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10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… “Lift-off” … After a wonderful and gripping countdown to my birthday, the day had finally come. My 17^th birthday. I have to admit I was excited. I mean so what if I’m in a hospital, or have my left side paralyzed, or am stuck in a wheelchair? I was excited because despite knowing that all of these things were true, I also knew that I wouldn’t remain like this for long. I also knew that this “birthday” and in fact this year was going to be like a complete rebirth for me. It was going to almost be the phoenix moment, a “rebirth from the ashes”. All that excitement paid off and when the big day arrived, I was not just surprised, but I was thrilled beyond my wildest imaginations. My birthday coincided with the first day of the Indian festival of lights (which I had no idea of {loss of space-time orientation guys}. It started on a regular mellow note, I guess it was kind of like the eerie silence in a horror movie before the fun begins. I woke up to the regular things that every patient wakes up to-excuse me for not mentioning them explicitly- But since it was the festival of lights, the whole hospital was abuzz with the spirit of the festivity, which you could truly feel even though it was inside the hospital. Most definitely, nothing seemed out of place or suspicious. They told me that because it was a festival day, I could wear “my own clothes” today and not the oversized, baggy hospital clothes. And this got the surprise-ball rolling. My sister procured a brand-new Manchester United Official Merchandise Jacket. Since it was a festival, and my birthday, this seemed perfectly normal. The regular “shift to the wheelchair, go down the lift, to the therapy-hall” routine. Only this time it was slightly different. All my physiotherapists were dressed in traditional and very colourful Indian attire and it was such a big relief for all the patients including me as we were used to seeing everyone in mono colour hospital uniforms. The normal therapy sessions continued for everyone. After therapy time was over, everyone had their lunch break. It was in this Lunch Break that they had my first of many to come cake cutting. A special home-made cake had been sent over by my aunt, which I cut in my therapy-hall amidst all the patients and therapists singing the classic hit for such occasions, “Happy Birthday”.  I guess you can say I had my own small “birthday party” inside my therapy hall with the other patients and my physiotherapists as “guests”. Just as the cake was cut, my therapists asked me collectively “So Smit, who’s looking the best among us all?” At that time, I had no brain-to-mouth filter (something I kind of still lack), and I used to speak whatever was on my mind – brutally honest as they call it. Add this to my funny way of thinking. My answer, of course completely unfiltered, was, “I think no-one is looking good, you all look like old aunties”. Oops, what a way to put someone off. Luckily though, my therapists knew my family’s flare for humour, so they didn’t take the statement to their hearts, this might have also been from the fact that by now I had made good friends out of my physiotherapists. The MU jacket stayed with me for the full day. Normal therapies resumed, and the dust settled on an otherwise uneventful morning and afternoon. I suppose my family had saved the best for the last. That evening they added a bit of extra flare to my MU jacket – they also had me wear a cowboy hat brought by my uncle. Now completely dressed and ready, they shifted me to my personal vehicle – the wheelchair again. All decked up, we went down the lift to the ground floor. Not that I wasn’t expecting anything, but we stepped out of the lift, and SURPRISE, SURPRISE! in the ground floor restaurant in the hospital, there were about 50 people waiting there with a cake (my second one for the day). They were all waiting for the birthday boy. And no sooner did my wheelchair reach the doorstep of that restaurant, what did I see? So many smiling faces staring eagerly at me. I was greeted by people of all shapes and sizes. There were children, grandfathers, fathers, mothers, cousins, friends, friends of friends, you name it, and we had them all. All these people had taken time off their busy schedules on a working day in Mumbai to come for my birthday “party” in the middle of a hospital. They all, almost at the same time, rushed to wish me, hug me, take a photo with me, and give their gifts to me. And there was the restaurant manager who was also present. She perhaps, never in her career, had seen a patient celebrate a birthday party in a hospital with a brain haemorrhage and on a wheelchair, and that too at this scale. It wasn’t just the people present there who were happy to see me, I suppose I was just as happy to be out of the patient zone for a change. Fast forward my 10-minute guest appearance at the party, all the gifts and greetings, cake cutting and blur of faces later, we headed back to my ward. And this was followed by more visitors. Some of the party guests came over one by one to visit me in my ward – you know, the fun of one-on-one interaction.  The day was not yet over. My mother (my permanent companion) along with my sister and uncle had accompanied me back to my twin-sharing room. They had decorated the room with small LED lights to get the “festival feeling”. We could also see the fireworks outside from the window. And since we had our portable speaker and there was no neighbouring patient, we also got the opportunity to listen to some music. After my third mini private “party” of the day, my cousin sister came up to my room with yet another cake! During the day, we had also distributed some chocolates and sweets to the supporting hospital staff and my doctors. And you must remember, that during all of this, I was still pretty immobile and half robot faced :D. I suppose after 3 “parties”, 3 cakes and a long, long day full of celebrations and excitement, you have got to call it a day and park your bus. This was one unforgettable birthday… And…. It was just building the momentum for the next big thing to happen … The biggest event that can happen while you’re in a hospital ….