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That day when I reached college, I saw that Rohan was surrounded by all the members of drama club. Everyone was wishing him and he was continuously saying thank you to everyone. When I asked my friend Priyanka about it she said “It’s his birthday today.”

How stupid of me, I never asked him about it. Now what to do? I don’t have anything to gift him. I saw his hands full of chocolates and flowers. Oh! I don’t even have the time to go to cafeteria to get some chocolates…

I was thinking all this when Rohan came up to me. “Happy birthday Rohan” I wished him by shaking hands. “Thanks a lot Ishika” he responded with a smile.

“I am sorry I didn’t knew about your birthday, otherwise I would have also gifted you some chocolates or may be something….”

“Oh! Come on Ishika. These gift are just formalities. What matters is the wishes. I didn’t wanted to accept these gifts. But they all insisted. So I had to. But anyways thanks again for your wishes. And do come at 12 p.m. to the cafeteria. I am giving party to everyone. So please do join.” Said Rohan.

“Yes, Of course I’ll come. Right now I have to rush for my lectures. Bye” I smiled and rushed towards my class.

At 12 noon I was at the cafeteria. We all were waiting for the birthday boy to come. After a few minutes Rohan arrived and everybody cheered for him. Shruti got chocolate cake for him. Everyone insisted him to cut the cake. He obliged us and did the honor. It was fun partying with everyone.

In the evening I met him at the college gate. “So, birthday boy, what’s the plan for today. Party at home?” I asked him.

“Yes, my mother calls all our relatives every year on my birthday. It’s sort of a get together. Everyone gets to meet each other. Usually everyone is so busy. So they all get a chance to chill and enjoy together.” Said Rohan.

“But I remember you saying that your idea of celebrating birthdays is different. You said you will tell me. So, I guess this is the different idea? Enjoying with the entire family. Not a bad idea.” I said.

“Come. Let’s go!” He said in a hurry.

“Let’s go? Hello! Where? What’s going on? Rohan will you clarify?” I said in a puzzled way.

Rohan laughed and said, “I am sorry, I might have sounded weird. All I am saying is, you wanted to know my different idea? So, come I will show you”.

“But …Rohan I need to ask my mother.” I answered.

“Okay! Call her and give the phone to me. I will talk to her” said Rohan.

I was clueless about what was happening and what was going to happen. I called my mother and told her that my friend wants to talk to her.

“Hello Aunty! How are you? My name is Rohan and I am the president of drama club.” Said Rohan softly to my mother.

“Yes Rohan, I have heard about you from Ishika. Yes, tell me what you want to say”. Replied my mother.

“Actually Aunty it’s my birthday today and I want to take Ishika with me for some time. Can I? “Inquired Rohan.

“But where?” Was my mother’s question.

“Actually, that’s a secret for Ishika. So I can’t disclose that to you. But trust me it’s going to be a wonderful and life changing experience for Ishika. And I promise she will be back on time.” Rohan told mom.

“Okay Rohan, since it’s your birthday I won’t disappoint you but please leave her on time.” Said mom.

“Thanks a lot Aunty. I assure you she’ll be back on time”. Said Rohan with a smile.

He gave me my mobile and signaled me to follow him towards the car parking area. I was surprised as I always saw Rohan using public transport. I quietly followed him. He stopped near a white Maruti Alto.

He opened the door for me like a true gentleman and asked me to sit.

“Your car? Or your dad’s?” I asked him while sitting in the car.

“I like traveling in public transport…it connects us more with different people. And I find traveling alone very boring. In bus or metro we can see so many different personalities. And being a student of Philosophy I need to connect more with people to get a better understanding …So, you see, that’s why I don’t use car or bike. I use them occasionally. Like today”. He smiled.

In about twenty minutes we reached our destination. I got down from the car. I was surprised and a bit shocked at what I saw. We were standing in front of an Orphanage named ‘Little steps’.

I looked at Rohan in surprise.

“For the past two years I celebrate my birthday with the kids of this orphanage. They have become a special part of my life. Every Saturday I visit them and spend time with them.” Said Rohan clarifying my surprised look.

Then he opened the boot of the car and took out lots of toys and books from it. I helped him in carrying them inside the orphanage.

As soon as the kids saw him they all ran towards him. Rohan hugged them all. They clung him tightly. Then they all wished him together, “Happy birthday Rohan bhaiya”. Some cute little ones came close to him and kissed him and others shook hands with him. Rohan accepted everyone’s greetings with warmth and love.

It was truly a heartwarming scene. My eyes were wet. I was standing there looking at them when Rohan introduced me to all of them. “She is Ishika, my friend. She has come here to meet you.” Said Rohan.

They all ran towards me and hugged me. I was overwhelmed by the response I got from them. Then they turned towards Rohan and one of them said, “Come bhaiya we have a surprise for you.” And they directed us towards an open lawn.
The lawn was decorated with balloons, colorful streamers, confetti scattered on the ground and a beautiful Chandelier made by balloons, hung right in between, all around the tree. It was an eye-catching decoration.

“Oh! My God! That’s beautiful ….Isn’t it Rohan” I said looking around in amazement.

“It is really wonderful. How did you all Managed?” Asked Rohan.

“You liked it Rohan bhaiya?”

“Yes of course my sweaty…It’s marvelous dear.” Said Rohan

They all jumped with joy and started clapping. Then a girl named Suhana got a cake decorated with colorful gems and kept it on the well decorated table.

“Come Rohan bhaiya , let’s cut the cake. We have prepared this cake for you”. She said jumping in excitement.

Rohan went towards the table and we all surrounded him. He picked up the knife and was about to cut the cake when suddenly a boy shouted “Wait bhaiya , Rishi go and play the song. How could you forget?” He said angrily.

Rishi ran towards the other table and uncovered a keyboard and said “Yes bhaiya now on the count of 3 you will cut the cake…1…2…3 go!”

As soon as Rohan started cutting the cake everybody started singing the birthday song as Rishi played the tune on the keyboard. I was surprised to see that a small boy of about 8 years old played the birthday tune perfectly. After cutting the cake Rohan picked up a small piece and gave it to Sneha, the smallest and the cutest girl of the group. Then in turns he fed everyone with a piece of cake. At the end he came to me with a piece of cake. “Will you open your mouth or you would eat it yourself” he asked me as if trying to tease me.
I opened my mouth and he popped the cake inside. It was delicious.

“How is the cake Ishika didi…” Asked Rishi.

“Wow! It’s delicious. Unbelievable how did you all made such a delicious and yummy cake”. I said praising them.

“It’s very easy didi …There are so many videos of easy cake recipe on YouTube.
We saw one of them and made it”. Said kavita naively.

Then Rohan took out all the gifts he had brought for each of them and gave it to them. They all excitedly accepted the gifts. Then a boy named Rajat said,” But this time we also have a gift for you Rohan bhaiya”. And he signaled one of them to get it.

“But you all have already given me a gift by cooking cake for me and by decorating this place so beautifully. What else do you want to give now? ” Asked Rohan.

“Wait Rohan bhaiya, have patience. I am sure you will like this.” Said Sneha cutely.

Pari and Kabir came with a huge frame covered with decorative paper and ribbons. “Happy birthday again Rohan bhaiya” they all said together.

“Oh wow! What’s that?” Asked Rohan in surprise.

“Open it and you will get to know” said Pari with a smile.
Rohan slowly took off the tapes and unwrapped it. It was a big photo frame decorated with snaps of Rohan with all the kids on different occasions. They had captioned beautiful lines about Rohan on each photo, like ‘ You mean the world to us’ and ‘ You are our hero’ etc.

Rohan kept looking at it for nearly 5 minutes. Reading each message and looking at each snap. His eyes were full of tears. He had no words. He turned towards the kids and said “This is the best birthday gift ever.”

“Thank you Rohan bhaiya. So, let’s party now” said Rishi insisting Rohan to play the keyboard.

Rohan played a lot of beautiful songs on the keyboard and all the kids danced to the tunes. They involved me also to dance and groove with them. I did that gladly and started dancing with them. Then I took out my phone and played the songs requested by them. And we all danced like mad for an hour.

Everybody was tired now. Rohan had already ordered food for everyone. We all got indulged in eating delicious food. While eating I asked Rohan, “All the kids are so talented. Their care taker is doing a great job.”

“Yes, earlier they were not getting funds. But now with the help of some NGO’s they are getting financial stability and because of that good education and extracurricular activities are being imparted to them.”

“How did you got to know about this orphanage?” I asked

“3 years back I was searching for orphanage homes for my first project. That’s when I came across this orphanage. And since then I am associated with them. I spend my weekend here with these kids. I Teach them, play with them. And I tried to arrange a lot of workshops for them in past 3 years. Which were really beneficial for them. They learnt a lot of new skills which made them self-dependent” he explained.

“Really! How?” I inquired with surprise.

“Many of them are very good at drawing. So they keep making cards with their beautiful drawings and we give them the final touch and put them on sale on different online websites. This way every month they get some earnings. And on festivals like Diwali many kids above the age of 10 learnt to decorate Diya’s. So we gave them raw Diya’s in bulk and they painted them beautifully. We sold them in different malls and markets. This way every year they celebrate Diwali with their own earned money.” Explained Rohan.

“Wow! That’s a brilliant way to make them self-dependent Rohan! Great job!” I said praising his efforts.

“There is a long way to go Ishika. I have planned a lot for them. I hope I will be able to fulfill all their dreams. I want them all to go to good schools and gain good education. I am working on it. Hopefully I will be able to put some of them in good schools next year.” He said while looking at them.

“Of course Rohan you will definitely do it because your intentions are good. As it’s said that work done with good intension always pays good results.” I assured him.

Rohan looked at me and smiled. As if saying thanks to me. Then he got up and went towards the kids. They all had finished their dinner.

“So kids, it is bed time now for you all. Come I will make you all sleep with a good night song.” said Rohan directing them towards their room.

The room was a big hall with approximately 20 bunker beds. This reminded me of a Hindi film.

“You are thinking right! This idea was taken from that film.” Rohan said smiling while reading my mind again.

How can he read my mind every time? I thought to myself while sitting on one of the beds along with cutie pie Sneha. Everybody jumped on their beds after changing clothes as fast as they could. Meanwhile Rohan got his guitar from the car. He started playing a mesmerizing tune on the guitar. Everybody was quietly hearing. And in another 15 minutes they all were asleep. And I was lost in his tune. He came up to me and signaled me to quietly get up and come out from the room. I looked once again at the kids and came out of the room while turning off the lights.

We were driving back home when Rohan asked me, “So, how was your experience today.”

“Rohan I don’t have words to describe what I am feeling right now. All these years I was searching for happiness, in friends, in a particular city, in a particular university but never realized that happiness is not something that comes readymade, it comes from your own actions.” I said.

“This is what people need to understand that it isn’t about what you have, who you are, where you are or what you are doing which will make you happy or unhappy . It is all what you think about.” Said Rohan while giving that killer smile.

“Yes that’s right. And I wondered looking at the kids that how happy they looked irrespective of the situation they have been put into by destiny. Having no home and family, doing things on their own at such a small age is so challenging. But hats off to them. They are the real heroes”. I said praising the kids.

“You know Ishika, we need to learn this mantra of life that when god closes one door of happiness he opens another door for all of us. But often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. I want these kids to see that opened door for them and not to keep staring at the closed door and repent.” Rohan explained me so beautifully.

Rohan dropped me at my house and smiled at me,” Thanks, for giving me company today. I really enjoyed being with you today. You made my birthday special. Bye.”

I waved him and went inside thinking about the wonderful evening I spent today. It was more of an Eye-opener, which taught me real significance of life.
The more you praise and celebrate your life in a fruitful manner, the more there is in life to celebrate.

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Cover Image by Tim Cooper 

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Chapter 5 ‘An Unforgettable Birthday Party‘ of the realistic motivational Novel ‘My Shining Star‘ completes here.
Read Chapter 6 ⬇️⬇️