The Happy, Birthday party…

My daughter just turned 5! So a few days ago, when her birthday was just around the corner, she was very excited and wanted to turn the day into an elaborate celebration. We as parents, always try communicating with her on a daily basis that each day when the sun rises, it’s a celebration of a brand new day. However, her excitement only grew with each passing day! Not that I blame her, I guess there’s something about birthdays that brings about a childlike excitement in all of us and children even more. So Savannah couldn’t be more excited for her big day!

My family, L to R, Neeraj, Savannah (5), Rumi (1.5 ), me

Alright! To give you a little background, Savannah goes to a Waldorf school, an interesting schooling concept that encourages kids to thrive in natural surroundings as opposed to a classroom format. The children here almost instinctively become one with nature and climb trees, frolic in the mud and jump in puddles. Teachers help in creating a safe haven for them to learn & express themselves. I have never seen Savannah so happy and engaged. So naturally when it was party time, she wanted her school friends to be a part of the celebrations. Needless to say we invited almost the entire Waldorf bandwagon of 50 parents, 25 children aged 2.5 to 9 years and 7 teachers.

So now here I was with a humongous task in my hand to plan a “birthday party”. Being a mother of 2 little girls and serial planner, I started the preparation 3 months in advance. Breaking my preps down to smaller tasks and taking them on little by little, as and when I found time. I immediately started listing options from banquets to baking workshops. I would have loved to do a house party like the ones in our childhood with those iconic paper plates loaded with potato wafers, frooti, samosa and a piece of cake. Playing games like passing the parcel, four corners, tail the cat and the famous popular khoya bag. I remember shoving my way through the excited bunch of kids to grab the best goodies that fell from the bag.

I played around with the house party idea a bit but I wasn’t satisfied. What did I want to do? My friend’s words were continuously ringing into my consciousness “we are moving away from celebration and focusing on entertainment” I now had a direction. I wanted to celebrate this important day for my daughter in a way that could keep the spirit alive and yet be all consuming for the people who would be celebrating with us. It had to something that satisfies the soul and makes us truly happy.

I wanted to do something in natural open surroundings, but since my daughter’s birthday falls during monsoons, any nature parks or gardens were ruled out. Fortunately, my parents own a small rustic farmland in Lonavala (hill station in Maharashtra).

The location was perfect! Now came the décor. I am still struggling with the leftover décor from last year’s party and balloons were a strict no as I didn’t want them to be strewn around leaving lasting toxic residue on this earth. So I was looking for sustainable décor options, when with the help of a few likeminded friends and a quick Pinterest ref check we concluded that newspaper décor would be great! We also added some origami birds. So that was two major things off the checklist.

Now for the most important part, FOOD. How do I create a menu that is healthy yet fun and satisfying? Birthday parties, smileys & sugar rich foods have a hand in glove relationship. Last year I had them too. But this year it had to change for me. So I decided to have a vegan and sugar-free menu. With this thought in mind, I started looking for caterers who could construct my dream menu. I realized that a vegan menu is easily doable, but going sugar free is tough. Luckily I found many sugar free cake makers and ordered a cake made using wheat flour, almond milk and date paste. The colors used were natural too.

My daughter has recently taken a liking to unicorns and she really wanted a unicorn cake. Luckily, the cake maker was able to add that element using cake toppers and thus fondant was avoided completely. It was also my desire to have such items in the menu that take us more towards nature and remind us of the simple joys of life.

So we had Nariyal paani all day, coal roasted corn and the highlight of the evening was the little set up which had imli, raw mango, star fruit, avla, chaniya maniya etc. It reminded everyone of school days and the bhaiya who stood outside selling these sprinkled with rock salt and chili powder.

There were limited items in the menu, idli sambhar chutney, Veg Biryani & a Salad for lunch and Vada Pav and Misal for the evening snacks and green tea served in cutting glasses. Fruits were laid out for those who wanted to pick a bite.

I also tried hard to convince Savannah that we must not demand gifts because it’s the thought that counts and besides it’s quite a feat finding storage space for new toys and gifts. But she was adamant that she wants gifts. I tried explaining that we could at least request the gifts to be wrapped in newspaper. But she was clear, “ I like to open colourful gifts”. I didn’t feel like pushing her too much. I am hoping that through my upbringing someday soon she will herself come and tell me that she doesn’t need the gifts. For now she was being a kid and I didn’t want to take that away from her.

She chose the most inappropriate and yet pretty princess dress for a party on the farm. Strong headed as she is, she pranced along the lengths and breadths of the farm, gently lifting her dress like a little princess. All the things were done with her consent and because we try to take that approach with our girls in daily life!

The birthday girl

So here’s the flow of activities for the day.

On arrival, everyone was welcomed with coconut water. A brief was given about the place and the concept.

The kids were ecstatic to see the open spaces and cows on the farmland and took great delight in petting them.

We invited a dear friend Prerna Bagaria from MannMela who conducts workshops for children using play safe materials like terracotta clay, paper, paints, cloth, and sand.

So we started with an activity where she gave them paper bags to collect whatever interested them from the land around. We saw children meditatively immersed in collecting crystals from the land; stones, leaves, twigs and their smiles were precious.

While the children were enjoying exploring the natural surroundings, the parents enjoyed a Merengue Dance workshop, which my sister graciously offered to help out with.

What started with initial hesitation quickly escalated to loads of laughter and fun. It was difficult to distinguish parents from kids as the spirit of nature and fun had completely captivated their minds and hearts. What a feeling it was to see the child in them come alive!

Soon it was time for cake cutting and the usual rituals followed. Savannah was delighted to cut the cake that was followed by lunch. Soon after, Prerna presented a material theatrical performance – a playful act using music, sounds, movements & materials. Children & adults witnessed terracotta clay take magical forms. Everyone was glued to their seat.

This was followed with kids creating a gift for Savannah with clay, crystals that were collected earlier, leaves, water, twigs, colourful seeds & their imagination. It was a sensory treat all the way. We saw some beautiful creations by these young minds & hands.

Prerna then laid out a long blank white sheet of paper and got the parents to paint using mud, another captivating activity.

While they completed this activity, evening snacks were ready. Hot wada pavs and the famous missal pav. Some enjoyed the fruits ,the piping hot corn and few others sipped away the green tea. There are times when I come across as a protagonist of healthy & sustainable living, but believe me, I know when to let loose and I do it more often than not!

My kids love their occasional French fries and ice cream treats.

It was time for the infamous “Return Gift “. We gave seed balls as return gifts. These seed balls were made by the ladies of Bhivghar, a small Adivasi village in Maharashtra. They generated income from these seed balls making. Our thought was, nature has given us so much, and it’s time to give back. I managed to accomplish this birthday celebration with zero wastage. We even avoided plastic mineral water bottles, straws and plates and snacks and beverages were served in glassware. This way I ensured that waste generated, if any would be biodegradable and not harmful to the environment in any way.

Before we realized, it was time to say goodbye. We gathered everyone in a circle and played the song “itti si hansi, itti si khushi, itta sa tukda chaand ka, khwabon ke tinko se, chal banaaye aashiyan” The song spoke my heart and needless to say filled our hearts with joy and our eyes with tears! This moment was almost magical with everyone singing out loud, blessing savannah, swaying to the music with tears of joy streaming! Indeed it was a meet and greet with the child we had all lost somewhere in the hustle called “life”. There must have been some angels blessing us that day, because the bond we created was only one to be experienced. A celebration of nature it was!

For those of you who are wondering, how I managed this with a breast feeding baby, I must tell you, my little one Rumi for the first time ever slept off without feeding. For she was so engaged and content, that her sleep was sound and satisfying. My husband also helped take care of her and not to mention his witty humor kept us all entertained.

Lots of hugs were exchanged and we bid goodbyes. My aim was to create an example for kids that it’s possible to have fun with minimalistic stuff, simple ideas and healthy food. But what I achieved was much more. It’s about learning to be happy and enjoying the simple joys of life. It was indeed a Happy, Birthday party.

Neeraj, Savannah, Rumi, my sister Sejal & me

This was a doodle created by Prerna after the party. Its called “Itti si khushi”.

Seema Manchanda, lives in Mumbai with her husband, Neeraj and her 2 girls, Savannah, 5 years and Rumi,1.5 years. She is a Post Graduate in Marketing, however she credits her thought process to the way her parents brought her up with real life experiences through their umpteen number of of road trips, books and on ground training.

Seema is a traveller, a blogger, a  wild life enthusiast but what she loves the most is raising her two daughters. You can connect with her on +919820450885 or write to her at aries_seema@yahoo.com