In a couple of days he will get his ‘revenge’ for all the jokes and jibes that came his way growing up, jokes Thrissur-native Shaji Raphael. “It is not just me, all of us who were born on leap day, February 29, have been the butt of such jokes. But I have found the solution to our unique ‘problem’,” he says. The ‘solution’ is a gathering of people born on February 29, in Thrissur to set a ‘national record’.
It started in mid-January, with Shaji posting a video on YouTube and sharing a text and a voice note on WhatsApp asking those born on February 29 to get in touch with him. “Eight people responded — it was a start. We decided to meet up on January 26, since it was a holiday, at Thrissur’s Thekkinkadu Maidan. Only five people were able to make it. As we got talking, the idea of ‘celebrating’ together came up. We decided that even if it was just the five of us or 10, we will celebrate,” says Shaji, who was born in 1972.
As per the plan, they booked a hall to celebrate the gathering and setting the record. “Even then we had such a hard time. We had to educate people about February 29; we had to convince people that February 29 was a big deal,” Shaji says laughing.
