A Birthday Cake

Growing up hardly remember anyone in our homes cut a birthday cake. Our birthdays meant some sweets and Payash made by Ma. On some occasions, ‘Luchi’ would be done if there were some visitors. After a time, aunts stopped visiting, to be replaced by some friends, to be replaced by nothing at some point till at job, the corporate culture of cake cutting all began. There were years when on a single day I cut more than one cake.

Thus cake cutting also became a part of family rituals for a while until we grew bored and embarrassed and now it’s only limited to the children’s birthdays. At one point, my father did not appreciate the cake cutting during the sibling’s anniversary.

To be honest, I do not like the ritual of blowing the candles as in Hindu religion the light is not to be blown off, but since I was the one who had started getting cakes, I remain a silent spectator and do not express my opinion so as to not offend the others.

We hardly ever celebrated our parents birthdays except for bringing home some sweets or some small tokens/gifts. To our surprise, father got a cake for himself today and said it’s for the children. While we were planning only for a gift which we doubted we would accept, here was a cake which he himself brought and left us smiling to ourselves. He even changed to a nice shirt for the cake-cutting and sang himself ‘Happy Birthday to us’.

Here’s to his spirit and hoping the blessings/and the hand above the head stays strong and fit.