FLASHBACK BIRTHDAYS

Birthdays are a reason to celebrate the miracle that is life… As hostelites we don’t usually get to celebrate birthday with family but friends more than compensate for that. The four most memorable birthdays were this semester. It brought all of us all the more close… and of course, the gifts… hehe…

The first birthday of the year was Nasa’s birthday on Jan 2. We could not do much because we were all in different places. Me in Bangalore, Anfield, Faffu and so many more in Chennai and Nasa himself in Mysore. So we all called and wished him that is all. When we got back Anfield and I made a little plan to surprise him. We went to Clementi at 6 pm after my Discrete lecture and his C in S lecture and told him that I had to go to NTUC and buy some settling-in stuff. As per the plan, Anfield would take him to have his favourite Cheese Fries at KFC and I would ‘go to NTUC’ while I would actually buy the cake. My heart a ached to see these two go have Cheese Fries. That story seemed so fake… “i dont want to eat 'that' high calorie stuff”. Ah never mind. So i made my way to the cake store. On the way, i thought that he would get suspicious if I carry a cake while shopping so I had a bright idea. I called him and told him that i was not shopping in NTUC but getting a cake for Anfield, cos it was his girlfriend's birthday the next day and the cake would make him miss her less. HE BELIEVED THAT!!! So all was set and the next day Anfiled, Fafu, Anu and I went to Nasa's room with cake, Coke and Lays.We broke the surprise to him and he was touched! Saw the surprise on his face, and felt glad that we did this for him! Nasa, so you think only you can surp-rise, think again!!! Rock on, DUDE :P!!

:D :D :D … u should have guessed, my birthday!!!It was Jan 26. It was around dinner time, so I called on my dear friend Magesu for our dinner ritual. He said he was at cricket practice and that he may come late, so I should carry on with dinner. I said I would wait because I wasn’t really hungry. So waited and waited till 10:30 pm, then started on dinner. He later joined me. I found out after the micro- mini- sabo that he, Anu and Nasa had gone to Mustafa to buy my gift!It was 0000 hrs. My parents were on the phone as i made my way to the barbeque pit. Saw all my friends and was so excited, my first birthday at Singapore!!! Saw my cake and the chocolate on it and was drooling but I had to wait, it was my birthday cake after all! Cut the cake and everything, then started the cream on my face and hair. Then came coke and Carlsberg. Next came a disgusting mixture of rotten eggs, rose water, milo powder and water I think, I don’t know, all I know was it was GROSSSS!! I was resigned to my state of mess. Then came the gifts. I got an iPod from these people!! I remember when we had gone to Mustafa I mentioned to Nasa that I would buy an iPod this semester. He remembered... that adorable sweetheart!!! I got an amazing Green Day Live in Concert DVD from Gans and Vector!!! Anewsha, Macho Girl and Suk gave me two jewellery boxes. And this was the weirdest, but a thoughtful(;-)) gift, a book titled ' How to have an orgasm as often as you want' from Shree and Suruchi! Arushi gave me a lovely book made of handmade paper, in which she had written little thoughts for me. I felt wonderful to have such amazing people around me, it was probably top on my best days at NUS. I love you guys!!!

Next was Anfield’s bday. On Jan 30, Gyan, Anu, Sri and I went to Mustafa to buy stuff for Anfield's bday. It was the Chinese New Year weekend (Singapore shuts down), and there were no shops open except the great Mustafa. So we went there, and bought the ingredients to make his favourite pasta. What would we do about the cake? Gyan now volunteered to bake a cake for Anfield. It was 8 30 pm and Anu, Sri and I argued that we would not have enough time and we put a sponge cake in our shopping basket, but (sigh) would Gyan listen, NO!!! He was determined to bake a cake for Anfield. So he bought all the ingredients, we bought some chocolate icing and chocolate chips to dress the drab sponge cake up , just in case Gyan was not able to complete his cake in time. So we finished shopping for his gift- a FasTrack watch and a Davidoff Cool Water perfume, had dinner and by this time it was 10 pm. Now the biggest problem around Mustafa is getting a cab. It was 11 pm when we got back to campus. I started on the pasta immediately. Gyan started on his cake, while Anu and Sri resigned to the time constraint started decorating the sponge cake. I had almost finished the white sauce and was adding corn kernels to the sauce when Gyan without looking walked into the handle of the saucepan and all the white sauce went crashing down. He went," I am so sorry Puttas, shit, oh man so so so so sorry." I was laughing at the situation and decided that I would cook later for him and give him his treat also later. So I started helping Anu and Sri. It was about 11: 50 pm when Nasa and I went to Anfield's room to escort him to his sabo. The rest came with the cake. At 0000 hrs he was saboed, I must say pretty badly with rotten chutney and sambar and loads and loads of kicks. After which we took him to the lounge. The pasta was to be a surprise for Anfield, but Faffu didnt let it remain one. Gyan was furious and gave her a stare that said," I am in the Italian mafia, remind me to give you a red rose and kill you!!!" Anfield gave me a look which said," You think i would not have figured out, hehe you guys rox!" Anyway we went back made the best pasta and cake ever, atleast Anfield claimed so. The new cake however was a surprise for him and the look on his face when he saw it and ate it was magical. It was his 18th birthday and he loved it. We did the best we could on this Chinese New Year weekend,dude, hopefully you enjoyed it. He enjoyed his cyber date wid Nisha, after this with pasta and apple juice. I was so tired by the end of it all, but enjoyed every minute of contributing to make his day as he had done for me. But the real star of this all was GYAN the Great! What a cake that was!!! Amazing!!! And what determination, Gyan you realllllly roxxxxx!!!

It was Magesu’s birthday on April 27, on which day we had two crazy final exams, C++ and Critical Thinking and Writing. So we didn’t have the sabo that night. So after all the exams on 29 April, we had Magesu's sabo. Though i couldnt contribute much to the planning of the entire thing, I had awesome fun at the sabo. The best was when Magesu was screaming out in Tamil about his posterior paining while being saboed. It was too funny!! We gifted him a Citizen watch which he loved. After the security guards came and cleared us out, Anu, Anfield, Magesu and I sat talking at the stairs. Magesu and Anfield started on their fantastic imitation of his teachers and that is when I had a bright idea. We recorded his and Anfield's imitation of their teachers on camera. It was hilarious, and had us cracking up big time. Their 12 A imitations are simply the best.

29 April was the first of the last few days of our first year at NUS and as the four of us sat reminiscing our best moments there, I realized that friends are the best gift to life, they pull you up when you are feeling down, and bring you back to earth when you are flying too high in the sky. I am fortunate to have such wonderful friends and may i add they are all fortunate to have me :P This is a tribute to all those fantabulous people who made my life brilliant, whether it was debating about Buffaloes wearing bras on the first day at NUS at an orientation session or just sitting around talking into the wee hours of the morning. Looking forward to another great year!!! ROCK ON \m/