Stepping Into The Seventy Fifth

How do you step into the 75th year of your life?

Do you celebrate? How? With whom? Where?

The universe celebrates with you. Mother Nature gives you a birthday gift. How and where?

End of December every year is the flowering time for the mango trees in our yard in Secunderabad. This year none of the three trees bloomed. Ghumakkad was a bit saddened. May be it would flower next year. Many mango trees produce fruits every alternate year. Some way to console oneself! 

As Ghumakkad's 74th birthday approached, mother Nature smiled. As if on cue, all the three mango trees started to bloom with sprinkling flowers. Nature's own way of saying 'Have patience. Happy Birthday Harsh'. Sharing below few pictures of the birthday 'gift' timed so well by the universe! Ghumakkad feels truly blessed. Sharing below my joy.

'Old age is second childhood', goes the old saying. Ghumakkad feels like a child at 74. Sample the things that thrill me as a child. Joy in small things!

A four-year-old child when asked his age, doesn't say 'I am four'. Instead he says with his chin high 'I am-four-and-a-half!' So does Ghumakkad when he says 'I am entering seventy five' instead of the routine answer 'I am seventy-four!'

Children become sad when one of their toys becomes non-operative. Once repaired, the joy gets restored and the child resumes playing. Same way for the older lot like me, a repaired hair-trimmer brings the smiles back! 

Completing a puzzle game brings enormous joy and satisfaction to a child. When a winding putt drops into the hole, the joy knows no bounds for Ghumakkad-the-golfer. Small things matter.

Learning science at home- children sow few seeds in a pot at home. When it sprouts, the eyes sparkle. Ghumakkad feels equally excited when the mango tree starts flowering. Small things again!

This morning, I was at Yapral lake for my morning walk. It was a misty morning not suited for photography yet cool enough for some stretches under the canopy of trees. Sharing few pictures below.

Misty morning by the lake side can create surreal images. Ghumakkad loves his morning walks. Sharing a few pictures taken on the New Year when most of the world was asleep.

Seventy four is also the time to pause and look back. Sharing below two stories of my 70th and 60th birthday celebrations where many of you are featured. Read on.

"Seventy is getting old, yet not old enough." Do you agree? What did Ghumakkad do when he turned seventy?

A Grandpa Turns Sixty - When friends came over from across the continents to give bumps to Ghumakkad!

Celebratory Triathlon

Our son Ankush who is an Ironman twice, celebrated my 74th birthday with a 740 metres swim,  74km bike ride followed by a 7.4km run in Chennai. What a creative and unique way to celebrate a father's 74tth birthday in Ironman style. Isn't it? Thanks Son, proud of you.

Cake of Choice

When you have a Chef in the family, how can a cake of choice not be there!  Our daughter-in-law Prabs and grandson Ansh teamed up at night to get an egg-free Ultra Chocolate Cake with a candle. Thanks Chef Prabs, for such a delicious cake. See the picture below and you will fall for the cake. Those in Hyderabad can visit her cafe called SOZO on Road No, 14, Banjara Hills.

The video of the cake cutting with Ansh follows.

Ghumakkad is privileged to share his birthday with Col GB Sethi, PhD. Both of us love golfing and have been teachers. Though eleven years apart, but we are close at heart. Picture below shows doing a hi-five with him on the golf course.

Ghumakkad thanks all those who have sent messages, calls, notes, blessings, videos and text and even those who forgot --for keeping me in their thoughts. Grateful to each one of you. You make my life so special. I feel blessed. 

As my late buddy Annu (aka Anand Jain) used to say 'Insha Allah', see you for the Platinum next year. God willing.

Thanks for browsing. Stay connected and do leave a comment. Even a few words will encourage us.

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Secunderabad/ 3rd Jan 2026

#74thBirthday #GrandpasBirthday #SteppingInto75 #RedefiningJoy #NaturesGift #BlessedByTheUniverse #JoyInSmallThings #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #SmallThingsIn Life

The Thrill Of A Surprise

How do you celebrate the 75th Birthday of a buddy?

You travel 800 kms to be with the buddy. 

What else?

You go unannounced to give a surprise. 

How?

You team up with the buddy's family and plan a secret operation.  Like a military ops.

But there are other common friends in town. How to keep the visit a secret from all of them?

You do it by maintaining 'social media silence'. Like the radio silence in the Navy. 

That's a tough call. Isn't it?

Thanks to Gunjan, my buddy's daughter, we were able to pull it off! The surprise and the joy was worth the 20-hour train travel from Secunderabad to Mumbai. See the pictures and two short video clips below.

Gian Prakash, GP my buddy in the Navy for 52 years, was in the shower when I reached his home in Kharghar. When he came out, the joy and delight for both of us was priceless.

The short clip captured by Gunjan, GP's daughter says it all

It was a surprise even for Jaya, GP's wife. See her reaction in the video clip below.

On checking out Jaya's well being, I told her my favourite line for all Veteran couples, "One wicket at a time"!

Having reached two days before the 75th Birthday,  the celebrations included many events. One of them was watching a live performance of 'Meera- The Mystic' by Shama Bade of Nadroop Ensemble of Pune at NMCC the iconic Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in BKC, Mumbai. The tickets for such shows are sold out months in advance. NMCC is a world-class theatre complex having 22 gates for entry and exit. You can imagine it's size! Thanks again to Gunjan for her planning and affection. 

Photography inside the Grand Theatre is not permitted while the show is on. Sharing below a video, few pictures of the empty theatre and the plush lobby.

Notice the wheel chair in the picture below? Few of the original chairs in the last row are removable to accommodate a guest with a wheelchair. Talk of inclusivity!

The lobby at NMCC also  has a small temple with Radha Krishna as the deities.

The Birthday Boy with Jaya.

The buddies since 52 years!

The lobby

Mirrored corridors 

The entire Raghunath Vihar, the AWHO apartment complex in Kharghar seemed to be celebrating GP's landmark birthday. See a short video clip of an entertainment evening. 

ĢP's seven-year-old grandson Hariansh played a piece on his keyboard.

Hariansh with Gunjan his Mom. Love his eyes and the smile.

The celebrations ended with a puja and Havan on the D-day, 10th Nov. I was fortunate to attend it. Few pictures.

The 87-year-old pujariji from Dwarhat in Kumaon setting up the puja chowki.

Ghumakkad then proceeded to Vapi to give another surprise to his college buddy of 57 years. Shirish Chinoy had been unwell for a while. His younger son Nimesh ensured the secret operation. See the sheer joy on Shirish's face when I entered his house.

Felt blessed to be with Shirish and Madhuri.

Video below shows when Shirish got motivated to take a morning walk the next day.

When buddies of 57 years meet, the gup shup doesn't stop. Whether day, night or early morning! Pictured below after a morning walk.

The joy of giving a surprise is so thrilling. I guess receiving a surprise is equally joyful. Ghumakkad feels blessed that I could pull off both the surprises mentioned above.

Any visit to Vapi is incomplete without having the famous Ubadyu. Available only in the Vapi-Valsad stretch during Nov-Feb season, it is a delicacy cooked in a matka, an earthenware pot on slow fire. Papdi, a local flat bean, potato,  sweet potato and yam are all cooked with the peel.  The pot is lined with the leaves of a local shrub which grows only during the season. The Ubadyu is eaten with green chili chutney and butter milk. Few pictures below.

Where to eat Ubadyu? See the picture at the end of the story.

Do share your joy of giving or receiving the surprises in life.

Thanks for browsing.  Stay connected and do leave a comment. It encourages us.

   Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Vapi/ 12th November 2025

#surprises #joyofasurprise #givingasurprise #receivingasurprise #smallthingsinlife #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh