32 Birthday

I have never not looked forward to a birthday until this one. It’s the first for me, and the feeling of getting old has never hit harder than this year. But the good thing about being married to a rockstar like Geet is that she will make even this turn out to be the best birthday ever. I just cant get how someone can be so creative after 5 attempts of her own, to outdo 31 previous attempts I have already had! That seriously takes some level of genius that makes her so popular among peers.

What Geet did was to ensure that there were a lot of things I’ve never done and always wanted to (N) and a bunch of things I love doing but haven’t in a long time (L). Here’s the list:

• Handmade gift from Geet (N) 
• More flowers than Geet for her birthday (N)
• Sangeet turned upside down after the party, that too on a weekend (L)
  
  
  
  
  
• Doing shots with no hands (N)
• Getting insane high at a party (L – this really is true, I’ve been too old lately to go this out of control!)
• Waking up after 7am (L – no matter how late or how drunk, my body alarm clock rings at 7, but on the 20^th, I slept till 11am and missed all the call that people gave in the morning with the phone also being switched off)
• Batman cake (N)
• Superhero t-shirts for gifts (N)
• 1 gift for every day of the week (N)
• Starting the week with a party at K’s Hyderabad mansion (L)
• Lunch at the best ever Andhra cuisine restaurant - Rayalseema Ruchilu (L)
• Staying at company guesthouse in Goa (N)
• Chomping on a Red Snapper (L – the last time I had this was at Havelock, 7 years ago)
• Biking in Goa (N – it’s only been cars before this – never a bike)
• Visiting Fort Aguada with Geet – finally! (N)
• Eating at the famous Martin’s in Goa (N)

Yup, so that was the list! The whole party started on Aug14 evening when we headed out to Hyderabad to visit Geet’s grandma who wasn’t keeping too well, and meeting K, Indu and cute little Anika at their bungalow there. 

It was not a great fun ride trip as we were mostly making trips to the hospital to ensure we could do the best for grandma, but tried making most of our time there through meals in our favourite restaurants, and catching up with the comic gang of Apsi, Sudhir and his wife at the awesome Boat Club first, followed by a night of revelry at K’s place, exploiting all the fancy drinks stocked up by his dad there J

We returned from Hyderabad on Aug17 and then it was back to the boring Belapur routine for 2 days, during which time Geet ensured she gave me enough treasure hunt puzzles to solve and “earn” my gifts, which were well worth it coz they were a bunch of super-hero t-shirts that I’ve always wanted, but never had. Guess you just aren’t too old to wear them J

Aug19 night we called a few friends over at home – Parul, Neelam, Mallika, Nikhil, Janani, Shiva and Swaroopa. And while it was a really small gang given the parties we’ve normally had at home, which was understandable given it was a Tuesday, but the fun we had was really insane. I’ve been far to responsible and sober while drinking lately, and this was one of those times of letting go, which hasn’t happened in a long time!

Aug20 I woke up late (again something not done in really long) to a house so messy that I first had to clean it up in spite of my hangover, just so that I could find my phone in the mess, which I realized was out of charge and there was no charger lying around. Next had a shower and then sent some important mails coz I hadn’t planned a holiday this day and called in sick at the last moment. Then finally made a trip to Oberoi mall to buy a charger and connect to the world that was trying to reach me till then. Managed to return a few msgs at least, and the calls were a lost case, till Geet came home in the evening and we went to Yautcha that we’ve been wanting to for a long time.

Aug21 early morning I had a flight to Goa for a CM conference that turned out to be one of the best we’ve been on, coz it was the first time we made 2 trips out of the resort, once to a club called SINQ, and once to Martin’s. Usually we spend all our time in the confines of the resort itself, and never explore the city, and doing it twice this time was what really made this outbound fun. I was made in charge of the Martin’s session, which was pretty crazy given I’ve never been to this place and always wanted to in the last 5 years we’ve been coming to Goa for our conferences. But what I ensured was that absolutely the finest crabs and lobsters were served to every single person who I ensured came out of their rooms and hit the restaurant, and it was a lunch that people just thoroughly enjoyed.

Aug22 night Geet joined me at Goa and we had a chilled out time at the company guesthouse. Visited Infantaria, Aguada, Martin’s and did the usual chilling out at the beach. We didn’t go to the casino on Saturday night that we wanted to coz we heard the news of her grandma and both of us were just not in the mood for anything after that. So it was a far quieter trip to Goa than we would have wanted, but it was just unfortunate timing.. RIP.

But otherwise, the entire week, starting with Hyderabad and ending in Goa was really an amazing time we had. All I can say is thanks, and feel slightly less terrible about turning an age I used to, and maybe still associate really old people with – 32!