In the past 15 years, I experienced the “brown” way of celebrating a birthday. A brown birthday party has multiple differences compared to the regular way of celebrating a birthday. Having my birthday celebrated in this particular style has allowed my cultural roots to be closely tied to the Indian culture. Here are a few differences of how brown people celebrate their birthday.

1. Timing

At any typical brown party, 99 percent WILL NOT show up on time to any party. If the invitation said “the party will start sharply at 8 pm”, the guests will leave their house at 8 or even later.

2. The Greeting

At a brown birthday party, there is not just the birthday girl's/boy's friends and the family celebrating the girl's/boy's birthday. No, there’s your parent’s friends and other casual family friends. TRUST ME, the house can get very crowded when it’s your birthday. This celebration of your birthday is more of multiple family get-togethers. Plus, since you’re the birthday girl/boy, you will probably have to greet every single person at your house (even the people you do not know why they are even here).

3. Importance Of Food In The Culture

In my culture, my mother would spend multiple days and nights cooking the perfect handcrafted meals for all the upcoming guests. And finally, all your mother’s hard work pays off when the guests towards the end of the party (like around 1 am or even later).

4. The Birthday Ritual

The birthday ritual is one of my favorite rituals. The birthday ritual occurs after the birthday girl/boy cuts the cake. Basically, after the birthday person has cut their cake, everyone feeds the special person a small piece and puts some of the frosting on the birthday girl’s/boy’s face. It’s basically a “cake facial".

5. What’s A Party Without A Dance

Typically after the cake cutting ritual, the volume of the music is turned up to its fullest, and everyone, no matter where they are, will come together and start dancing to that beat. A typical brown birthday party will usually end around 12 and sometimes even later. It all depends on the songs. If they are very catchy, expect them to stay later.