Happe birthday !!

It's that time of the year again. Last year was very special, because this time around, then, our blog itself was born. So, this year, Licence Era turned 1 besides Kabir who turned 4 and little Krishi who stepped into his 3rd year. This time, we hosted a party at the Indian Trail beach (Click Here for an aerial view). While driving aimlessly on the hilly roads of the nearby 'Lake in the hills,' mostly reminiscing Doon, we had stumbled upon this beauty. For several of our neighbor guests, it was a startling discovery. First of its kind in our group, the party became a major hit. Weather fully co-operated, and except for a few wandering clouds, it remained sunny with mild temps. Little kids refused to get out of nice, cool water, and big kids indulged in sand castle competetion. It was surprising to see how much creativity these guys had. It reminded me of our Janmashtmi days when we would model Krishna Bhagwaan's birth.

One of the creative creations by the Sharma sisters

While mango lussy turned out to an ideal starter for the warm afternoon, samosa-chole chaat was an ideal companion. That was followed by ladies serving pani puri in a road-side stall style that guests devoured. Beach party without a volleyball game would be incomplete; so gents descended on the court and enjoyed several good games.

Kicking off Volleyball, that's me.

Kabir and Krishi's wait came to an end with the cake cutting, with relite candles giving them hard time and their lungs good excercise trying to blow them. Krishi really enjoyed cutting the cake while Kabir grabbed the toy cars off the cake, and dug in with both hands.

Happy Birthday, kids!!

The cake cutting was immediately followed by royal lunch, prepared with lots of heart by Manisha, along with a small delivery from Pizza Hut, my favorite for more than 10 years, even though the new Dominos' multi cheese thin crust is getting very hard to resist.

Pav-Bhaji and Tamarind rice, two of the lunch entrees

Some of the lot then went paddle boating following their own shadows in the lake water shining like gold in the late afternoon sun. We had the beach booked until 6 pm, and even though we never expected the party to go beyond 4, when we pulled away from the beach, it was almost 6, with the lifeguards wrapping up and calling it a day. The party ended with nice, cold siwayeian as dessert, what some called Ganesh Chaturthi while others called Eid celebration.