Time flies - Turning 60 in 2022

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Birthday Text Message from daughter

The first thought that came to my mind is - Wow, I have turned 60. 

No, I did not experience any aches and pains, nor any morbid thoughts of mortality, or depressing thoughts of gone by youth. March 2, 2022 was as normal a day as any. Birthday started early with Jaya (and her friends) wishing me Happy Birthday by text!  At 12.20am!! 

Being that it was a working day, I got up at the regular time and started my work day as I would on any other day. Soon I started to hear from friends. Ana Barbas called from Lisbon, Alok and Nandini sent a text message, and Papa, mummy, Sachin, Sarla and others sent messages via Whatsapp. This year, I had a new well wisher - Pankhuri, Prateek's fiancé who also joined the crowd with her well wishes.  

Madhu made my favorite "Goond ka laddu" as my birthday sweet. Since pandemic hasn't yet abated and I continue to work from home, the entire day turned out to be one big celebration. During the day, the ladies planned to take me to A2B (Adiyar Anand Bhavan), for a birthday celebratory meal. It has become a ritual to celebrate my birthday with Shubhra and Dev's family. Even though Dev's birthday is on March 5 and we celebrate his birthday separately, I love it when I get to celebrate with Shubhra's little daughters Sarangi, Hemanshi and Nivanshi. First I had to pick up Arpeet who was taking the train from Jersey City to New Brunswick, and then pick up Jaya from her school at Rutgers. Then drive to A2B in Plainfield. It was a very special South Indian celebration.  Here are some pictures from the dinner...


This year was a bumper year for wine related gifts! First Shubhra and Dev gave me the gift of a wine opener, and later in the week Alok and Nandini gave me the gift of a wine bottle stopper and a wine goblet!



As I get into my "wine dinking" age, these gifts are likely to be very useful. My friends understand me so well!! Now comes the challenge of deciding what to do in the next chapter of my life. 

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