Happy Birthday!

15th February, 2018

So Maya wants to take me to a birthday party. Of a 6 year old! He is the son of Sahar, one of her closest mates, and Maya told her that she will be getting her home-stay along. Maya is like that. She announces! I am feeling a bit low and have nothing much to do and since I have not stepped out of the house for two days, I join Maya and CJ (her 6 year old) and we head to the birthday party. We drive 40 minutes to Sahar's house which seems like on the other side of town. We are the first to arrive and I feel awkward. Thank god I picked up a decent gift on the way. There are three other couples besides us, mostly from Iranian origin as Maya(Farsi as she pronounces it and not Parsi as we Indians call it).

The hosts are hospitable (we didn't offer them much choice, did we?). Besides Iranians, I meet an Assamese couple who are in NZ for five years. The husband does something that you would never be able to imagine. Oh common, he is not a porn artist. He is a Bus Way engineer. He decides Auckland bus routes, bus stops, bus stations etc. When others hear this, they express their dissatisfaction on public transport and he brushes them away saying, “These things take time”, like a typical govt. babu. What an interesting profile? He has insights on where the property prices will shoot up in the next 5-10 years in Auckland. I make a mental note to take his number!

Then there is Thomas from Slovakia, Sahar’s husband. He refurbishes houses for a living. He has no formal training in interior designing, construction or civil engineering, “It was just a hobby”, as he puts it, “and some common sense”. Ya common sense, right! Where do you get that? He is quiet and smart. His is a decent house with a small pool!

There is great food (saffron everywhere) and drinks, good conversations and oh yes there is also cake cutting towards the end, almost like an afterthought. Somebody plays Michael Jackson on TV and after a few I don’t believe this looks, people start enjoying the music.

It’s also our anniversary today. Eighteenth! I sit with a beer in the corner sofa missing her as people dance while MJ plays.

That delicious black coloured dish is called Ghormeh Sabzi, an Iranian herb stew with subtle flavours. 







That's Maya with the glass. 



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