the middle of the night at 3 am, just because it was still his birthday in my part of the world, this guy decided to just message me and prevent getting expletives from a sleepy me!

And then for the second time in a row, here I was bringing in my birthday at a new place of work, where no one knew that today was the day I graced the earth so many years ago. I kinda liked the incognito method of operation, because I feel that there are perhaps some things better left to zero publicity. And leaving some things out of Facebook perhaps holds on to some of the fun of anticipation! So, my oldest friend all the way from school, my closest friends from my first work place, some from undergrad, some others from various other walks of life all added that zing to my day. And the best part was being remembered and wished by my very first boss at work, and my very first super-boss as well, who've consistently remembered through all these years. And even better was the fact that my dear ex super boss promised me an i-pad. (Yup, now the promise is set in stone hehehehhe..:D :D)

So two rounds of cell phone charging later, I thought that my one year hiatus from Mumbai had not in any way diminished the spirit of kinship between me and my pals and felt very good about it all, as the day drew to a close. The weekend dawned and I decided to go visit my very first friends in the corporate world, at a place that still gladdens my heart with each visit. Little did I know what was awaiting me. All said and done, it has been 2 years since I stopped working in that place, but my closest friends there, my ex-boss included, decided to throw me a surprise fare, with my favorite black forest cake, and all my friends incidentally showing up at the pre-decided cubicle! And the cake cutting was in a typical ceremonial fashion, just like old times, and all my protests against having white cream smeared on my face fell on deaf ears. It just didn't end there, but rather a date with Tom Cruise followed.

Knight and Day - well - a cross between Mission Impossible and Jerry Maguire. But, ever since Top Gun, TC is a treat on any day, especially after sooooo long. The wrinkles have begun to show, but the smile still is as infectious as ever! The story was feeble, and like Teeps said, the movie should rather have been called 'battery', although when the titles began to roll, RB wondered whatever happened to the central character - the battery! But then again, a mindless movie starring a couple of lookers is the perfect definition of a weekend, especially this weekend!

The titles have rolled, the taste of black forest cake still lingers in my mouth. Yet again, a bunch of my friends have added another new memory to the event called my birthday. Thanks a lot guys, I really feel special!