I hope there was a pause button. Something to slow down time. It just flies by us. Experiences i want to forever linger in, become a sweet memory in the blink of an eye. A year passed by me and i just didn't realize.
Every month we waited for the 1st. Celebrating your monthly birthday was a cherished event. Now, that you are turning a year old, a grand celebration was in the offing. And the planning and preparations had started months ago.
After scouting a long list of venues and rejecting choices like DSF, ValaJanu and Sanjog, Status banquet at mahim was finalised. Familiarity, Quality and non-veg food. It ticked all our boxes. Aai and me personally went there to finalize things and pay advance. Once that was done a few things were left to be decided. Decorations, cake, guest list, menu, return gifts, datoli, clothes.......
Guest list had to be kept close to 100. With so many Kamats and Vengsarkars, it is always skewed towards my people. The list was almost similar to your naming ceremony's list, minus Vagdevi neighbours. Aai's friends were the new entrants.
I never hired any party decorator for any function as i rely on my own creativity and ingenuity (humility is my second name). For the caps, balloons, return gifts (camlin sets), we did not have to go beyond Anupam mega store. Datoli articles came mostly from Dmart. I had also hired a professional balloon decorator who did a splendid job on the day. (I had also made Priya mavshi to go all the way to Shivaji park to find a balloon decorator's number from a roadside tree, but did not hire that guy). The rest of the decoration included your photos. My first idea was to use your monthly birthday photos, but we were missing some and most of them had Aai in a nightgown. So, instead i decided to make a collage of your pics of every month and paste it on a calender. Getting all the pics from different sources, sorting them by month, selecting the best pics, creating a collage, getting it printed, pasting it on the calender pages. Thinking about it now while writing, i don't know how i managed it, but it went to the wire, almost till the previous night. Add to that, the 4 liner 'charoli' i thought about writing with reference to each collage. It almost went on till the morning of your big day. But, the success of it all made it very meaningful.
When we decided about the party, there was no theme as such. But them both your mavshis came up with the idea of a party gown. Aatu heard about the idea. Spontaneous decisions are what we siblings are known for. She went and bought a new gown. I declared on whattsapp groups that gowns and blazers will be appreciated. Guess what, aai backed out of wearing a gown and i did not get a blazer of my size. But, kudos to most of our cousins, many of them had dressed up in party gowns.
You may think your Dadda is gloating too much in this post, but credit for your datoli clothes and your party dress including the shoes is completely mine. When we failed to get anything from Growels, i went to Infiniti malad alone and bought it without asking aai. And were you looking good? Hay, mein saddke jawan.
Me and aai went up to Merwans in dadar for your cake (on the day of Vagdevi Satyanarayan Pooja). Instead of liking any, we returned back after buying chappals from Payal and eating sabudana wada from Prakash. Since we had Priya Mavshi's scooter at our helm, we decided to try some more stores. With Monginis, Celejor, Adarsh , The cake shop, in mind, we stopped our scooter at a newly opened cake shop 'cakes & more'. What we saw in the display window was love at first sight and that opinion was further etched in by the impressive owner of that shop. Cake shopping was done.
But, all these preparations were for the birthday party which was on the 5th of January. But, you were born on the 1st. That will be a special day for us always. For the rest of the world, it will be celebration of the beginning of a new year. For us, it will be celebration of the beginning of a new life. 31st night party was at our place, with most of the regular attendees. Fried starters, bombil, raan biryani along with drinks and card games was making the night enjoyable. But, all of us were waiting for the clock to strike 12 and when it did, everyone was wishing you happy birthday instead of the typical happy new year.
On the 1st, me and aai took you to cut cakes at pragati hospital and Indira IVF (Dr.Kanika made it really special for us). When we returned, others had decorated the house (with tapes still stuck to the wall). Aaba cut his cake first and then you cut yours. Food came from Uncle's corner. (There was so much leftover food, our fridge had a 'Vagdevi' look to it). The birthday was done, now to the party day.
On the 5th, Rohini Mavshi came early along with her daughter. We travelled in our car and others followed us in a taxi. We reached the hall, started the decorations. Everyone was chipping in. I had worn a custom made t-shirt. The guests started coming in and the hall was filled with people. Everyone wanted to meet you, hug you, kiss you and you were a sport. The datoli went in fine. it disturbed you a bit, but you were generally calm about it.
When you wore that pant, shirt and vest and walked through the hall, holding our hands with birthday music in the background, it was a moment to cherish forever. Though the plastic candle
caught flames, the rest of the cake cutting went on smooth. The green cake with a farm house theme, white fencing and yellow birds was a sight to behold.
You were enjoying the attention and adulation, the pecks on your cheeks and the gifts in your hands. (On the same evening, we opened up all the gifts as we were more excited tha you to check them out. We also called Vishwanath carpenter to make new shelves for your new toys). You also joined the rest of the kids playing with balloons. (There was a kido-romance between Devang and Anvita). While the kids were enjoying their games, the adults were enjoying the fabulous food.
I have seen many birthdays, where the child cries throughout the program, or messes their dress or throws a tantrum. You were completely the opposite. You seemed to like being the star of the show. And what a show it was. I think this is my longest post as of now and trust me, i have held myself back. I can go on and on.
Every year, we will celebrate your birthdays. You will grow up every year. There will be so many changes in your body, your features, your behaviour. But, this birthday was celebrating that year when a cute wonder of nature smiled for the first time, cried for the first time, ate for the first time, crawled for the first time, walked for the first time. He used to respond to Oshigompush & Gompuli, slept like an angel while listening to his aai's songs, took vaccines with slight resentment, created a ruckus when angry and behaved like a gentleman when needed. This birthday was the celebration of a day when you gave birth to a caring aai and a responsible Dadda. Thank you Baccha. Happy birthday.
Every month we waited for the 1st. Celebrating your monthly birthday was a cherished event. Now, that you are turning a year old, a grand celebration was in the offing. And the planning and preparations had started months ago.
After scouting a long list of venues and rejecting choices like DSF, ValaJanu and Sanjog, Status banquet at mahim was finalised. Familiarity, Quality and non-veg food. It ticked all our boxes. Aai and me personally went there to finalize things and pay advance. Once that was done a few things were left to be decided. Decorations, cake, guest list, menu, return gifts, datoli, clothes.......
Guest list had to be kept close to 100. With so many Kamats and Vengsarkars, it is always skewed towards my people. The list was almost similar to your naming ceremony's list, minus Vagdevi neighbours. Aai's friends were the new entrants.
I never hired any party decorator for any function as i rely on my own creativity and ingenuity (humility is my second name). For the caps, balloons, return gifts (camlin sets), we did not have to go beyond Anupam mega store. Datoli articles came mostly from Dmart. I had also hired a professional balloon decorator who did a splendid job on the day. (I had also made Priya mavshi to go all the way to Shivaji park to find a balloon decorator's number from a roadside tree, but did not hire that guy). The rest of the decoration included your photos. My first idea was to use your monthly birthday photos, but we were missing some and most of them had Aai in a nightgown. So, instead i decided to make a collage of your pics of every month and paste it on a calender. Getting all the pics from different sources, sorting them by month, selecting the best pics, creating a collage, getting it printed, pasting it on the calender pages. Thinking about it now while writing, i don't know how i managed it, but it went to the wire, almost till the previous night. Add to that, the 4 liner 'charoli' i thought about writing with reference to each collage. It almost went on till the morning of your big day. But, the success of it all made it very meaningful.
When we decided about the party, there was no theme as such. But them both your mavshis came up with the idea of a party gown. Aatu heard about the idea. Spontaneous decisions are what we siblings are known for. She went and bought a new gown. I declared on whattsapp groups that gowns and blazers will be appreciated. Guess what, aai backed out of wearing a gown and i did not get a blazer of my size. But, kudos to most of our cousins, many of them had dressed up in party gowns.
You may think your Dadda is gloating too much in this post, but credit for your datoli clothes and your party dress including the shoes is completely mine. When we failed to get anything from Growels, i went to Infiniti malad alone and bought it without asking aai. And were you looking good? Hay, mein saddke jawan.
Me and aai went up to Merwans in dadar for your cake (on the day of Vagdevi Satyanarayan Pooja). Instead of liking any, we returned back after buying chappals from Payal and eating sabudana wada from Prakash. Since we had Priya Mavshi's scooter at our helm, we decided to try some more stores. With Monginis, Celejor, Adarsh , The cake shop, in mind, we stopped our scooter at a newly opened cake shop 'cakes & more'. What we saw in the display window was love at first sight and that opinion was further etched in by the impressive owner of that shop. Cake shopping was done.
But, all these preparations were for the birthday party which was on the 5th of January. But, you were born on the 1st. That will be a special day for us always. For the rest of the world, it will be celebration of the beginning of a new year. For us, it will be celebration of the beginning of a new life. 31st night party was at our place, with most of the regular attendees. Fried starters, bombil, raan biryani along with drinks and card games was making the night enjoyable. But, all of us were waiting for the clock to strike 12 and when it did, everyone was wishing you happy birthday instead of the typical happy new year.
On the 1st, me and aai took you to cut cakes at pragati hospital and Indira IVF (Dr.Kanika made it really special for us). When we returned, others had decorated the house (with tapes still stuck to the wall). Aaba cut his cake first and then you cut yours. Food came from Uncle's corner. (There was so much leftover food, our fridge had a 'Vagdevi' look to it). The birthday was done, now to the party day.
On the 5th, Rohini Mavshi came early along with her daughter. We travelled in our car and others followed us in a taxi. We reached the hall, started the decorations. Everyone was chipping in. I had worn a custom made t-shirt. The guests started coming in and the hall was filled with people. Everyone wanted to meet you, hug you, kiss you and you were a sport. The datoli went in fine. it disturbed you a bit, but you were generally calm about it.
When you wore that pant, shirt and vest and walked through the hall, holding our hands with birthday music in the background, it was a moment to cherish forever. Though the plastic candle
caught flames, the rest of the cake cutting went on smooth. The green cake with a farm house theme, white fencing and yellow birds was a sight to behold.
You were enjoying the attention and adulation, the pecks on your cheeks and the gifts in your hands. (On the same evening, we opened up all the gifts as we were more excited tha you to check them out. We also called Vishwanath carpenter to make new shelves for your new toys). You also joined the rest of the kids playing with balloons. (There was a kido-romance between Devang and Anvita). While the kids were enjoying their games, the adults were enjoying the fabulous food.
I have seen many birthdays, where the child cries throughout the program, or messes their dress or throws a tantrum. You were completely the opposite. You seemed to like being the star of the show. And what a show it was. I think this is my longest post as of now and trust me, i have held myself back. I can go on and on.
Every year, we will celebrate your birthdays. You will grow up every year. There will be so many changes in your body, your features, your behaviour. But, this birthday was celebrating that year when a cute wonder of nature smiled for the first time, cried for the first time, ate for the first time, crawled for the first time, walked for the first time. He used to respond to Oshigompush & Gompuli, slept like an angel while listening to his aai's songs, took vaccines with slight resentment, created a ruckus when angry and behaved like a gentleman when needed. This birthday was the celebration of a day when you gave birth to a caring aai and a responsible Dadda. Thank you Baccha. Happy birthday.
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