Happy Birthday Prema!!!

Our housemaid’s daughter celebrates her Birthday on January 1 and the first thing we get to eat in the New Year is a 'Melody'. I think 'Melody' is her daughter’s favorite toffee because that’s what we get every year and I like it too.

Our housemaid is a really skinny lady who is probably in her late 20’s and suffers from Hypothyroidism, which apparently is the reason for scrawniness. She has two kids, a boy and a girl. Her son is ten and her daughter turned seven yesterday. Our housemaid works at seven or eight different places and makes around Rs 4000 every month (It’s such a shame that these housemaids and labourers earn a pittance for all their hard work). Like most parents, she tries to provide the best possible life to her kids (I hope they appreciate their Mom’s efforts and grow up to successful individual). Her husband on the other hand is the usual unemployed, alcoholic, wife-beating loser. His latest transgression was selling his daughter’s gejje (silver anklets) to get drunk on New Year’s Eve.

Dad says that homes would not find housemaids if their husbands provided for them, did not get drunk, treated them well or did not desert them because no self-respecting man would let his wife work as a housemaid.

Birthdays bring back a lot of memories. Back in the 80’s and the early 90’s, none of my friends in our predominantly Kannadiga locality used to have Birthday parties. I remember attending just one Birthday party; that of a Bengali kid. Having lived in different parts of the country, I am of the opinion that at least during those days North Indians used to celebrate Birthdays with much more fanfare compared to us South Indians. In our locality, a Birthday celebration would typically involve distributing toffees or candies in School (Some rich kids would distribute them in all the Sections), the neighbourhood followed by a wonderful Birthday feast prepared by Mom. Forget dreaming of having a Birthday party, I detested the thought of distributing toffees. I stopped distributing toffees in School when I was in Class 3 as my class teacher would take all the leftover toffees claiming to distribute them among the underprivileged kids and I didn’t buy the story.

Last year, I cut a Birthday cake (actually, two) for the first time in my life. I wasn’t terribly excited, as I don’t really enjoy celebrating my Birthday. What made me feel special was that some people took the trouble to organize a party (actually, two) for me.

KK: Thanks for ordering for that ginourmous cake which you had to later carry all the way to the resort. Dude, you gave me my first Birthday cake. BTW, with so many friends I am curious to know your monthly budget towards Birthday cakes? :P

Mota: We have known each other for over seven years now. Engineering would have been boring had it not been for friends like you, Lambu, Dhadiya and Sam. As neither of us has still learnt an instrument, starting a Rock band still remains a distant dream. Those Birthday bumps were a pain in the arse (literally) for almost a week and I wasn’t expecting them after having gone easy on you on your Birthday. BTW, I loved that Mango-flavoured cake but its more than five months and I still haven’t got my Birthday gift. :@

Ava: We first met some six years ago, but we have bonded well over the past year. You are a great friend and I sometimes wish that I had made that extra effort to know you when we first met. I know that you and Mota were equally responsible for organizing the whole thing. On second thought, I think you deserve more credit because I am sure that it was you who reminded him. :)