It took me 20 years to be what I am right now. It took me 20
years to live like how I did so far. But most importantly , it took me
twenty years to be "The Recipient of the Best Birthday Treat Ever". And trust me when I say this , it was one hell of a time that I had.
So there I was in college. All lectures canceled. Waiting hopelessly
for whatever it was that my friends were planning for that day. Ya, it was obvious
that they were gonna do something. But I was still curious about what they had thought of for the day. But I needn't have worried about
that with a TRUE friend like Ashish. :) Such a TRUE friend. TRULY
dumb. There I was standing right next to him still in the dark about whether
any plans were there at all for the day and he asks Preeti , "Aaj kab nikalna hai?". :P
Needless to say, that was clue no 1. Lolzz.
It was at 6.30 that we left college and we went directly to mcD. I've
still not found the reason as to "WHY THE HELL" they had to extract
such a huge party from me when they knew what was gonna happen after
that. But either way they did. :D
And if you think Aashish messed up enough already, your just as dumb
as he is. !! We move into the road to catch a rickshaw. Preeti and
Gandhali became super cautious about letting any more secrets out.
They even whispered the name of the place to the rickshaw-wala. :) And
then the two of them get in themselves and just leave the situation in
the hands of who else but Ashish.... :D When another empty ric came he
yelled out , "Shoppers stop"!!!!
15 min of "rolling in the ric laughing" later, I reached the
aforementioned Shopper's stop. And then , they took me into Radha
Krishna - the hotel that I had been to so many times with my family.
The hotel waiters were all standing ready to welcome me. And they kept
telling me that the only tables available were at a far away corner.
So we went in and.......
The crowd was staring at me as if they all knew something huge was
gonna happen. 2 of them were even standing by a pillar. I was still
looking for a huge table for all my friends. And suddenly there came
someone else from behind the pillar. It took over 3 seconds for me to
realize that it was my brother Siddharth. And the two people standing
were my parents. :P. I was like SUPER SHOCKED. And I still remained
like that for a whole minute more. :) I actually sat down in shock
smiling with a Wide grin.
There was a cake there already. The 20 shaped-candles were almost
melting. It was a big blur of events after that. My mind felt fuzzy
with shock like I had taken a shot of tekila. (Parents and relatives
pls note this is only an imaginary metaphor. :D )
The wish was made ( and I got much more than what I had wished for).
The lit candles were blown. The song was sung. The cake was cut ,
eaten and smeared all over my face and my precious (few) hair. Lolzz.
:P
The next few hours went by because of the food. "Food divine. " Thats
all I'm saying about the food at Radha Krishna. !!!!
Oh just one thing, since I've pulled ashish's leg so much in this
blog, I remembered something else. He ordered some choco icecream or
something in the end. The waiter suggested something else to him. But
our ashish didn't understand what he said. Even after the poor waiter
repeated it 4 times. :) Finally ashish lost his mind and said just bring
me whatever it is that you're saying. Lucky for him it turned out to
be an Italian Cassata. Lolzzz.
But there was more...
My gifts....
As I said before I believe in "Food divine. " And although food is definetly a major icon on my list of priorities, there's one above it.
Becuase anything in my life - whatever it may be - is only below music to
me. Always. And "Srinath Warrier-Aura-Music divine" had
been my google username for over a year by then.
And the gift? Music it was. I got a white Tshirt. The words MUSIC DIVINE were printed on it. And below it was a pic of a flute. My krishna's flute.
And I thought that was all of Krishna I would be getting for the day.
I was wrong again...
I still feel the goosebumps in my hand as I remember opening the
second one - a Huge yellow-wrapped box - and seeing it lay inside.
So Serene and calm.
It was an idol of Krishna.
.............
I wish there was some human way in which I wish I could express the millions
of emotions and feelings that went through my mind then and are still
making me go crazy, thinking of how lucky I am to have such a bunch of
people in my life. People who now I realize know me too well. Maybe
better than myself. People who have become much more than friends to
me.
I'm surprised not because of what my friends did for me. I'm surprised
by the fact that I hadn't realized that I didn't have any friends on that table at all. :)
There I was on the table on the evening of my 20th birthday with my
family. My Entire Family. Each one of whom I loved as much as the
next. Each one of whom I will be forever indebted to.
I just wish they know how much I love them....
