Birthday Present

April 18th marks yet another anniversary of a gift that stands the test
of time and friendship. This time however, I was the giver, not the
receiver. Following 18 months after the seminal gift that was Vanilla
Ice's To The Extreme (see below) which was given to me by a white male
with no musical talent (yes, I know, ironic), I knew I had to do something
that maybe could not top that gift I received, but would at least make the
birthday boy jump up and down in excitement, much as I had. But what?
What could I give to the person who, at that time, was my only Indian
friend? Ladoos? A rakhi? We weren't gay, so neither of those two would
work. I had to give him something that would show him that I thought
we were like brothers. Maybe not in blood, but in spirit.

A little bit about my friend. Not only was he the only Indian friend I had
at the time (and to this day is still my brother in arms), he was also the
only 'black' friend I had. Yes, he was the inspiration for the Ajay character
in American Desi. He had the gold chain with the Mercedes logo around
his neck at all times. He wore tinted prescription glasses. And he had
a large collection of rap tapes that he recorded off the radio. I knew
the direction I had to go in for the gift, but I needed something historic.
As I wandered through the aisles of Scotty's in Madison, NJ, I saw it.
And I instantly knew, this was the gift to end all gifts. As an aside, I
am well known for two things: giving fantastic speeches at weddings/
birthdays/anniversarys and giving great gifts. I dare say, the great gift
giving started on April 18th, 1992.

I had found a cassette that was recorded by two brothers. On the tape
was a song that was a monster hit and to this day gets people jumping.
It is a song that was so huge and popular, immediately after I gave him
the tape, we ran to my room, put my boombox on my window sill, and
blasted the song over and over for the entire campus to hear. And as
they did, they danced. Danced, my friends, danced. Some of you may
have already figured out what the song is. For those of you that haven't
here are some lyrics to help you out:

Jump! Jump!
The Mac Dad will make you
Jump! Jump!
The Daddy Mac will make you
Jump! Jump!
Kris Kross will make you Jump Jump
uh huh, uh huh
Believe dat

That's right. I got him, Kriss Kross's Totally Krossed Out. The megahit
'Jump' crossed (no pun intended) boundaries. White, Black, Indian or
Canadian, everyone enjoyed the song. You couldn't help but smile and,
in fact, jump jump when the song came on the radio. And who didn't
want to wear their pants backwards like the two boys on the record?
Kriss Kross became an institution. Their ability to put the pop in rap
at such a young age was unparalled. And since the cassette was released
a mere 3 weeks prior to his birthday, he was one of the first people
to own this tremendously popular and artistic album.

And the smile on my friend's face was priceless. In the words of Kriss Kross...
Believe dat.

Download Kriss Kross's Jump