BIRTHDAY BOY
Not even the sun on his face, waking him up at 7 in the morning, could dampen Kunj's spirits as he awoke on the day of his birthday.
He emerged from his shower and looked around the room, wondering where Twinkle was, knowing that she'd remember what day it was.
As if she had heard his thoughts, Twinkle hurried into the room and began rummaging through her cupboard.
"Good morning, Twinkle," Kunj said, a smile in his voice, waiting for her to wish him.
"Hmm?" She glanced at him, then gave him a quick smile before returning to the cupboard. "'Morning, Kunj."
Kunj waited, watching her mutter to herself. He was getting rather impatient waiting for Twinkle to wish him, so he decided to prompt her along. "Twinkle, tumhe pata hai ki aaj kaunsa din hai?"
Twinkle paused. She looked at him. "Thursday?"
Kunj rolled his eyes. Boy, was she slow. "Aur'?"
She turned to look at him, leaning against the cupboard, frowning. "Kunj, please tell me what day it is? Mujhe kaam hai."
Kunj pouted. "Chodo. Agar tumhe pata nahi toh mai tumhe nahi bataunga."
Twinkle rolled his eyes. She returned her attention to the cupboard, hiding a smile. "Theek hai. Tumhari marzi."
Nikki's voice drifted into their room, calling out for Twinkle.
"Ji, Bhabhi, mai aa rahi hu!" She finally found what she was looking for, and left the room.
Kunj sulked, folding up his sleeves. How could Twinkle not remember that it was his birthday?
Well, even if Twinkle didn't remember, he knew Anand Bhaiya would remember.
With that thought in mind, he left his room, heading for Anand's room.
Anand didn't understand why he could never find his briefcase. He always, always kept it on his bed when he came home, yet it was never there in the morning. Where did Nikki keep it?
"Nikki!" he called, desperate. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked around his room again. "Nikki!"
Instead of Nikki, though, his younger brother came into the room, whistling.
"Good morning, Bhaiya!" he smiled, sitting down on Anand's bed.
"Kunj, tumne Nikki ko kahi dekha hai kya?" Anand asked.
Kunj stared at his brother, wondering if he was kidding. "Nahi," he said slowly. "Lekin unhone Twinkle ko bulaya tha abhi thodi der pehle, does that help?"
Anand sighed heavily. "Yeh Nikki bhi na. Jaane kaha par mera briefcase rakhti hai, aur phir subah ko pata nahi kahaa chali jati hai!" he muttered to himself.
Kunj raised an eyebrow, sighing silently. "Anand Bhaiya, aaj kaunsa din hai?"
Anand turned to Kunj, annoyed. "Mujhe kaise pata? Shayad Thursday ya Friday hoga."
Kunj stared incredulously at Anand. "Aapko bhi yaad nahi?"
Anand frowned. "Kya yaad nahi?"
Kunj stormed out of the room. "Forget it!"
As he left, Anand allowed himself a smile.
Muttering to himself, Kunj found himself in his parents' room. His eyes lit up; they would remember! They had to remember that it was his birthday. So he went into their room, hoping that one of them would wish him.
But Usha was bustling around the room, looking for something or the other, while Manohar was absorbed in his paper.
"Good morning, Maa, good morning, Papa!" he said, announcing his presence.
Usha paused briefly. "Kya tumne meri black diary dekhi hai?" she asked.
Manohar glanced up from his paper briefly and muttered a good morning, before returning his attention to the paper.
"Aap sab ko kya ho gaya hai?" Kunj asked, appalled. Had everybody seriously forgotten that it was his birthday today?
Twinkle took the cake out of the oven.
"Dhyaan se," Nikki cautioned.
Twinkle nodded as she set the chocolate cake down on the counter.
"Frosting tayaar hai?" she asked Bebe, who pushed a large bowl towards her.
Twinkle grabbed the bowl and, despite the uncooled cake, began frosting it.
"Twinkle puttar, jaldi karo, theek hai? Kunj breakfast par aata hi hoga!" Bebe told her.
Twinkle nodded again, smothering the cake haphazardly with the chocolate frosting.
"Pata hai, Kunj ko lagta hai ki hum sab uska birthday bhool gaye!" Anand informed them as he hurried into the kitchen. He hugged his wife from the back as she pushed him away, needing to focus on the birthday waffles.
"That's what we wanted to do, Anand," Bebe reminded him. "Now make yourself useful and bring Kunj out."
Nodding, Anand left the kitchen again.
Bebe took a deep breath. "All right, ladies, we have two minutes to get everything out onto the dining table before Kunj comes in, so let's go, chop chop!"
Nikki grabbed the birthday waffles and half-ran out of the kitchen. Bebe took a bottle of juice out of the fridge and quickly poured it into a glass, then followed Nikki outside. Twinkle was getting more and more nervous as she hurried to frost the cake. Then she gave up: she poured the entire bowl of frosting over the cake and smeared it down the sides. Then she grabbed the cake and left the kitchen.
Realizing she had forgotten the candles, Twinkle groaned and returned to the kitchen.
"Bhaiya, mujhe breakfast nahi khana hai! Mujhe office mein bauhat kaam hai," Kunj whined as Anand dragged him to the dining room.
Anand rolled his eyes. "Ab zidd karna band bhi karo, Kunj, aur chup-chaap bahaar chalo."
Kunj groaned. Right now, he wasn't in the mood to face the rest of his family. All he wanted to do was go to work and pretend that it wasn't his birthday. After all, everyone was acting like it wasn't.
The family was gathered around the dining table, tucking into waffles and juice, with a brown cake sitting in the middle of the table.
Wait' Waffles and cake?
Kunj grinned as he realized the family hadn't forgotten after all.
As Kunj and Anand walked in, the family fell silent. Then in unison they burst into song.
"Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to Kunj
Happy birthday to you!"
Kunj grinned as Twinkle handed him the knife, and he sliced the cake.
It was fun having cake for breakfast, except that it transformed Ishaan into an extremely hyperactive kid. Bebe was now desperately trying to tame him and bundle him into his school uniform. Nikki was finally helping Anand find his briefcase, Usha was cleaning up in the kitchen and Manohar was answering a phone call from Surjeet, who was in Canada for a business conference.
That left Twinkle and Kunj. Kunj was eating his third piece of cake (everyone else ' with the exception of the Ishaan ' had gotten sick of it by their one-and-a-half-th piece) and Twinkle was clearing up the table.
"Twinkle, ye cake na, itna meetha nahi hai," Kunj commented.
Twinkle frowned. "Kyu? Mujhe toh meetha laga."
Kunj gave his cheeky smile again, and Twinkle felt herself blush. "Baat kya hai na, banane wali itni meethi hai, ki usne cake ka thoda sweetness chura liya."
Twinkle rolled her eyes. "Tum bhi na." She stacked a few plates and began to carry them into the kitchen.
Kunj laughed. He grabbed Twinkle as she passed, causing her to nearly drop the plates. She glared at him, but he ignored it. "Toh bataao, mera present kaha hai?"
Twinkle frowned again, this time in deep thought. She set the plates down, next to the remnants of Kunj's cake. "Tumhara'present?"
Kunj stood up. "Haa, mera present."
Twinkle glanced around. She smiled sheepishly. "Woh'Kunj'baat kya hai na'" Her hand darted out and scooped some frosting, which she smeared onto Kunj's cheek.
Kunj stared at her, surprised that Twinkle had done that.
Twinkle laughed. Taking advantage of Kunj's momentary shock, she pulled her arm away and ran.
As she did, Kunj's shock turned into amusement. He grabbed a piece of cake and chased after her. "Main tujhe chodunga nahi, Twinkle! Ruk tu. Abhi batata hu tujhe."
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