Chapter 2: Bharat’s Birthday celebration (Flashback)

Since today was Bharat's Birthday his mom had visited the temple for prayers for the blessing of her son and then prepared a homemade feast in the afternoon of ten different items by herself.

He had a hot bath and got refreshed after the journey from the mountains since he had gone to a picnic with his friends that morning and was made to sit for his afternoon Birthday lunch by his mom.

When he got on to the dining table he saw there were so many of his favorite items which were served namely Sukto (which is a kind of mild comforting stew packed with a variety of vegetables most notably potatoes, ladies finger, cauliflower, potol which is a kind of pointed gourd plant), Moong dal with dry fruits along with jhuri Alu bhaja which is French fries with plain rice (Moong dal here refers to skinned and split mung beans also known as petite yellow lentils), Kosha Dum Alu which is a delicious recipe of potatoes that are simmered in spicy tomato onion garlic and a yogurt gravy and Cholar dal which is a slightly sweet tasting dal made of chana dal with Karaisutir Kachuri which is a deep-fried, puffy bread, stuffed with a filling of mildly spiced, hing-infused green peas or 'koraishuti', Rui macher kalia which is a simply delicious Bengali fish curry prepared with Rui fish in simple spices with plain rice, chingri macher malaikari which is a prawn malai curry, is a Bengali curry made from tiger (bagda) and king prawns (chingri) and coconut milk and flavored with spices also with plain rice, fried rice with Mutton kasha and then he had the dessert the main dish in dessert was Payesh which is extremely a luscious dessert and is a creamy rice pudding delicately flavored with cardamom and filled with nuts like badam, pistachios etc giving an amazing color with inclusion of saffron strands which was also homemade by his mom and then the Bengali sweets like Rajbhog, Gulabjam, Nolen Gurer Sandesh and misti doi.

Though Bharat was not surprised, he was very excited and said: "Wow mom, so many of my favorite dishes you made, thanks I like all of them.

When he laid his eyes upon the food which was displayed in front of him he could not help but swallow his saliva though it was not surprising since every year on his birthday his mom would prepare such kind of homemade feast since it was kind of customary in a Bengali family to serve ten different kinds of food on a Birthday however he still look forward to this day that when it is going to be his birthday and to get a chance to enjoy such a feast.

His mom said lovingly: "Son, wait we have to first perform the blessing ritual with Dhaan (Which is a kind of grain like rice) and Dhruvva (which is a type of grass consisting of blades in odd numbers. This kind of grass has a cooling effect on the body and is said to have healing properties. Furthermore, it is believed that the Durva has the powers to draw energies as blessings)."

Then his mom kept a plate which was filled with a little bit of Dhaan, and Dhruvva and a bowl of chandan which was from the temple. So his mom put some Dhaan and Durva on Bharat's forehead, applied tilak and blessed her son saying: "O God Krishna please bless my son with happiness, success and good health so that he can live a good life."

Then his dad came and like his mom his dad also blessed Bharat in a similar fashion saying: "May God bless you with happiness, joy, peace and love."

After the blessing ritual was over they decided to start with their lunch.

Bharat said quite overwhelmingly: "Mom, although I would love to have all these dishes, I don't think I can eat this much".

His dad said jokingly: "Son you don't have to eat that much after all that has been displayed only to take some pictures to publish on social media websites to show the world in what a grand manner we celebrate our son's birthday."

Bharat said: "No that's not going to happen since I will have a little bit of everything after all this lunch is homemade by both of you with such tender love and care for me and I can feel it."

His mom said lovingly: "Son you can have as much as you want, eat all you can also remember there is a party in the evening so don't fall sick."

So the cute family of three Mother, Son and Father enjoyed their afternoon meal very much in peace and tranquility and Bharat was presented with a new Laptop for his Birthday.

His mom said warningly: "Though we have provided you this laptop now since from next year you will be in your class eleventh however promise us that you will only start using it after your Board exams are completed next month in March"

Bharat said thanking his parents: "Thank you so much for this. I loved it and I promise to use it after the exam gets over." then rested for the rest of the afternoon.

In the evening all his close friends Abhimanyu, Karthik, Aarav, Pallavi and his other classmates came to his place for the Birthday celebration.

His dad has ordered some food like chili chicken, Tandoori Roti, Mutton kasha and Biryani with sweets from the local restaurant for the party and there were party songs played to enjoy.

Then the cake cutting ceremony happened and the music was stopped for the ceremony.

Bharat's mom Mrs. Arundhati said "Children, let's gather for the cake cutting ceremony now."

All the children gathered around Bharat, his parents and the cake and everyone was ready for the cake cutting process to begin.

Aarav said excitedly: "Hmmm it seems like I can't wait for the cake to be cut."

Karthik said agreeing: "Yes I am just waiting for Bharat when he will cut the cake and when I will be able to taste the delicious cake."

After the cake was cut it was distributed among the kids and then the food was served. The party was over by 9 pm since it was a children's party and all went home after that.

From the next day onwards Bharat and all his friends started to prepare for the Board exam which was scheduled in the next month in March.

After around a month of study they finally gave their Board exam. Once the class tenth Board exams were over it was the day for the results to be collected.

So Bharat went with his dad Mr. Brahma to collect the score card.

Bharat said: "Dad I am a little nervous though I have studied hard. I know however there is still a feeling that I will not score good marks."

Brahma said: "Son, just chill now since you being nervous will not change the result now and you know in your heart that you have studied hard and your exams were good so you will score well. I have full faith in you. Also these successes and failures are a part and parcel of life so do not take it on heart."

Once they reached school they went straight away to Bharat's classroom to collect the score card. He had passed the exam with seventy percent marks which was considered to be above average so they were a bit relieved however not satisfied by the result and then went home.

For the next ten days Bharat and his friends spent their time enjoying themselves since the next session for class eleventh had not yet started and they were all free to do whatever they wanted and played all day.