Jispa celebrated her tenth birthday on the 31st
of the month. Tenth birthday. It should be a big event. When Jispa was a year
old, Jasmine and I took a call not to celebrate her birthday. She would be too
young to really enjoy it. We see all the parents celebrating the first birthday
with a big party. The kid is typically tired at the end of it all and what do
you really expect a one year old to feel about it. Besides getting red check by
being manhandled, there is nothing really for the child. So we just decided to
give it the skip. After that we have had smallish parties for Jispa on her
birthdays. A few core friends, sometimes a few more than that, but never done
it on a large grand scale.
What’s a large grand scale? Well. The other parties that
Jispa gets invited to are a good benchmark. Ever since she started going to
school, she has been invited to big parties. Typically done at a function hall
or an open garden. You call at least 50 odd kids, then the parents come with
them, and then you have catering for a 100 guests, then you call in the party
organizers who come in and decorate the place, and have various stalls, like
face painters, tattoo (paint) artists, games etc. then you have a DJ for the
music, a sound system, possibly an air castle, then a guy who will make the
kids play various games, prizes and the last – return gifts. You could end up
spending anywhere between 100,000 rupees to 300,000 rupees. That’s a pretty
tidy sum for a birthday party.
Jasmine and I never did feel like doing that. What we told
Jispa is that – you call in your core friends and we could take them for lunch
or dinner, possibly play a few games etc … but we also made a pact with her.
her tenth birthday party would be however she likes it to be. As big as she
wants it to be. So a month back, we asked her what kind of party she liked. The
thing is that after the initial couple of years of parties, the kids are now
basically bored of any party. They go in, run around and then just hang around
on their own. They don’t want to play games too much, they eat a bit, throw a
little cake around and done. Jispa also gets bored at these parties. A classic
case of over exposure or over stimulation. They are bored stiff and Jispa said
she doesn’t want a party. Aww. Ok. But Jasmine and I were not happy. Jispa has
been the sweetest kid ever. She never complained about not having a party, or
about having a small party or calling only a selected friend circle. Two years
back we took her friends and gang to a garden and made them play, last year
they were at home… but she never complained
and she was always happy. So Jasmine and I really wanted her tenth birthday to
be nice.
So how do we make it special? Jispa clearly did want a big party so that
was out of the question. We asked her if she would have a party at the gymkhana
where she trains. Ok, but she wanted a pool party. Hanging around the pool with
kids. Fine, but then I will get the kids and make them play games – is that ok?
I insisted on making the kids play games. Jispa was game for that as well. So
the plan was set, pool party with daddy as the games guy with lunch at the
gymkhana. The majority of her invites were her pool buddies with a few school
friends who could swim also joining the gang. Another close friend of Jispa’s
who birthday was around, joined in to have a combined party thrown.
So last Saturday we invited them all and we had 24 odd kids
in the pool splashing around. I take great pride in not requiring a games guy.
Why the hell do you need a games guy. What am I there for? I think only boring old lazy fellas need to
hire a games organizer. I can do whatever he can do and have more fun. So what
do you play in the pool. The coin game is start point. You throw a coin and
retrieve it. That’s a start. So let’s start building on it. So Jasmine got
coins of different denominations and we started playing. First put them into
three teams then get two parent volunteers and start the game. First one is
retrieving one coin that’s in, then a specific coin of the two denominations
that are in, then three different coins, then a combination, thena total, and then all… the volunteers kept
throwing different coins at different intervals. Played in the shallow end, the
result was one hour of complete entertainment.
They came out for cake cutting and lunch and the party ended
with the kids having a blast. The mothers who were around acted like captains
of the teams and they too had a blast. And the net cost – negligible. Less than
the cost of sending invites to a fancy party. Possibly less than the cost of
designing an invite to a fancy party. And this got even the over stimulated
kids excited and roaring for more. And physically fun as well.
Uncle Jaimit never felt this good. At the end it was a high
five for Jasmine and me. This is the typical partnership we work with. I dream
up stuff and Jasmine helps bring structure and helps me execute. I control the
game and Jasmine works quietly in the back end. Keeping all the other things
ready and in control. It’s been like that since college days. And Jispa got a
party she deserved. Awesome fun.
Here is the pic of me with the kids. I love this one. Just look
at me. I am beaming. I was so happy that day and for a few days following.
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