Expect the Unexpected: Thought of the Year!

As we come to an end of this crazy year which taught us many things and gave us a different perspective to look at life, let me tell you a story. An incidence that taught me, all things don’t always go according to our plans and whatever the situation is, we can take out something good out of it.

This year my birthday was on a Sunday and my husband did plan a surprise. I was excited and was looking forward to having a fabulous day.

The previous week started on a great note. He planned the entire week with one gift each morning. I received my 1^st gift on a Monday morning and was really surprised by this gesture, as he is not the one who plans all this. That is my forte.

The next morning, again there was a gift with a note. I said, wow! this is interesting! 3^rd day I was kind of waiting for my gift and there it was 😊. I was enjoying this and was eagerly waiting for the big day. Then the unexpected happened. And no, I am not talking about the lockdown here. This was pre-lockdown time. Didn’t realize then that the disaster of the year is yet to occur ☹

On Thursday evening, there was no water supply at our place. We thought maybe there is some minor issue which will get sorted in some time. We waited till night with no luck. When checked with the society watchman he said, Pani nahi hai, aapko pata nahi kya..i rolled my eyes saying, pata hota toh puchti kya (this off course in my mind), raat ko pani aaya toh kal morning me thode time hoga, tabhi bhar lena.

Now, we do not have any water storage barrels with us. So the next morning, we filled all the possible buckets/ vessels/ bottles we have to get through the day. Thankfully it was a working day, so the crisis was managed somehow. But the disaster was yet to come.

Friday evening, no water. Our reservoir getting over with each passing hour, we just hoped to get water the next morning. But we were wrong. Got to know there is some pipeline issue and no water supply from Bandra to Jogeshwari. Oh no, what are we going to do now??? I said. Let’s go out for lunch and figure out something in the evening, his reply.

We went out, had lunch, shopped (birthday shopping toh banati hai) and came back, praying to get some good news. Just as we entered the society gate, one uncle said, no water still and mostly will not get it till tomorrow evening. Are you serious??? Now we both were worried and irritated. This is an utter disaster, I thought.

Let’s go to my mom’s place, I said (Thankfully we stay in the same city). We packed our bags with a back-up till Monday and went there.

After reaching there I got to know, my parents did plan to come to my place at 12 in the night to surprise me, instead; municipality gave us all a big surprise. All the surprises went for a toss. Expect the unexpected, I thought to myself.

On a positive side, I spent my birthday with family. My mom cooked delicious lunch, all my favourite dishes. We eat together, remembering good old days, chit chatting about how we used to celebrate birthdays then.

In the evening we got to know the water supply might start. We packed our bags and rushed back home so that just in case we are in luck, can fill all our reservoirs again and be ready for the next day. Thankfully our luck shined upon, regular water supply since evening.

My husband said, so what if the day did not go according to the plan, let’s make a new plan and celebrate.

We went to Yazu for dinner (at least this plan was executed). Yazu is a pan Asian restaurant in Andheri with beautiful ambience and amazing food. It is a must go place to have a great time with your loved ones and relish some authentic Asian food. We had prawns dimsums, endemame beans (this dish has become one of our favourites off lately), crispy duck spring rolls and authentic Japanese ramen. Everything was lip-smacking. A meal full of goodness was all we wanted and we thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it.