And here it is... I don't know if this will meet your expectations, but I am sure, I am going to give my best. Also, there is a restriction for the maximum number of photos. I wanted to put it all in one update so I used collages wherever necessary. Zoom in to see the pictures... they are numbered perfectly, so i don't think you'll have any confusion... bohoth mehnath kiye hain... to search them all.. Hope you'll like them :)
Happy reading..!!!
Mnaik closed her eyes from behind and
1..
"Happy birthday Nandiniiiiiii" everyone shouted at their loudest voices, not bothering about the neighborhood, while Manik uncovered her eyes.
Cabir and Arya popped party poppers that rained in the entire room.
Manik pecked her forehead, "Happy birthday Princess. Stay blessed" he wished her.
Soon everyone joined in for a group hug and wished her whole heartedly.
Breaking the group hug, Nia went inside the bedroom and brought a box and put it infront of Nandini.
"Open it" she said. Nandini opened the box, to find a happy birthday balloon and a birthday princess spash. Nia made her wear the spash, while Nandini picked up the balloon and posed for a few pictures.
Manik walked into the kitchen and came back with a huge box, Nandini was wondering what was inside it.
He put the box on a table, and cut the edges, revealing an extremely beautiful castle cake with waffles on the top.
Nandini's eyes popped out seeing that cake. It was huge.. it was beautiful.. it definitely didn't seem like something to eat.
He came back to her and gave her the knife, "Cake cutting time princess" he said giving her the knife. She kneeled down as the table was a little lower. Instead of cutting, she started searching for something on it. Manik was confused as to why she was not cutting it.
"Kya hua princess? You don't like the cake?" he asked. He was a little sad as this was not the expected reaction.
"Nai Manik.. dhekh rahi hoon ki kahi is mein bhi ring ya kuch aur rakh dhiya tum ne" she said reminding him the proposal, while he smiled at her antics.
"Nandini cake cut karo pehle and then ask questions" Manik said standing behind her.
She held his hand and signaled to join her. He kneeled next to her and she blew the candle while both of them cut the cake together. She fed him the cake first and then he did. Soon the gang attacked the cake and started playing cake holi, covering Nandini's face completely with cake. Matty took one of the waffles and put it on Nandu's head and applied some cream on her nose.
"Now you look like the birthday clown" he said, to get a punch back in his stomach. The whole room was a mess.
"Okay Princess! It's time for the surprises now. And haan, mein pehle hi bathaa dhetha hoon, agar pasand naib hi aaye toh, bol dhenaa pasand aaye.. sach mein yeh Monster Manik ne ithnaa kaam karwaaya hum sab se... yaar badhlaa loongaa mein" Cabir said before she was exposed to the real surprises.
"Don't worry! I am sure tum logon ke sab kuch bohoth acchha hi plan kiye honge" Nandini said.
"Cabir tum toh bolo hi math, Nandu he is the one who put the least effort, Sab kuch Mnaik ne hi kiya, iskee baathein math suno tum Nandu" Navya said putting her hand around nandu's shoulder.
"Can I?" Manik asked with a blind fold in his hand.
She nodded her head in positive.
They slowly walked her down to the bedroom. The door was closed. He opened the door, and then the blind fold.
It was all dark. Cabir switched on a light and there was a heart shaped picture collage (1) on one of the walls. It was bordered with series lights, it had all the best pictures of nandini, with them and few of her cute singles. She walked to wards that, and looked careful all the pictures with an ear to ear smile on her face. (1,2,3)
Then she noticed a small glass box (second picture in the collage) that was glowing in a dim light which was fixed inside it. There was a note on the box,
This was how the journey of this little angel started, happy birthday to the prettiest princess ever
From, The Gang
As it was placed on the ground, she sat down to look at it. It was a tiny bedroom set, with a small mirror, bed, crib, lamp, dresser, small cute pillows, a princess poster and a tiny wardrobe closet to the wall inside. She looked at them, to see them all smiling looking at her. she had no words to explain the beauty of the gift. She ran and engulfed Cabir in a hug.
"I know, this definitely must be your idea. Thankyou Bhai. Its so pretty" she said crying.
"Arey! No crying yaar. There are many more... chalo chalo aage badho" he said and Manik switched on the other lights in the room.
That's when she noticed the setting of the room. Another wall had happy birthday balloons and banner hanging, next to that was a poster (2) that said,
It took me 22 years to get this cute
To the corner was a frame (3) that had Romeo and Juliet written on it. She understood whose gifts they should have been, she gave him a smile, while he smiled back.
"How many surprises have you planned?" she asked walking back to the gang.
"You need to count them by yourself" Manik said.
"Ithnii excitement mein numbers kya yaadh honge mujhe" she replied sheepishly.
"Acha.. Continue.. All your gifts are spread here.. It's like a treasure hunt..." Manik said and she started the search.
She bent under the bed, the most common place to hide stuff, to find another gift box. She pulled it out and sat on the floor, opening the box. (4,5,6,7)
In the box were few more small boxes, each wrapped individually. She opened the first one, to find a pretty little musical note charm (4) for bracelet. The next one was endless wire bracelet (5). She immediately put it over her wrist, third one in a row. Next box was a tall one, "Another bracelet Manik?" she said with a horrified expression.
"Are baba...khol ke toh dhekho" he said. She unwrapped the box, to find a single anklet (6) with a bow hook. She smiled seeing that, he walked to her and took it from her hands.
"May I" he asked and she stretched her leg. He made her wear it.
"Acha! Romance baadh mein... pehle yeh gifts session complete karein?" Arya asked. Manik came back and joined the gang.
"You are too slow Nandu... faster" Will said.
"Shut up Will, I am literally enjoying this a lot..let me do it my way" she said.
Next was a foldable card that had a few Popsicle sticks (7) stuck to it. It had little smileys on each stick that expressed different emotions. On the last card, was a note that said,
Because I have seen all your moods, and always will
"Awww this is so cute! Yeh tum ne banaaya Manik" she asked him.
He nodded his head in positive, "Isn't that true? In these two months, I have pretty much seen all your moods and as I promised always will" he said.
Now the gang, sat on the bed while she was roaming around looking for the gifts,
"Okay fine! What next" she asked, "Look for yourself" they replied.
(8,9,10,11)
She again started her search. On her wardrobe there was a note, "Open me". She opened the door and saw a tshirt (8) put on a hanger, it had handprints. (Sorry isko thodaa change karna tha, toh its blurry)
"Awwww! This is really so thoughtful" she said looking at the shirt.
She spread the tshirt on the bed trying to analyze the prints, but couldn't guess it right.
(Manik, Nia, Cabir, Navya, Aryaman, Dhurv, Alya, William, Matt, Emily, Alice – 11 prints)
Next was a glasses box (9), she opened it to find a nice pair of nerdy thick black rimmed glasses. As I already, she wears glasses just as her own style statement.
Next was a box wrapped with a mickey mouse gift wrap. She opened it to find a box full of the best Disney movie collection (10)
"Yayyy!!! Disney movies... Manik I love you for this... thankyou so much" she shouted excitedly.
"Let's watch them together" he replied with a smile.
All this while, he was just looking at her, her expressions, reactions to each and every gift, trying to analyze her happiness levels. He was just capturing all those moments in his brain, a few in his camera of course.
Next was another small box, a little heavy one. She shaked the box, to find out what I t could be. (Most of us do this with gifts... Don't we?)
"Arre.. what are you doing? Careful baba" Manik said. It must have had something sensitive.
"shollyyy" she said and opened the box.
It was a limited edition camera (11). Her eyes popped out seeing it. She could easily make out that, it must have been really expensive.
"Manik yeh" she was about to speak when he interrupted her.
"Shhh chup..Not a word" he stopped her. "Now continue, there are more..." he said.
She sighed hopelessly and rebegan her search.
In the wardrobe there was a bag, with a card on it, (12,13,14,15)
Your birthday outfit!
She took the bag in her hand and started pulling out things one after the other,
First one was a small box that had cute little rose bud ear rings (12) with pearls hanging down.
Next one was a hand piece (13) that started from her wrist and had a rose bud ear ring linked with a chain. It was so unique.
"This is so pretty. Did you choose this?" she asked looking at him.
"Aa aaa.. Saara credit bas usee ko hi dhogii kya? Did you forget that I was there with him too?" Nia asked.
"This is so beautiful. I have never seen any such thing" Nandini said.
"Yes! That's limited edition piece. We were lucky to get the last one and the color we wanted" Nia replied.
"Thankyou" nandini said and opened another box. It's easy to find out that its going to be shoes.
The box had a pair of pretty pink wedges (14). She took them out and tried them immediately. She walked around the room and finally came and stood next to Manik,
"Now our heights match" she said touching his shoulder.
"Well yeah...but still you are not as tall as I am" he said. She gave her a whatever expression and said,
"So its going to be a pretty pink dress huh... Let me see" she said and took out the dress.
She couldn't blink for a while, seeing such a beautiful gown (15).
"You like it" Manik asked almost biting his nails.
"Like it? Manik I love it!!! This is beautiful" she said holding that in front of her. She walked to the mirror and looked at herself.
"Nandini before I go to bed without you opening all the gifts, jaldhee jaldhee karo naa please dear" Cabir said struggling hard to keep his eyes open.
"Okay!" she said. She put the dress back in the bag and Manik came back with another box of surprises. (16,17,18,19)
She quickly opened the first bag that had a cool backpack (16) form one of the best brands. "Cool" she said looking at it.
The next one was a round box, "You will love this" Alya said from behind. She opened the box and found a beautiful stone studded Tiara (17) with white flowers.
"You have decided to make me feel like a princess" she said looking at them.
"Because you are one" Cabir said.
"Achha.. there's something special in this envelope. Open it carefully" he said giving her an envelope.
She obeyed and took out the tapes that were stuck carefully and pulled out a paper and tadaa, her eyes opened wide after seeing what was there on it.
"Is this real?" she asked.
"Yes It is" Manik replied.
"How did you get this done?" she asked looking at him.
"All credit to your Bhai! He got this done for you" he said looking at Cabir.
"Bhai! This is so special... Shahid Kapoor's autograph (18) ? I really didn't expect any such thing.. Thankyou so much" she said hugging the paper lightly.
"kya kya karnaa padaa mujhe iske liye... phir socha behen hain, ithna toh karna padega naa" Cabir replied and she gave him a warm smile.
Next was a small cloth bag, she opened it find cupcake molds and toppers (19).
"Aww... so cute" she said looking at them.
"Where did you all come from? Whom am I to you that you are doing so much for my happiness? I don't know even if I deserve all this" she said holding that tiara close to her heart, on the verge of crying.
They already knew that she would become emotional so they were all prepared with the ways to manaofy her.
"Nandini, you deserve every bit of it. in fact you deserve even more. This is a very small attempt, and I promise you there is more to come. You are my princess baby and princess should always smile, now give me my favorite smile" he said sitting next to her.
"Manik I think it's high time to show her the best of all the surprises you planned, that will definitely make her smile" Will said form behind
"I think you are right. Nandu come with me" he said and both stood up. They walked to the living room and as they guessed, she immediately smiled looking at the next two surprises.
"Wooww, minion bed" (20) she said and jumped on it.
"This is so cool... I love it..." she said and was literally jumping.
"Achaa acha relax. That's to sit not to jump" Manik said holding her hand.
"One teddy next to me, and I can sleep happily on this" she said.
"Neki aur pooch pooch" Navya said.
"Hain?" Nandini asked.
"Kuch nai.. abhi samjhaana shuru karenge toh subah ho jayeegi... acha tumhe teddy chahiye naa.. yeh lo" she said and gave nandini a teddy.
"Yaay... teddy bhi ready hain... thankyou navya" she said. And cabir gave another one,
"Ek aur" she asked and took it.
Then it was Dhurv, he gave another a biggg one, "Kithne hain" she said while taking it. he moved a bit, and then she was three more sitting there.
"A teddy family" (21) she said excitedly looking at all of them together.
"I am out of stock for my reactions now... I mean this is overwhelming guys..." she said hugging the teddy.
"Okay! I have actually been counting the number of gifts and it's 21" she said smilingly.
"Wow! I am impressed" Cabir said patting her back.
"But I turn 22 this year" she said confusingly.
"I know that, and the twenty second gift is your favorite one" Manik said and picked up his guitar from behind the minion bed. (22...Manik Himself)
"Ahh!!! This is definitely my favorite" she said and adjusted comfortably on the couch hugging the teddy, waiting for him to start. Alya was ready with her keyboard. She started the beat, while Mnaik continued with his guitar,
Favorite of most of you all... I am not tagging names... To all the lovelies who asked for this masterpiece of a song...
Kehte hain Khuda ne iss... jahaan mein
Sabhi ke liye...kisi na kisi ko hai... banaaya
har kisi ke liye
Tera milna hai uss ...rab ka ishaara
Maano ...mujhko banaya...tere jaise hi kisi ke liye
He sang looking at her, with a content smile on his face, while she was swaying to the melody.
Kuch toh hai tujh se raabta
Kuch toh hai tujh se raabta
Kaise hum jaane, hume kya pata
Kuch toh hai tujh se raabta
His voice was filled with love, emotion and happiness and that was so clearly audible to everyone there. Nandini was feeling on top of the world, thinking how each word of the song is so true for both of them.
Tu humsafar hai
Phir kya fikar hai
Jeene ki wajah hi yehi hai
Marna issi ke liye
He put his guitar aside and walked to wards her, asking her hand for a dance.
Kehte hain Khuda ne iss... jahaan mein
Sabhi ke liye...kisi na kisi ko hai... banaaya
har kisi ke liye
She was losing herself gradually and dancing according to his moves, looking into his eyes with all her love.
He slowly made her sit and took his guitar back. He started singing again, describing how how his life changed with her coming into it. she was his biggest gift, his shining star.
hmm Meharbaani jaate-jaate mujhpe kar gaya
Guzarta saa lamha ek daaman bhar gaya
Tera nazaara mila, roshan sitaara mila
Taqdeer ki kashtiyon ko kinara mila
he always wanted a life that was simple, calm and happy and here she was giving him all the good reasons to live. He was so sure that they were made for each other
Sadiyon se tarse hai jaisi zindagi ke liye
Teri sohbat mein duaayein hain ussi ke liye
Tera milna hai uss rab ka ishaara
Maano mujhko banaya tere hi jaise kisi ke liye
Kuch toh hai tujh se raabta
Kuch toh hai tujh se raabta
Kaise hum jaane hume kya pata
Kuch toh hai tujhse raabta
Soon everybody stood up to dance.
Tu humsafar hai, phir kya fiqar hai
Jeene ki wajah hi yehi hai
Marna issi ke liye
Kehte hain Khuda ne iss... jahaan mein
Sabhi ke liye...kisi na kisi ko hai... banaaya
har kisi ke liye
He ended the song standing next to her and made her turn to the other side, where there was a huge canvas of both of them, Manik was giving her a rose. (Isn't this our favorite scene? MaNan's comeback)
"Twenty two gifts, one for each year! Manik, this is indeed the best birthday ever" she said holding his hand.
"Did you like them?" he asked
"Can't you read my face Manik?" she asked another question in reply.
Tired after a long day, they all hit the bed, while Manik and nandini spent the whole night in the balcony, stargazing and reminiscing the whole celebration all over again, while he slowly sealed her lips with his, giving her a kiss that would definitely out beat all the gifts he gave her.
That's how it started... hope you all liked the idea of 22 gifts...
Please let me know how it was....pleaseee.... :):) puppy face.... and don't forget to wish Nandini an happy birthday :)
shivu_05 kya hotha tere binaa jay kaa... best friend forever!!! I dedicate this to you.... :):)
Hope you enjoyed reading...