"Happy birthday Anu!" Mummy and Daddy screamed as they saw me sitting on the bed. I repeated, "Happy birthday Anu!"

"No silly, we must wish you today for it's the day you came into this world and our lives."

"You must tell 'thank you' when someone wishes you 'happy birthday'. Okay?" Mummy asked.

I replied confidently, "Happy birthday."

"No Anu! Tell 'thank you'," she corrected.

"Thank you," I said. She had taught me this already. Why is teaching me to tell thank you again?

I was taken to brush my teeth and then made to drink a glass of milk. I wandered around when I saw Daddy splashing water on his face near the wash basin. He took some toothpaste like tube and put it on a white toothbrush kind of thing. But this toothbrush looked weird and much thicker. He looked at me and smiled. "Anu, what is Daddy doing?"

"Shaming," I replied, with full confidence.

He chuckled and corrected, "Shaving, Anu! It's shaving!"

"Shaving? No shaming?"

As he applied the toothbrush on his face, he replied, "No shaming, only shaving. Say with me, shaving."

"Shaving," I repeated.

"Shabash! Now, tell me what type of cake do you want?"

"What this?" I asked, pointing at his face.

"Which one? This is my nose," he replied.

I shook my head. "Down nose, what this?" I again asked him.

This time, he pointed at the black hair kind of thing below his nose. I nodded. He laughed, "This is moustache."

"Mous?"

"Moustache."

"Moustache."

"Good girl!"

I touched my face. I don't have it! I ran to kitchen and tugged Mummy's dress. She turned towards me. Even she doesn't have it!

I ambled back to him, thinking. I went with a sad face. "Mummy, I no moustache."

"Arre Anu, girls don't have moustache. Boys have."

What is he telling? Now what is this girls and boys? He washed his face again and bent down. He took my palm to make me touch his cheeks and chin. They didn't prick me anymore.

He went to bathroom with a long piece of cloth. What is it called? Tow? Tow? Towel! Yes, towel! Then I walked to the balcony. Yes, the place that let's me see at other kids playing. I again tried to place my foot on the railings but no luck. I walked around, jumping and enjoying rare cool breeze.

"Anu! I will be leaving now. Daddy is going to office!"

I ran to tell him bye. When he opened the door, Iyer uncle also opened the door. He wished me, "Happy birthday, dear Anu!"

I replied, "Happy birthday."

Both of them started laughing. Now what happened?

Daddy smiled, "Tell thank you uncle."

Now I see what had happened. "Thank you Iyal uncle."

He took me in his arms and asked, "Now tell your Iyal uncle, where is your Daddy going?"

Mummy came and took me from him. I replied, "Daddy is going to office with moustache."

The trio started laughing. Again? What happened this time? Mummy commented, "I've never seen anyone talking this confidently."

"That's the beauty of children of this age. They don't know whether they are correct or not. They will speak their mind out," Iyer uncle said.

Then Daddy and Iyer uncle realised they both were running late for work, so they left. Mummy closed the door and asked, "Anu, so Daddy goes to office with moustache?"

I nodded my head.

"Then where do you think he would have kept it?"

I simply looked at her. Do you even understand what you were trying to tell?

***

I was trotting behind Mummy as she was taking me somewhere. When I saw the gate of the park, I felt immense happiness seeing that we will be going to the park. But we went little further and there I saw we stopped near a shop. I realised where we had come when I saw the long red box. She will be talking in that stuffy room.

She spoke to the shopkeeper and took me inside the box. There she made me sit on her lap and instantly pushed the phone away from me. I tried to reach the buttons of phone but in vain. She is very smart. From next time I've to be careful.

She dialled a number and then put the rectangle thing of the phone near her ear. I tried snatching it but she glared and I sat quietly. Then speaking for a minute, she handed over the phone to me. I could here someone speaking, "Hello? Anu? Happy birthday! Many happy returns of the day! May God bless you."

I listened to them as I was playing with the rectangle thing's wire. It was different type of shape.

"Anu, tell thank you!"

I listened to the rectangle thing as someone was telling a very long sentence. Mummy took the phone from me and said, "She is just listening and playing with that wire."

Then they talked for sometime and she kept the phone. When we were walking back home, I pointed at the park and said, "Mummy, park go."

"No Anu, it is half past eleven, why would you want to go in this heat?"

I tried pulling her to the park but she was stronger. She pulled me back to home.

***

I don't understand this – I was forced to sleep and now I was forcefully shaken from my siesta. I was given bath again. Mummy dressed me in a frock. But the inner lining of the frock would always prick me. The exact reason why I would hate them.

Mummy made me sit on the bed to comb my hair. Taking a handful of white powder, she dusted it on my face. Ignoring my cough, she put a black dot on the face, between the brows.

"Anu, look how beautiful you look! See yourself in the mirror," Mummy said, excitedly.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I am not flattering myself, but I do look good. After sometime, the lock of the door opened. I couldn't believe the sight in front of me. Daddy had come home, very early with a big box in his hand. He quickly kept it in the fridge and we played for some time when doorbell rang.

What happened for next two hours, left me irritated. Many kids with whom I used to play in the park had come. Also, Iyer Aunty, Iyer Uncle and their sons, Suman bhaiyya and Arya bhaiyya. Everybody was continuously muttering one sentence – 'Happy birthday Anika'. By the time fourth person reached to wish me, I knew I had to reply a 'thank you'.

The big box which Daddy had carried had cake. A really big one. I was made to cut with a knife. Mummy and Daddy tried to feed me but I made faces, clearly indicating that I didn't wanted to eat them. Everybody was given a plate of different delicacies to eat and then there were boxes of different sizes wrapped in different colours. I wanted to open them but Daddy was storing them under the bed in the bedroom.

It took almost two hours for one of them to tell, "Thank you Aunty and Uncle. We must leave now."

After that everybody started leaving one after the other. I felt very relieved, especially after changing into shirt-pant. That frock wasn't comfortable at all. Sitting with Daddy, we started removing the gift wrapping papers. They were different types of dolls made of thin thread. Mummy collected all of them and packed it inside a huge cover. Daddy hid it somewhere.

That's how I became two-years-old!

Thank you for reading.