Tuesday, April 13, 2010

This day and age

It all started with a midnight phone call from Dubai.

"Bhai... budday bolke is hafte ka hafta dabbal karne ka kya?"

Oh wait, that was the wrong call. Pretend you didn't read that. Reboot reboot.

So... as I was saying, it all started with a midnight phone call from Dubai. Two of my beshtesht friends Reghu and Aathira had called to wish me as I reluctantly hung on to the last few minutes of what I prefer to call "my previous age". So I complained to them about Viv who has gone off to Vegas leaving me alone on my birthday. (Okay fine, before you guys start imagining Viv as the sharaabi juaari pati from a 70s' Hindi flick blowing away our lifetime savings, let me sing "Bhala hai bura hai jaisa bhi hai, mera pati mera devta hai" and then clarify that he has gone there on work.)

So yeah, it was my birthday. And it didn't seem to have started on a good note at all. I had to wake up at 6.30 am for an early morning video conference with a manager in our Melbourne office. Something had gone horribly wrong with a publication from last year and he wanted to discuss it urgently. So I dragged myself to work early in the morning and stationed myself in the video conference room along with two of my colleagues who were also attending the meeting. Before I had time to wake up properly, I saw them closing in on the glass walls of the meeting room. The office gang, ambushing me in the meeting room with a whole cheesecake!

"What... But the... video conference... Melbourne... you guys... so early..." was all I could say before I realised the royal prank they had played on me. It seems the manager in the Melbourne office was also in on the prank when he had requested for that "urgent meeting". He had sent me a very elaborate email about the "problem" he wanted to discuss, and had even booked a video conference room in Melbourne! Ah, what drama. He sent me an email later to apologise for not being able to make it to our "meeting" because -- get this -- "I was in a REAL meeting." LOL!

I was so touched that all of them had woken up early to spring this surprise on me. We had a cheesecake breakfast in the pantry, where I proceeded to dissect the events of the previous day, and how well they had managed to hide it from the surprise queen herself. (Yeah, I used to be the birthday surprise queen in the office too before I retired last year.) I was going "AHA! That's why...!" every now and then. One of the "meeting attendees" had actually changed his Outlook communicator status message to say, "Argh, not another early morning meeting!" Nautanki! (You guessed it, I'm packing him off to Karan Johar's office right away.)

Later that afternoon, my ex-team (we had a restructuring recently) came by with my favourite flowers -- pink gerberas. This was followed by another slice of cheesecake delivered to my desk by four of the craziest editors in my office. It was so awesome!

In the evening, I went to Holland Village for dinner with the usual suspects -- the very awesome people without whom my birthday wouldn't be complete. Plus Mexican food and margaritas. And more cake and more gifts. Yippeee! The restaurant played "Happy birthday" in Spanish when the cake came out, which led me to believe that no matter what the language, this touching tune means only one thing - "You are OLD."

The margaritas took effect pretty quickly, because Pizzadude and I had already started giggling, and Shub suddenly sang out, "THUMS-UP!" making me bellow, "TASTE THE BLUNDER!" Sumanth was the only dignified one at the table. Even Clueless, who otherwise holds her drink well, seemed a bit talli, but I won't elaborate further because she is a teacher, committed to mould the future of her students (actually their future already looks pretty mouldy to me), and it would be highly inappropriate of me to share her margarita stories until I have firmly ascertained that at least 70% of her students read this blog.

Thanks to the birthday notification feature on Facebook, I had more than a 100 birthday wishes waiting for me when I got home. And strangely, I did not have the cynical "As if you guys remembered on your own!" feeling which I would have had a few years ago. I just felt really happy that even with the Facebook prod, people would take the time to type a birthday message for someone. Sign of maturity, eh?

Another sign of maturity -- a school friend from my Bhai days sent me a message, "Bhai, ab bandook ki goli ke din gaye, calcium ki goli ke din aa gaye." I think I laughed for a full five minutes when I read that.

I was also particularly thrilled when the in-laws called to tell me that they had sponsored dinner for all the kids in an orphanage for my birthday. What a super idea and what a beautiful gift.

I think there is only one drug to treat the 'I feel old' problem people face on their birthdays. It's the 'I feel happy' wonder drug, and I sure had a rather large dose of that.

And now, since we have reached the end of the post, I have to make the customary "I am wiser by a year" statement/advice for all bewdas (including myself), and here it is:

The older we get, the more awesome it is if we're fit. So let's get off our fat asses and do something about them instead. :D



52 comments:

Unknown said...

Happy Bday Sayesha... May God shower all the best'est' things upon ya.. Keep smiling

Unknown said...

Happy to be the 1st one to wish ya on this blog.... :)))))))))))))))

iyer-the-gr8 said...

Happy Budday Bhai!!! Hope you have awonderful year and many more wonderful years ahead!!!

Cheers!!!

nidhi said...

Happy Birthday Sayesha. Like you say: May the madness never stop

God Bless

Baatein unkahi si said...

that's so cool, the B'day surprise queen gets a B'day surprise of her own. I am sure they learnt some of thsoe from you only.
A very Happy Bday to you bhai.
However, you did leave out one of the details: how did your NOT so "sharaabi juaari pati from a 70s' Hindi flick" surprise/wish you on your B'day?

The Soul of Alec Smart said...

Happy birthday, Sayesha! It sounds like an awesome birthday.. your colleagues are super-awesome, and so are you to get them to want to wake at 6:30 na? :p

Have a great year, and yes, stay fit!

Srishti said...

Hahahaha! Sayeshaaa!! this is soooo cute! Your office people are so cool. :D

Happy Birthdayyyyy!! :D Hope you have many many happy years ahead. :)

Arun said...

Happy B'day!

They're not pink, and it is an old photograph (but photos don't age) - here are some gerberas for you.

And many thanks and much appreciation for your blog!

-Arun

Jass said...

Belated happy birthday bhai! This calls for a party at the bar!

*opens a bottle of virtual champagne

How do we know said...

hey ... belated happy birthday!!

Arun said...

(Okay fine, before you guys start imagining Viv as the sharaabi juaari pati from a 70s' Hindi flick blowing away our lifetime savings, let me clarify that he has gone there on work.)

But being a sharaabi juaari pati from a 70s' Hindi flick **is** work!

shweta said...

Only a typical aries cld hve all these qualities....!! Belated Happy Birthday!!:)

Shweta

Technofun said...

Hey..belated happy birthday..
cheers to great year and hope you have more blast and surprises coming year..!!!

Navya said...

Belated Birthday wishes! Till the end I was hoping for a surprise from Viv expecting him to be home :D. But well, as you get old, you "understand" - Work!!

Geomon said...

Happy bewda day.....matlab...happy bud-day to you bhai! tumhe har khushi Bar-Bar naseeb ho :P
btw Gold!!! :))))
dekha,sab bewda log talli hoke 'Sona' bhul gaye. 'Loss' Vegaaas se to zaada mauka bhai ke dar-bar pe hai.

Porkodi (பொற்கொடி) said...

Wish you a very happy awesome fun filled year ahead Bhai! Just when we threw a surprise party for our friend last week, I was thinking about the surprise party queen :))) Great that they pulled it off on you!

Me turning 25 next month and scared about it.. consoling myself that after 25, the age scale would go down till 0 and then start increasing again :P

You should also write what you did for tamil new year.. :D

and, silver!

Maryum said...

happy birthday sayesha.. may allah bless u with all the good things in life.. lodz of luv n prayers ur way

Kavity said...

Happy Birthday Sayesha :)

Swathy said...

Bhai, Happy Budday!!

Unknown said...

Happy B'day, Sash!

May your year be filled with magic, dreams and a good kind of madness.
The good brand of madness suits you! :)

-Sangeetha

Alice said...

LOL @ the calcium ki goli line.

Happy burrday bhai.

Jil Jil Ramamani said...

Don't think I've commented on your blog before, but my friends and I here at the hostel are fultoo fans of your blog. Happy Birthday! and may we all turn out like you as we age :)

Cheers

nits said...

belated happy b'day bhai...

Prasanth said...

Belated wishes Sayesha,

Your posts always make us(readers..silent & otherwise) smile. Keep them coming,

Cheers, Prasanth

Bivas said...

You sure had a blast...Happy Waala Belated B'day :-)

Unknown said...

Belated Birthday Sayesha

Anonymous said...

I love your posts Sayesha.
Have been a lurker, but delurking here to Wish you a very happy Belated Birthday.
All the very best to you in life.
God Bless :)

anN-series said...

sayesha...belated happy birthday...must say there is a nice feel good factor in your posts..your posts always fills me with optimism.. :~)

ZB said...

Belated Happy Birth day. TC:)

aequo animo said...

Glad you are over the Hill :D,
Happy Bday :)

The Wanderer said...

:) Hey Belated wishes for a Happy Birthday ! You had a great one ! :)

~ Lopa said...

Ohhh Belated Happy Birthday bhai.

I passed through feeling same last week, on my birthday, I had no surprises at office though, hehe

I felt terrible in the morning missing family/ friends. But as day progressed i felt better with all the calls, gifts, e-mails, scraps and wall messages. And i had the same thought ... It didn't matter you scrapped me or put a msg on my wall seeing the notification, at least you cared to put that msg seeing that notification that's what i felt and also realized aah I am getting matured as earlier i used to tell them, ya ya abhi check kiya orkut / facebook to aaya yaad... hehe

I am happy that it turned out great for you :)

Arun said...

Porkodi, 25 is an excellent age to be at. The trick is to remain there permanently :) in the spirit of the following:

(A.A. Milne)
When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

mythalez said...

arre ... one should realise: birthday comes, birthday goes,
but Bhai doesn't age.
Bhai's power only grows ;) ;)

Neha said...

happy birthday..the evergreen bhai!! :P
Calcium ko goli ke din...lol for 5 mins too :D

apu said...

Many Many Happy Returns of the day.May u ramain as lovely forever n ever.
-apurva

Sayesha said...

#Deepa,
Thanks. :)

#iyer-the-gr8,
Thanks! :)

#nidhi,
Amen to that! :)

#Dil se,
Hahahaha! Sharaabui juaari is taking me on a holiday tomorrow. :)

#The Soul of Alec Smart,
Thanks! :)

#Srishti,
Thanks! :)

#Arun,
Oooh that is one rich red! Love them! :)

#Jass,
Thank you thank you! :D

#How do we know,
Thanks! :)

#Arun,
Hahahaha! I actually agree! :P

#shweta,
Thanks! :)

#Technofun,
Thank you! :)

#crazy,
Hahaha! Naah, I'm joining him in the US tomorrow. :)

#Geomon,
LOL @ Bar-Bar naseeb ho! :D

#Porkodi,
Hahahaha! 25? 25???? Waaaaa! Hahahaha! :D Waaaaa! :'(

#Maryum,
Thanks! :)

#Kavity,
Thanks! :)

#Swathy,
Thank you! :)

#S,
Amen! :)

#Alice,
Thanks! :D

#Jil Jil Ramamani,
Actually you have commented at least 2-3 times before. :P Thanks for your kind words and wishes! :)

#nits,
Thanks! :)

#Prasanth,
Thank you! :D

#Bivas,
Thanks! :)

#deepika,
Thank you! :)

#momofrs,
Welcome and thanks! :)

#anN-series,
Thanks! :)

#ZB,
Thank you! :)

#aequo animo,
Thanks! :)

#The Wanderer,
Thanks! :)

#~Lopa,
Hehehe... maturity is just another name of budhapa! Hahahaha! We're all getting old! :D

#Arun,
Wah wah!!! Kya sher arz kiya hai! :D

#mythalez,
Wow, impressive! Is hafte ka hafta maaf! :D

#Neha,
Thanks! :)

#apurva,
Thank you! :)

VIDYA said...

Happy birthday sayesha :)
Tis only befitting that the bhai of surprises and happy buddays should have an awesome bday n surprise herself...Have a great year!:)

anshuj said...

Hey Sayesha,

Belated happy birthday!
Your posts often make me laugh!
Hope you have a lifetime of happiness so you never feel old :)

anshuj said...

Hey you said you're going to be in States...any plans to visit Silicon Valley (SF Bay area) ?
It will be so much fun to see you in person.
drop me a mail at anshu[dot]points[at]gmail[dot]com

bluejay said...

belated b'day wishes bhai.. :) here it goes..

Happy b'day to uu.. happy b'day to u.. happy (screechily hi pitched extremely outta tune) b'day dear bhai.. happy b'day to u (tada!)

hope this year brings u lots of joy :)

humblog said...

Happy birthday to you. Wish you all the good things in life.

And cheese cake!!!Argh! You can do better than that.
Nothing beats a black forest pastry, samosa or egg puff with Thumbs up.

visajet said...

I have not (I think) commented here before, but I visit your blog often. No matter what I end up reading here, I always leave with a smile.

For someone who exudes so much positivity even through her blog, here's wishing you a meaningful and positive year ahead!

Cheers

Porkodi (பொற்கொடி) said...

mythalez has hit it right - bhai's power only grows :D

Arun, me likes the song! dhenks dhenks! :)) anyway, people around me wonder am still five or six (my behavior).. :-|

Kanan said...

Happy belated birthday, Sayesha! :) Good to know finally you're getting to taste your own medicine ;) haha kidding.. I am glad you actually got a *surprise* for a change. Best wishes for the coming year and many more...

Sayesha said...

#VIDYA,
Thank you! :)

#anshuj,
Thanks! :D
PS: Yes I will be in SF but only for a day or two, may not have time too meet up this time, but if I'm there for longer next time (or if you come to Singapore) we'll meet! :)

#bluejay,
Hahahahahaha! Thank you for your wishes! Pssst, somebody take the microphone away from this singer! :P

#aj,
Cheesecake is my favourite cake. :)

#visajet,
Thank you so much! :)

#Porkodi,
Five or six???? Holy crap how time passes! The last time you commented here, you were like one and a half!!

#Kanan,
Thanks! :)

Neha said...

Janmdin ki bahut bahut badhaiyaan....i know am kind of late...but lemme sing this out for you...

"Baar baar din ye aae...baar baar dil ye gaae...happy budday to you"

Here to you..

TUNGATHAVAJAN said...

Sorry Bhai
Belated Birthday Wishes.......

Even my birthday is in April

Sanchit said...

bhai.. happy birthday again

Chitra said...

Seems that you had a great b'day! Belated b'day wishes :-)!

Sayesha said...

#N,
Thank you! :)

#TUNGATHAVAJAN,
Thanks and happy belated birthday to you too! :)

#Sanchit,
Thanks yaar! :D

#Chitra,
Thanks! :)

Abhishek Upadhyay said...

hehehe .... its always amusing reading your blog.Came here after a long time wise lady.

Belated Happy Birthday