Birthday Parties
If there is one thing Shaurya's social life revolves around, it is birthday parties. And the proof is in the group chats — there are literally dedicated WhatsApp and Instagram groups for individual birthdays. From the Oman days at ISGI through to life in Dubai, birthdays have been the anchor events that bring the crew together.
The Birthday Group Chats
We have "bhannisbdayparty3" (yes, the THIRD iteration — the first two planning groups died and had to be revived), "vedukibdaypartybohotmastthibkls" (that name is a whole sentence, translating roughly to "Ved's birthday party was so great"), "nysaissuchagirlboss" for Nysa's celebrations, "aliyahbudday" for Aliyah, and "nysabuddayparty" as a separate planning group. Each birthday gets its own group because coordinating gifts, venues, surprises, and who is coming is genuinely a logistics operation.
The "partyplanning" group on Instagram is the master coordination chat — the one that spans across individual birthdays and handles the bigger picture of who is organizing what, when, and how. It is the project management layer on top of the individual birthday chaos.
How It Works
Someone's birthday is coming up. A group chat is created (or an old one is resurrected and renamed). The next two to three weeks are pure chaos — what are we getting them, where are we going, who is paying for what, should we do a surprise, who is picking up the cake, who is making the reel, and who is going to accidentally spoil the surprise. It is like project management but the project is making your friend feel loved.
The early birthdays had their own character -- smaller venues, the ISGI crew, parents dropping everyone off and picking them up. Later birthdays scaled up -- malls, restaurants, bigger groups, more elaborate plans. But the core energy stayed the same: go all out for your people.
Key Birthday Events
- Nysa's birthdays — multiple group chats across different years, including the legendary "nysaissuchagirlboss" and "nysabuddayparty" groups. Nysa is someone the whole crew shows up for.
- Aliyah's birthday — "aliyahbudday" was its own event. Aliyah brings maximum energy to everything, so her birthday had to match.
- Ved's birthday -- "vedukibdaypartybohotmastthibkls" -- the group name alone tells you how the party went. Ved and the whole crew celebrating together.
- Bhannis's birthday — three iterations of planning groups. Some birthdays require multiple attempts to get the coordination right.
Why It Matters
Social life as a teenager is built around these moments. Birthdays are the anchor events that bring everyone together, especially when the friend group is spread across different cities. The parties themselves are fun, but the planning — the group chats, the inside jokes that come from the planning, the stress of keeping the surprise secret, the post-party photo dumps — that is where the memories are made.
The Culture
It is not just about cake and presents. It is about showing up for your people. When someone's birthday comes around, you go all out. You coordinate, you plan, you show up, you post. That is just how we do it. The group chat culture ensures that no birthday passes without at least three planning messages, one near-disaster, and one moment that becomes the next inside joke.