ADNAAN'S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY!

By Rohit (March 7, 2004)

It was a Friday and after school events were wrapping up. We had a faint idea of how we were going to surprise Adnaan but nothing concrete. I think it was Jon Li who said at the party that this was one of the most orthodox birthday party he had been too. That was true in more than one way.

At my cricket club, these two Australian people showed up saying how they hadn't seen a cricket game in so long and it was interesting that we were  playing cricket. They mostly talked to our sponsor/supervisor Mr. Rinker. I thought it was cool. Well anyway, so after the game, I went to the Scholastic Bowl practice. It was almost over. I don't care about Scholastic Bowl anymore. It has no value to me. Sometimes, it seemed like a good investment, but not anymore, its a waste of time. So, Dave Huang, Anubhav, and I left for Adnaan's house. Being the first ones there, Adnaan's mom left to fetch the cake (while Dave tried to burn the plastic on the party tweeters - or whatever - and get the wax stuck in there). The time is now 5:50PM.

Very soon, other guests start arriving starting with Dev, Jason, Alex, and Rosa followed by the other gang Jon Huang, Dave Liu, James, Jon Li, and Newell. The time was now 6:45PM, and none of us were ready for any surprise plans. The house was split in groups with some playing chess, others in Adnaan's room, and more in the basement watching TV, listening to music, etc. His mother was also running in between the mess trying to call her husband (who had taken Adnaan to the YMCA as a diversion). Earlier, I had thought that I had blown the cover and that Adnaan knew everything, but that was not so.

It was 7:00PM when we got the signal to be quiet and hide somewhere in the kitchen area. It was all my idea to turn all the lights off and hide in the kitchen area right next to the garage entrance (not that original of a plan, but the only one we had). So, armed with a digital Nikon camera, I camouflaged myself in the veil of darkness with my only downfall a bright light on the camera. The cue for everyone else to shout was the flash of a camera. We heard the car in the garage, everyone had muffled their breaths in anticipation. The door creaked and the heavy footsteps of Adnaan set it. He quietly yelled, "Ami?" He turned on the hallway light (but could not see us) and came by the kitchen. I jabbed the button on the camera, but alas the camera was too slow...fortunately, it made a few sounds and people took that as cue enough to almost attack and subdue Adnaan. The great thing was the picture that I did take was a perfect snap of Adnaan being surprised. There was noise in the air as Adnaan grimaced and then stretched out a smile that spanned from ear to ear.

From then, the pizza was served and the drinks followed by a fun period of just hanging out and chatting. That brings me to an interesting thing that happened to most of us. Jon Li and I found a dark and secluded room in the basement. We just sat there and started talking about our future and discussing. Soon, we were joined by Anubhav and then Jason, Dev, and Adnaan. We talked passionately about some things, and it was a weird experience.

Well, oh and Hamza and Melissa had joined us by then. The party was fun, a relaxing Friday evening might I add. I hope we made Adnaan happy and made a difference in his life (something he has deserved).

Adnaan surprised! (Picture by Rohit 3.7.04)