My dad’s 60th birthday!

Birthdays come every year…but the 60th one comes just once 😀 . Exactly why we decided to celebrate it with much ado and make it really, really special for my Dad on 6 July!

Early March: The planning started when I, in union with my brother, decided to dedicate a book to him! That didn’t sound too impressive, did it? Well, let me rephrase it—when I, in union with my brother, decided to actually write a book and dedicate it to him. Something to the effect of ‘Chicken Soup’ series…and since there are 60 members within the family itself, we thought we could get stories from all of them about their relationship with ma Dad. Well, the idea bombed! 😀

Late April: Then we thought we could kidnap him, tie him up, blindfold him and whisk him off to some place he would like…and celebrate with friends, family, food and the best of all—alcohol 😀 . The idea sounded disastrous for health (ours, especially!). 😀

Late May: Then we thought we could ask all his sisters and a brother to come down to Trivandrum…and give him a pleasant surprise—they are all across Delhi, Gujrat, Coimbatore, New York, Atlanta…But well, we knew few could promise attendance…and half the crowd is never as good as the full one (or so everyone says). So, we killed the idea. 😀

Late June: Then we thought we could plan a trip to the Bali islands…my brother had won a 7-day free package to the place—we’d only have to pay for the tickets. A bit too late, we realised Dad’s passport had expired. Damn! The idea died a sudden death. 😀 (The offer’s valid till August end, and Dad doesn’t want a ‘belated burrrday trip’…anyone wanna come along? 😀 )

Early July: Then we thought we could give him a ‘normal’ surprise party…with just the few of us who could make it. By then I had changed my mind just too many times, and was actually in danger of not getting any tickets. But well, I left my self respect in my bag outside the agency…and literally begged the guy to give me a ticket—and I got it. I called up Mom to tell her when I’d be landing and all that…and got the rudest surprise ever…e.v.e.r.! My Dad, who had till then got no inkling that there’d be a birthday party, was going out of town on his birthday! 😀 😀 😀 . The idea backfired!!! 😀

Hehe…I was shocked, but I actually went home without changing my mind further. And we made it…we bought him all sorts of ‘unlikely’ gifts—and well, a Blackberry! And loads of kisses, hugs, and of course, PJs…hehehe 6 July midnight was a fun time at home. He was stunned when he got the Blackberry, and as we expected, he was up till 3 a.m., fiddling with its features and technicalities.

And then, beaming, he said he loved everything! We didn’t even need any more proof since we actually saw him showing it all off to Mom 😀

Glad you loved it, Dad.  And you have no idea how glad we are that we didn’t get the whole family down for the ‘surprise party’…we’d all have been surprised to find the birthday man out of station!

And well, we didn’t even give him a birthday card, not to mention the book 😀 !