Ma's birthday

It's my mother's birthday tomorrow. I was planning a surprise party, but since my mother just wanted to know everything about everything, there's going to be no surprise. As for party, we've kept it for the weekend. So, as of right now, it's whatever show I can put up tonight and a family dinner tomorrow (where we will undoubtedly discuss the subject of endless familial hilarity - my brother.)

This is the plan for midnight, though. Go up to the terrace and cut the cake under the open sky and rhinestone stars and a winking moon. The terrace has become really pretty now - with cool, marble flooring, cane furniture and a glass table from my Bandra home.

I also got a humungous Chocolate Melange cake from Costa. That's the best I could do. It didn't occur to me to order a fancy cake yesterday. I was floundering about what to get, when I thought of Costa (I am always thinking of Costa, by the way). So, I just went and bought over a whole cake.

At one point, I considered buying 6 muffins - a single banana muffin to put in the centre, surrounded by five dark, chocolate ones. But the Melange looked nice and whole and also, well, traditional. The last bit holds a bit of favour for my mum.

Next, I had to come home and look for candles. Now I don't understand what we store gazillion fancy candles for. There are thick, white ones with delicate spidery scrawlings in silver, there are plum-colored votives, there are long, elegant black ones, there are squat, cheery yellow ones, there are blue ones and pink ones, there are ones that float and ones that smell of cinnamon and raisin, there are brown ones that look like hunks of chiselled chocolate, and some that can be mistaken for fancy organic soaps.

My point is that they all have wicks. So, they all can burn. But we won't let them because, like my mother says, "What if we need them later?" (A period in time that seems to lie beyond the purview of humanly understood infinity.)

Now, I didn't want to start an argument with my mother for planning, well, her birthday...but it's just so exasperating! And this is even before I started angling for the candle-holders. But there's nothing a little bullish resistance won't do. So I just trawled through the drawers and pulled out a couple of nice, silver candelabras. Of course, in the background, I did have to put up with some comments on my Mongolian warrior hairstyle and didn't I know that a comb had been invented yet? And why was I wearing a skirt with a slip that looked so geriatric, etc. etc.

But you let go of the smaller battles to win the final war. So I just polished the candle-holders and put them aside. I was going to take out something pretty for Mum to wear when I turn around to a sweet, soft noise. Noise that went 'zzz!'

So now, Ma's dozing off! Shoot!

Making your mother feel special on her birthday shouldn't be so goddamn hard!