And then in the early hours of 1st April, another friend/college-mate calls up to wish. I was fast asleep on the train to Kerala and took the call thinking it is already early morning, but it seems he waited for midnight just so that he can wish me the moment the calendar moved to 1st April. This guy is not really into email/Facebook etc, but has almost never forgets any birthdays - can't say this about myself instead of having reminders set on my laptop, phone etc etc.
I am received at the station by Sheena & Aman. Since my Dad had gone to Cochin to check on his cousin who had just had a bypass surgery, Sheena had taken on the task of picking me up. Aman shyly hands me the Birthday Card that he had made himself (with quite some guidance from Sheena), including the cover which was not only made from an A4 sheet but was also painted by him. Was overwhelmed seeing the effort he had taken.
The painted cover on the left and the front of the card : 
The inside of the card - which Dad would not like to be called the best ? 
As has been the norm for the last couple of years, I was expecting a book as gift from Sheena, usually a novel by one of the famous Malayalam authors. But this time around, she surprised me by gifting me a Louis Philippe 'Gods & Kings' formal white shirt. These are obscenely priced (by my standards atleast) and I would not buy one for myself.
But in her case, it seems there was another reason to go for this shirt, which goes to show how women might forgive but never forget. :-) Just after our marriage and on her maiden visit to Chennai, she had by mistake stuffed a wet towel into my bag, which resulted in a favourite white Park Avenue shirt of mine getting those dark damp spots, which never went off. I believe I gave her a mouthful then and looks like she was on the lookout for a similar shirt to replace my favourite. And when she saw this shirt with the same looks/texture, she had to get it, money be damned.
All in all, All Fools day turned out to be more interesting than I could imagine.
