A birthday to remember

Special date

The other thing that could make this day more special is if one’s birthday fell on it. On this occasion, Metrolife caught up with some people who have their birthday on this
day to find out whether they have anything special planned for it.

Raghu Dixit, Bangalore’s much-loved contemporary folk rock musician, is one of the lucky few who turns a year older on this date.

He had planned to celebrate his 37th birthday in Coorg at the 11/11/11 Storm Festival, a camp-out music extravaganza, which was recently postponed due to the rains.

With this unexpected change in plans, a quiet evening at home with his family seems to be the perfect way for him to mark this occasion.

He isn’t the only one who’s anticipating the 11th; Little Mohammed Mustafa Darbar, a first-standard student at Bethany High School, turns six this year and is eagerly waiting this doubly-special day. Ask him about the plans he has slated for Friday, and he is visibly excited. “My parents are going to throw me a big party at a hotel this year, so that I can remember it forever,” he says.

Not everyone, however, is planning on hosting grand extravaganzas to celebrate this occasion.

Sometimes, small get-togethers with family and friends can seem twice as special. Jordan J George, a student at St Vincent Palotti School, is lucky enough to turn seven this Friday.
His mother, Reena, wants to honour the occasion by throwing a small get-together in their apartment, so that he can celebrate his birthday with a few close friends and family.

“It’s such a coincidence that he happened to be born on this day, seven years ago — and that there’s such a huge hype about it this year,” she laughs.

And what about the slightly older birthday-boys? They seem to have pegged the evening as the perfect occasion to indulge in some raucous fun. Shwetabh Srijan, a web security developer, has planned out a high-energy, fun-filled birthday bash for the eleventh. Just to make the occasion a bit more entertaining, he’s organised a few special games related to the number 11.

“My friends and colleagues are coming over. I want to have a beer stampede, as well as some drinking games like finishing a beer in exactly 11 sips,” he describes. But that isn’t all. “I also plan to cut the cake exactly at 11:11:11 pm, and make a wish at that time, since it’s considered auspicious,” he concludes.