Chapter Twenty Four & Wishing Cake
I believe in birthday cake.
Magical stuff.
QUICK STORY. My favorite books ever growing up were Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree series. Here in the Enchanted Wood, there grew a Faraway Tree, a wonderous tree filled with characters I loved such as the darling Silky, gallant Moonface, silly old Mr. Saucepan Man, grumpy Mr. Shout-a-lot, and so many more. Different lands would appear at the top of the tree such as The Land of Topsy Turvy or The Land of Do-As-You-Please. The whole bunch would jump into the lands and have the most exciting adventures.
On your birthday, the Land of Birthdays would appear. This one was the most fun. The whole gang would get dressed up, hop up into the land, and have a jolly picnic with pop buns (buns that would burst in your mouth with honey flowing) and scones with jam. How I wanted to try those pop buns….Most importantly, on your birthday, there would be Wishing Cake! One bite of this cake would grant you anything you wished for. So you had to use it wisely and not wish for something silly like Mr. Saucepan Man always did by mistake.
Gosh, those books were so thrilling for me. They shaped my true excitement for birthdays, the celebration of life. And of course, of birthday cake.
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ANOTHER STORY.
Growing up, on my own special day, Mom always made sure that my cake didn’t disappoint. On my 4th birthday, I had a purple Barney cake that I adored. From age 10 to age 19, I was hooked on this Costco cake – white cake, chocolate frosting, with chocolate mousse filling. I remember it well. Mom would order me one of those giant cakes every year, without fail, for ten years of my life. Whether we were having twenty people over or whether it was just the five of us celebrating. Yum. I would sit down and enjoy a piece of that wonderful stuff with milk until Mom made me throw it out. It had an average lifespan of three weeks. Just me and the cake. The older it got, the more crusty and delicious frosting got. Those were the days.
Now you know why…
I am all about the birthday cake.
Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, funfetti, no matter the flavor, on someone’s birthday, I feel it is my duty to eat at least one bite of birthday cake. Not only because I love cake. Yes, I do love some cakes. But because birthday cake is really really special.
Full of good wishes for the birthday person. By eating just a bit, you can share these wishes with them. 🙂
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This year, I was so lucky to spend my birthday in our spiritual meditation ashram in Chennai. I brought some chocolate barfi to the Master for blessings. Master took it, closed his eyes, and blessed it for me. With his blessings, it became prasad, or a gift that holds a blessing. You know, this is exactly Wishing Cake.
The rest of the day, hundreds of people shook my hand, hugged me, patted me on the back, gave me a loving smile in return for some prasad. It was so special.
Why so special? Two reasons. One because this is REAL Wishing Cake!! And two, because one of my absolute favorite things is to see others’ faces light up when I give them something sweet. Such a happy happy girl I was.
Barfi is a typical Indian sweet made by thickening milk with sugar. You could describe it as milk fudge. Or a bar like version of condensed milk. They flavor it with different ingredients like cardamom, pistachios, rosewater, etc.
And when I got home to Pune, there was some dark chocolate birthday deliciousness waiting for me in the fridge. My grandparents know me well. 🙂
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Thank you for celebrating my life with me today.
In the ashram, at the table, on the phone, via email, on Facebook and Instagram. Your loving thoughts and wishes are so powerful. I am incredibly touched by the bright hearts I have in my life. It’s one of those days where I feel like I’ve been enveloped in a hug of love all day.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR. I’m excited to read you! As Jonathan said, “only one more year till you are a quarter of a century old!” Cannot wait.
I believe in birthday cake. Do you?
Much love,
More later,
SONIA
