May 16, 2026…
Krishnan’s birthday was difficult this year. I had plans of spending the whole day at OshoDham but the front door lock jamming on May 15th ensured I couldn’t go. I didn’t fly off the handle as I normally would have… my whole world has gone up in smoke, what’s the big deal about a day’s plan going awry.
It seemed as though I was being told to celebrate Krishnan’s birthday at home with friends and not go away all by myself. So that’s what I did. Krishnan had indicated the saree that I should wear. It’s a multi-colour silk cotton saree that we bought from the Sirumugai weaving cluster near Coimbatore last year.
Morning food was ordered from Bikanervala – Amma and my favourites assuming Krishnan was giving the treat. Rajesh, Seema, Manish and Swati dropped in, later in the afternoon because I had to attend Osho’s White Robe Brotherhood aka the Sandhya Satsang online in the evening. Coffee, samosa, dosa, ice cream etc made up the afternoon celebration.
I have had no desire to be photographed since Jan 23rd….. because every time someone tries to click a picture, it reminds me that there will never again be a photo of us together in this lifetime. That’s hard to accept. For 36 years I have worn a new saree on Krishnan’s birthday, and clicked a picture with him. I wore a new saree this year too …. and used AI to recreate the one photo that cannot happen in reality.
I tried using Canva AI and it paired me with different men wearing a dark blue shirt. Utterly frustrated, I was about to give up when suddenly I tried Chat GPT and the above pic is the first result.
Showed the picture to Amma and she thought it was a photo that we had taken when Krishnan was around. I then told her that this was Krishnan’s pic from ten years back. I couldn’t have done this ever by myself. So glad that we could be in a picture together still….
Krishnan’s birthday according to the Hindu calendar was on May 19th. Celebrated that with his favourite Javvarasi payasam (Sabudana Kheer). Kabir had dropped in and he got his favourite Thatte idli on his Jijaji’s birthday.
May 16, 2025 – Krishnan’s Birthday Last Year
When we lived in Patparganj, there were no malls in Delhi NCR. We would go to Karol Bagh, Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar Market or Noida’s Sector 18 market for eating out and shopping. And we both loved eating a variety of foods. One restaurant that we discovered was Suruchi in Karol Bagh, very close to the famous Roopak store. Suruchi serves Rajasthani and Gujarati food.
Last year for Krishnan’s birthday we decided to go to Suruchi after nearly 20 years. Didn’t want to drive so asked Dilip Singh to bring his taxi.
After having lunch at Suruchi, we went and did a little shopping at the Roopak Store. We were truly surprised that the flagship Roopak store does not accept UPI or credit card payment. You pay cash only. So I quickly reduced the number of items that we bought because we hardly carry cash with us !!
The celebration could not be complete without having milkshake at Shake Square in C.P…. known earlier as Keventers. After the takeover by the Dalmia family, some of the Keventers outlets became Shake Square. For a short while this iconic outlet had no name board. Their sales were just the same and anyone who has been a Keventers regular will know this place in C.P. Time stands still here, and the taste remains the same.
The next stop was Wenger’s, just around the corner from this place. We just bought some of our favourites from Wenger’s and got back home.
My Beloved …. I have to share the story of May 16, 1990 someday. I kept hoping that the happiest day of my life (May 15, 1990) will happen again …. but it didn’t. You couldn’t overcome this storm :(.
Can AI bring you back please ?