A surprise party and some lovely family time is what made ace fashion designer Anjali Phougat’s birthday truly special this year. The fashion designer says that this year has been incredible and she is so grateful to everyone around her for making it so amazing for her.
“So, I had a special milestone birthday this year. I turned 40 and I wanted to spend some time on myself and focus on just how I am, relax and spend time with my family. That’s exactly what I did. I didn’t go anywhere out. I spent time with my family and since I’m a big baba devotee, my birthday was fortunately on Thursday this year and I went to baba temple, sat there for a long time, just praying and did meditation on my birthday. My daughter was really excited. She brought some cake. And we did a cozy cake cutting in our new house. I wanted to celebrate my milestone birthday in a new house and by the grace of baba, I was able to do that,” she says.
She adds, “This year, my friend Prachi planned a surprise birthday party for me. She was travelling to the Bahamas and she recently had a lot going in her life, a very packed schedule and I couldn’t imagine her planning such an amazing, wonderful surprise party. I am really grateful to have such great friends and I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by so much love and positivity. Speaking about materialistic things, I feel I have everything in the world that my heart desires or I have the capacity to buy the things but I feel as we grow older, life becomes less materialistic. This year, I’ll be focusing time just on my spiritual growth. I will do meditation, yoga, and take time out from my busy schedule to spend with myself. I will also spend more time with my family. So those are little small things and I will be working in the coming year; balancing my work and family life. So that’s the gift I’m trying to give myself and I really hope to accomplish. Things are nothing for me because I feel that baba has given me the power to give back to others and the community. I can style a lot of girls in pageants for free, give them confidence, create a platform for the South Asian community at New York fashion week. Fortunately, this month a lot of girls got the crown back and a lot of girls from the Miss Universe pageant will also be joining my New York fashion week team. I’m super excited in terms of work. This year has been fulfilling and accomplishing.”
Birthdays have always been significant for Anjali, who says, “To me, my birthday is very important. It’s a moment for me to realise, take a pause in my life, slow down and cut down the negativity and focus on how far I have come. When I look back at my journey, I think in my 40th year I have accomplished a lot. This year it has been an incredible year. This year, I have received the Times 40 Under 40 award.”
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There are some rituals she makes sure to follow every birthday. “So, every year I make sure to go to temple to be really thankful to God for giving me so much fulfillment in every dream. This is the ritual I like to follow every year; to pray, take time out to meditate, go to temple and show my gratitude and donate whatever I can,” she says, adding, “My husband, my family are so loving. They make sure to wish me, make or create special surprises. And every birthday has been so special because we grow old.”
