it was Rias’ 12th birthday today… in the middle of a lock-down due to Covid-19 and as is customary it had been raining extremely heavily since yesterday morning(every single years since the day she was born 4th of July is one of the rainiest day of the season) . We knew we would have to try just a little more than usual to make it special after all next year she would be officially a teen and that just means we, the parents, would probably not be allowed in the same zip code anymore… aah well… so this kid is big on birthdays she loves loves loves her birthdays… just like her mom and exactly unlike me. This time however as expected everything was low key until I went in for a shower before bed time a couple of days before D-day… see all my epiphanies happen under the showed (my research says that the force of the water hitting the top of my head activates my brain cells and makes me think better…
As I stepped out of the shower I kept thinking about the idea and then went on to discuss with the wife… for Ria two things are of paramount importance in life at this point in time, good food and her friends… tomorrow it could be world peace and Jimmy Choos but right now this is what matters… Food her mother had already thought about, it was going to be an upside down pineapple cake that she was going to bake and then as customary on Rias’ birthdays takeaway from Mainland China. For the past 10 year now, since they opened up nearby, for every one of her birthdays we have headed over to MLC for the birthday lunch. This time they may not be entertaining guests but they would certainly be hold up the traditions… The pineapple upside down was a recent experiment which SG had pulled off very well (like everything else that she does) so that’s what it was going to be… in fact the tin of pineapple had arrived already on Monday… and me being me I had polished off all 9 slices on Monday evening itself (along with the girls ofcourse)… SG had to get another one but thankfully amazon delivered before time (as usual)…
So anyway my idea had nothing to do with food (though I did make the morning breakfast of heavenly muesli crusted french toast which the girls so love and the thick custard covered birthday cake that was slaughtered at midnight)… my idea was more to do with the friends part… last night around midnight all three girls were asleep around midnight I put up the streamers and the balloons, brought out the cake and woke them up… after a little bit of reluctance we cut the cake (a standard milk cake with mildly sweet thick custard topping that is not anything to look at but exceptionally hearty to dig into)
She was up first today morning, usually this is not the case… french toast for breakfast was the order placed while all four of us were rolling around in bed making plans for the day… I of course obliged with my spectacularly superlative rendition of four perfectly cooked fluffy yet juicy and well cooked french toasts that were polished off by the two kids in about a minute… on a full tummy these kids can be extremely well behaved and helpful… they cleared up the kitchen and put away the laundry without much coaxing and pleading…
Ria had already received her presents over the preceding weeks (a new phone, a pair of head phones, an activity monitor band, a laptop for school, clothes, dairies to write in) essentially the long drawn celebrations I referred to earlier that the mom and kid so love (even though most of these were for online classes at school but then I’m cheap like that I made it sound like these were birthday presents and Sonali played along since well these are pretty cool birthday presents if you ask me)… everyone in the extended family had chipped in for the bills… so on that front we were covered…
SG and I went out to get the essential items for the goodie bags(what goodie bags? the shower idea remember)… we wanted to get chocolate brownies and blocks from Merwans (a bakery that has been around for over 84 years now and is one of our favourite go to places) … Merwans at Seawoods was closed. Going out during the lock downs is a stressful affair as you never know what is allowed, what is not allowed, what is open and what is not… anyway we quickly headed for Merwans Vashi branch and after being rerouted multiple times landed up there only to find that this outlet too was closed. Whoooops!!! Roll back to pavilion and pick up the goodies from a bakery nearer to home… this is also an excellent bakery so no worries on the quality of stuff front… drove back home and loaded up the small goodie bags… Amazon had misfired on all engines past couple of days and so the beautiful diaries that we had placed an order for had been not delivered… so the goodie bags were going to go out without a gift… just the pastries and well a chocolate and a packet of little hearts…
Lunch arrived from MLC and lord was it good or was it good… amazing food as always… enough leftover for the dinner as well should any of us need it… a surprise cake arrived from Chinu chachu (he never fails to make sure a cake arrives at each and every occasion come hail or hell fire)…
Next we all got out in the pouring rain, in the middle of a severe lock down …we drove off to deliver the goodie bags our girls’ friends… the celebration of a kids birthday is usually incomplete without friends and that was the idea… share a birthday spread a bit of cheer make it happy instead of the dour grayness that has surrounded us all… We left the packets with the security guards (just like pizza delivery guys) or in some cases the kid or parent themselves… a quick hi from afar, a short bit of a conversation with masks on from a distance… no touching any surface, sanitizer after every foray out of the car to drop off the packet… and it was done… back home with two extremely happy kids bouncing around and talking 19 to the dozen… everyone showered/disinfected and then the two of them settled in for the video call session with friends… from behind closed door I could make out some singing and a lot of chattering was going on… then I barged in with a cake and that happened again with friends…
The kid made tea for us and like a grown up had tea with us as well 😀 In the meanwhile Sonalis’ upside down pineapple cake was getting ready… the kids started asking for dinner around 8 so the MLC meal was reheated and the two of them ate… we figured that was the end of the day but no sir they were eagerly waiting for cake number three
The cake was as usual spectacular… moist, not over sweet and perfectly caramelized… Ira had been stealing the pineapple while it cooled off in the kitchen so we figured might as well cut it before it was left topless…
…and just like that with a little bit of effort we were done… kids rolled off to sleep after another quick shower and multiple phone calls with grandparents and cousins and uncles and aunts, thanking them for all the gifts and wishes…
at first glance it may sound and seem reckless to be going out the way we did… even irresponsible. However with adequate precautions I believe this is the new normal that needs to be embraced… how long do we want to wait for a vaccine which will possibly never arrive? We need to start moving and maybe even start living again… fear is not solving the problem fear is just amplifying the problem… so get on with your lives guys be at ease so that you are not with disease…