Birthday Surprises – the New Normal in COVID Times

With a nationwide lockdown in place and a birthday round the corner, our creative juices were bound to flow to make it a special day. Personally, I am not someone who is excited about her own birthday. But, birthdays of loved ones get my adrenaline rushing like nothing else.

And then, the year 2020 changed it all.

The last year has been very different from the rest of our lives so far. It almost feels like a reset button which life has involuntarily turned on. New set of rules, new way of life – and we just have to adjust and fall in line. Initially, the mindset was slightly delusional. We obviously thought that everything would be fine in a month or two. Little did we realise back then, that life had different plans for us. This virus was here to stay for a while. Yes, it took some time to understand and accept the gravity of the virus scare. After all, we were still learning new terms like ‘social distancing’, ‘quarantine’, ‘containment zone’, ’lockdown’ and what not!

Amidst the surging cases of the pandemic and not even a faint glimmer of hope for case reductions anytime soon, we were bound to adapt to the new normal. Life had to get back to normal in a new way now. Then, came the birthdays! I am sure many fancy, lavish and surprise birthday plans might have flopped due to the sudden lockdown imposed. But who knew that we would get to witness such warm and creative birthdays in the last year?

Today, I am jotting down some beautiful and warm stories on birthday celebrations in the 2020 pandemic :

Long-Distance Birthdays

With the travel restrictions and lockdowns, many of us were kind of stuck where we are. During that phase, even I had begun to realise that my plans were about to fall apart. No matter how hard I tried, I would not be able to celebrate my husband’s birthday together. He was still in the USA and figuring out the heavily restricted international travel back then.

Well, this was not the first time when we were in different countries at a particular time. We had stayed apart even before and often touted as ‘the quintessential long-distance couple’ by friends. It was a way of life that we chose for our respective careers, and had even built a routine of sorts around it. The truth is we missed celebrating few important days together and it hurt a bit. But then, we dealt with it in our own way and not to forget, there were countless butterflies in the tummy whenever we met.

We were strong, our marriage was stronger and the rest was just ‘kuch toh log kahenge, logon ka karma hai kehna’.

But the year 2020 felt different. Everything was uncertain. Every person was a potential carrier of the virus. Every place was possibly infected. Travel was never as stressful as the pandemic year. So, this year, the best advice for survival was to – stay at home. And that’s exactly what we did. Basically, we stay put wherever we were.

We had a long video call on his birthday and spoke endlessly about how the last decade had passed. We laughed at the silliest fights and cried at the airport goodbyes. Then he had his favourite biryani and I enjoyed my favourite sweet. There were no birthday gifts, only virtual hugs. But emotionally, it was the closest we felt together. Probably, it was best birthday ever.

Virtual Zoom Meetings

One platform which became significantly popular in the initial days of the lockdown was – ZOOM. All thanks to this video-conferencing application, we got to see a thousand posts on social media with people peeking from multiple newsroom kind of windows, in a single screen. Yes, video conference calls were such a thing back then. And celebrating birthdays over a video conference call was such a fad!

I remember watching a video wherein the friends were actually holding a placard of each letter of the phrase – HAPPY BIRTHDAY – in each window of the video conference call. And they were singing songs aloud like happy high teenagers. They were 40-something adults and were living it up in a new way.

I am sure this would be the most unforgettable birthday of a lifetime for that lucky friend of theirs.

Fancy Home-Baked Cakes

So, my brother was an amateurish cook before the pandemic. And this was not because he lacked expertise or intent but because of a dearth of leisure time amidst his hectic work travels. Moreover he is slightly lazy that way. But that’s a different story altogether.

Today, I am reminiscing about the day he actually amazed me with his culinary skills. It was my sister-in-law’s birthday and their travel plans to celebrate were already dampened by the pandemic travel restrictions. So, this little one of mine decided to give all his efforts to make her day extra special. He got down to some serious business of exploring baking recipes on Youtube and the end result was out of the world. Procuring all the raw materials and baking a delicious chocolate cake right from scratch was nothing new, but it was something he had never tried before. His efforts were commendable to say the least. I mean, he even took care of the icing and make it look like the perfect birthday cake ever.

I am pretty sure that he would have given reputed bakeries a run for their money.

Love and a pandemic makes you do what not!

Restaurant-Style Meals Cooked at Home

We all know how badly we have missed dining out, in the last year. Forget about the revenue side of things, the hunger of our souls was not satiated. How could Indians manage without dining out and especially on special occasions?

It was never only about the food after all. It was all about the combination of a beautiful company, the beautiful ambience and the delectable food of course.

And look at what the pandemic made us do. I remember having every single dish, freshly cooked at home, no matter how fancy it seemed earlier. I have to mention this – homemade puchkas (golgappas or gupchups) had never tasted this awesome before. It was getting difficult to catch up with social media and dalgona coffees had become the topmost trend in the country. And during birthdays, the dishes churned out of that kitchen even got global. Fancy cakes, coffees, pastries, Indian street foods, Mexican salsas, Mediterranean kebabs, wraps, biryanis and what not – you name it, we have done it all.

It definitely took a lot of effort in the kitchen. But we could do it. Guess, everything is doable. The pandemic taught us this way of life too.

New Birthday Gift Ideas

More than anything else, the one major positive outcome of the pandemic year is – we have cut down on unnecessary purchases and saved a lot in 2020.

I remember how Amazon had stopped delivering books for a while and how badly I missed it. It felt like I had all the time in the world and my heart yearned for new books. Well, I am slightly old-school that way. I still prefer reading paper-based books, instead of online e-books.

I am glad that the delivery got restored soon. And the next thing that I know is – my brother had ordered all my wish-listed books on Amazon in one go for my birthday. I chided him for such reckless online ordering. But, what else could I ask for! This had to be the best birthday gift ever.

By the way, pyjamas are a close second in the ranking of purchases / gifts received in the pandemic year.

Hometown-Special Birthdays

This might be the most underrated joy of the pandemic year, but definitely the most special one. With our busy work lives, we have drifted to different cities. It had been ages since we had simple birthdays with family. And for me, this is by far the most special one of my life.

It was a full house and my besties were also back in town. So, what more could I ask for?

There were no fancy cakes or dine-outs or parties. I had all my special people around me on my birthday. Mom and Dad arranged and cooked my favourite dishes and we all sat down to have a sumptuous lunch. The house was roaring with laughter and mad jokes. Then later in the evening, the bestie came over to pick me up for a random long drive. Instead, four of us hopped in with her. What a beautiful end to the day!

There’s another endearing birthday story from my hometown this year. Among my tribe of childhood friends, 3 of us call ourselves the ‘Leo-Trio’ because we are August-borns. I had always dreamt of celebrating a common August birthday with both of them, but somehow the plan could never materialise. But this year, it happened. Finally! With masks on and without entering each other’s house, we celebrated the Leo-Trio’s birthday in front of the gate entrance of one of our homes (literally on the road).

This beautiful memory will stay with me forever!

So, how did you spend your birthday in the pandemic year? Drop me a note on your experiences too, in the comments section.