Birthday traditions

Kaushik

So, I might have mentioned this before, but I wanted to retell the traditions that occur here with regards to celebrating someones birthday.  Most recently was Kaushik's birthday.  It starts at midnight the day you were born regardless of the time you came into the world.  So, there is cake and celebrations.  The birthday boy (in this case) not only has the people come to his room to celebrate but he will be on the phone almost constantly with people wishing him a happy birthday.  

Samuel's birthday

If you are asleep (like Samuel was on his birthday) you will be woken up and there will still be cake and celebrations (though shortened).  The party is more for everyone else rather than the birthday person - so, typically it is the responsibility of the birthday person to "host" the event.  To provide food and entertainment, (this is no different than our types of parties).  So, there was cake and chips and soda and lots of people came, milled around until the cake was cut.

Kaushik's cake - YUM!

Cutting of the Cake
So the birthday boy cuts the cake and then traditionally, they are to take a piece of cake and feed people.  I am a little confused as to who is supposed to be fed - like is it your closest friends? or is it everyone in the group? or is it just the people that happen to be close to you that you get a chance to feed before you are attacked?  It seems to vary by party and by personal effort.  Once you begin feeding people it is then their responsibility to smear cake on your face/head/body.  To me the cake could be a couple of things:

1. its a super powerful drug that turns the victim into a sugar crazed monster that must destroy all.  Thus taking its energies out on the cake and the delivery boy.
or
2. it is a gift of peace from the birthday boy who is basically saying "here - take this food from my fingers as an offering of thanks for being my friend for the past year".  It is then the response of the friend to say - "no, Thank you... here let me smear you with love"
or
3. A very tame food fight with a focal target.

Here - have some love

Basically, the birthday boy walks around feeding each person and getting more and more messy depending on the enthusiasm of the friends.  You could be covered in cake, chips, soda, water, what ever.  No birthday person leaves clean - wear not so nice clothing!!!

After the cake has been decimated - and really why bother cutting it when everyone just digs in with fingers???? it is still passed around and eaten in finger bites.

Birthday bumps for Kaushik

After cake come the birthday bumps.  (The cake has now given super powers of strength and agility).  They lift the birthday boy off the ground and proceed to kick him for as many years as he has been alive....OR if they respect you OR if you weigh too much - they just give you a couple of "bumps".  I prefer to think that when I got my bumps, it was out of respect they didn't do all 28 (wink) for me...not because I tower over 60% of the people here and am gargantuan in general.

milling around waiting for food

So, people then mill around for a bit and drift off back to their respective evenings (mostly sleep since it is now ~1am).  THEN, comes the real party.  Again, hosted by the birthday boy. 

 

Amit treated everyone to Lhasa

Dancing

Here you provide dinner of some sort (either take people out to dinner like Amit did or provide food like Kaushik did).  We had some very lovely chicken and excellent paneer.  It took a bit of persuasion but eventually people began dancing too.  It was a very lovely evening.

More dancing