Before his time

'Birthday Boy' BIHARI MILWANI (fifth from right) flanked by friends and well-wishers 

Siba Prasad Maitra (r) gifts the birthday rose

People are normally identified by their names. At worst, we recognize them by their physical traits – facial features, voice, even touch.

Karun Sharma gives a birthday hug

But who on earth would identify people by their date of birth?
Well, Bihari Milwani does. His digitized brain reduces cognitive data into numbers and birth dates. So when he had to seek Yusuf Rassiwala out from a crowd this morning, he inquired aloud:

Peering into the birthday calendar

“Where is that 23rd July?”
Seriously. No joking. And believe it or not, Yusuf R responded promptly at the mention of his birth date!
Quite clearly,

Receiving the birthday calendar

Bihari was born ahead of his time – long before anybody could even have thought of something like a PAN or Aadhar number to establish a person’s identity. “You can change your name but you cannot change your date of birth,” was his simple

Cake cutting: Nahid Siddiqui is second from left

explanation.
We ushered his birthday today in the Garden with

Arun Patil (l) gets his share of chocolate

the usual fanfare – from raising a fourth laugh to presenting him the birthday calendar, singing the birthday song and being treated to almond-crusted chocolates.
But there were three stand-out incidents. First, Siba Prasad Maitra thoughtfully brought Bihari a special ‘birthday rose’ to mark the occasion. “He is the only one to gift everyone with beautiful hand-crafted mementos on their birthdays,” reasoned Maitra.
The second incident was fortuitous. In all her wisdom, Nahid Siddiqui had to get a big brown dundee cake which served as a bonus treat. Sure enough, the ‘birthday boy’ did the honours of cutting the cake.
Third, Arun Patil made a surprise appearance this morning. He had disappeared for more than three weeks, pending replacement of his prosthetic leg (ref post of December 20). Till the day before, there was no hope of him getting the new leg any time soon. Obviously, he got lucky since and could make it today.
Bihari’s birthday celebration was a great way to welcome Arun back in the Garden.

Geeta Latte:
Happy Birthday, dear Uncle! 💐🎂💐!

Kiran Prakash from USA:
Happy Birthday, Bihari-ji. And many happy returns of the day. May God shower His choicest blessings and you continue to grow in your personal and professional life.

Karun Sharma:
It was really unique that the Birthday Boy remembers people by their date of birth. May he have a stronger memory, but not forget names also. Cake by Nahid was tasty and timely. Good celebration at the fag end of 2017. One more birthday to close my first year with Big Laaf.

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
Bihari-ji, wishing you a very happy and healthy birthday. May the Almighty bless you and all your family members and shower good luck in the coming year.