Lalu turns 62, celebrates birthday without much fanfare

With RJD's poll debacle still fresh in his mind, the ever-gregarious party chief Lalu Prasad was in a pensive mood on Thursday as he celebrated his 62nd birthday sans the usual fanfare.
 
"Suraj na badla, chand na badla, na badla asmaan, kitna badal gaya inshan (the sun, moon and the skies have not changed but people have)," Prasad, who is never at loss of words, recited the lines from a song by poet Pradeep after mediapersons asked him about the comparatively "dull" celebrations this time.
 
Accompanied by his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi, the former union minister, whose party's tally came down to four from 26 this Lok Sabha polls, began the day with a visit to a temple before cutting a chocolate cake at his 10 Circular Road bungalow, adjacent to chief minister Nitish Kumar's house here.
       
Unlike earlier when Prasad was at the helm, his birthday celebrations were lacking the razzmatazz.
   
Several senior RJD leaders, including Ramkripal Yadav, Shyam Rajak, Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Jagdanand Singh, Umashankar Prasad Singh and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh greeted Prasad.

When approached by mediamen, Prasad with his wife and other RJD leaders posed for photographs.