MY PRE-SCHOOL YEARS - 6

A few days back, I had occasion to attend the birthday of my friend’s son. I was a visitor to the town where they lived and so got a special invitation for the birthday celebrations. The celebrations were organized in the same hotel where I was staying. So in the evening I bought a gift from the shop in the hotel itself.

I reached the hall which was well-decorated, in time. The children who had been invited to the party were there playing some games supervised by the boy’s mother. The gift packets were all stacked well on top of a shelf. After the games, the children assembled around the table on which the cake was ready to be cut. My friend was ready with the camera. The seven candles on the cake was lit, then the flames were blown off by the boy, the cake was duly cut, photographs taken, ‘Happy Birthday to you’ was sung by the children. Then they all settled with their plates with foodies.

Nostalgia stepped in.

I am transported to about seven decades back when my birthdays were celebrated with so much enthusiasm all around.

A birthday was a big affair, especially when it was of the eldest son in the new generation. My birthdays were big affairs when Grandpa was alive, especially before my Upanayanam. I would go to the temple early morning, where there would be special Puja performed for me. That day the Naivedyam – the offering to the God - would be ‘Nei Payasam’ (Cooked rice sweetened with jaggery and mixed with dry coconut pieces fried in ghee. There would be, in addition, a liberal dose of ghee poured in and things like cardamom, kismis etc. added.)

On this day, the food would be served in a plantain leaf, not in brass plates as was usually done. For the morning breakfast, my brother would sit next to me on the right side. The person sitting on the right side was also important on a birthday. Except for my birthdays, I would be the right-side-boy, naturally.

The feast in the afternoon would be very elaborate with all the Keralite dishes like Kalan, Olan, Erisseri etc and another Payasam. (We used to call it Edichu Pizhinha Payasam – meaning ‘crushed and squeezed payasam’. Payasam is a sweet dish, by the way). This was because many coconuts were crushed and milk squeezed out of them and rice was cooked in this milk with lots of jaggery added for sweetening.

Many relatives would be invited and they would come with their children. So after the breakfast, it was all playtime.

People from the village would be given lunch.

In the evening there will be some function in the family temple.

After I started going to school, though the birthdays were celebrated with same enthusiasm, I slowly started losing interest in such huge celebrations.

At this point my friend woke me up from the day-dreams and said, ‘Our role here is over. We can move to the bar where our other friends have already started celebrating’

So, we moved to the bar.