B'day no 31 dawns for Sourav

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">KOLKATA: In these times, in the intense glare of the media, it is increasingly difficult in for public figures to keep occasions such as their birthdays to themselves, quiet and personal. And if you are the Indian cricket captain, you might as well forget it.<br /><br />Sourav Ganguly turns a ripe 31 on Tuesday, and while he would like to keep it intimate, he might not be able to.Suddenly these birthdays are public — celebrations for everybody to join in. The hype that had been created by Little Master Sachin Tendulkar’s 31th birthday in April last, has got the media in overdrive this time around too. <br /><br />And Ganguly, while savouring all the anticipation in the air, is a bit embarrassed to talk about it.<br /><br />“Why are you creating such a song and dance about a 31-year-old? It’s time for me to celebrate my daughter Sana’s birthdays instead,� Ganguly told <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Times News Network</span> on Saturday. For the Indian skipper, it was business as usual even on a weekend as he stepped out after a two-hour workout at the Cricket Association of Bengal’s new gymnasium.<br /><br />Asked about his plans for the big day, Ganguly said: “It feels good to be with the family on occasions as this. I wasn’t around last year but since my wife and daughter were travelling with me in England, we could take time out to cut the cake. This time, there are no major plans, really.�<br /><br />There will, of course, be a small celebration at his Behala residence on Monday night where some of his close friends will be flying in from Colombo and Dhaka to join the party. Wife Dona, who would play hostess alongwith mom Nirupa, said: “It’ll be a private occasion where some of his old buddies will be invited. And sorry, but there will be no celebrity cricketers.�<br /><br />The Ganguly household is a deeply religious one, where they stick to vegetarian food on Tuesdays. “Hence, it seems that even cutting of the cake will have to be put on hold,� added Dona lightheartedly. And come Wednesday morning, Sourav will have to fly to Mumbai to shoot for a commercial.<br /><br />However, much as he would have liked it, the Prince of Kolkata’s 31st birthday cannot exactly remain a quiet affair. ESPN-Star Sports, which have signed up Ganguly for a two-year contract, has lined up a series of programmes on various facets of the man which is already on air from July 1.<br /><br />A local TV channel has gone a step further: they are visiting city schools to collect birthday cards from students which would be handed over to the star that day. “The response has been tremendous and we have already got around 2000 cards lying in our office. Some of the handmade cards are really creative work,� said a spokesperson.</div> </div>