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On a special day

I know none of you are particularly curious about a day in my life. But guess what? I’m going to tell you anyway.

So, if all is well, my morning starts with the waking call from Reji, reminding me that the actual alarm is ringing. He is not just my husband, but a human equivalent of an alarm. After hitting snooze (both on him and the alarm) three times, I finally drag myself out of bed.

Off to the toilet, brush my hair, slap some cream on my face, and then stumble into the kitchen—my kingdom of morning chaos. Leo, is waiting at the main door, probably cursing us in his head: "Open the door, you people! Nature is calling!"

Meanwhile, Reji, brews the coffee, serves me a cup and plants himself on the kitchen sofa. This is our usual time to crib about people, celebrate how amazing we are, talk about our children, lament the state of the world and feel better that Kerala is in good hands.

Oh, right—Leo is still outside. I peek out; there he is, glaring at me. Reji steps out to let Bella and Pogo out of the kennel for their morning rounds. He takes a short walk in our muttam while they do their business.

Tom still hasn’t woken up!!!.

The snoozing cycle repeats. "Tom, wake up!" Three rounds later, he finally stirs. By this time, I’ve managed to get breakfast and lunch packed. But Tom? He’s crawling through the morning, deliberately, as if his only goal is to trigger his father. Reji fumes: "I won’t drop you at the bus stop!" (A bluff, of course.) The real chaos begins when Reji actually starts his bullet. That’s when Tom suddenly sprints—straight out of the bathroom, uniform half-on, face unwashed, sunscreen in one hand, ID card and purse in another, frantically looking for his misplaced shoes. And yet, somehow, he makes it onto the bullet, with Reji still raging but ultimately waiting.

With Tom gone to school, I move on to waking up the second one—Charu. But she hardly cares. So, I take my chance to collapse onto the sofa for a breather. Reji returns and asks, "Charu up?"

"No."

"Ediiii Charuuuuu!" he yells.

Charu, utterly unfazed, shouts back: "Enaaa! Why are you creating so much of noise?" And with that, the morning duel begins. Door slams, banter flies, reminders about bathroom time are thrown in. Eventually, she emerges—a whole new person, cheerful, greeting us with a "Good morning!" (which none of us actually say, a tradition which she only practices).

By now, breakfast is done, bags are packed, and, of course, Reji is back on his bullet, roaring it up with a grrrr grrrr—his universal signal that someone is late.

But today isn’t just any day—it’s Reji’s birthday. We are terrible at surprises, so birthdays in this house look suspiciously like any other day. Today he woke up late. So that was my gift to him, allowing him to sleep some more time. When he woke me up, I casually wished him a Happy Birthday. He casually asked are there no gifts and I just returned a smile.

Tom wished and blessed him on his birthday. Sarah hasn’t wished him yet. She is unwell and still sleeping and time is 12 pm. And for this special occasion, I made Puttu with banana. My brain is always buzzing with grand ideas for surprises—but reality?

And that’s how we celebrated Reji’s birthday.

Happy birthday Reji šŸ˜Š

Nisha Kurian (O'Rodha)

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