THE INVITATION

Your card can be a cardboard or thermocol cut out of a fish, crab, lobster, seahorse or even a seaweed. Whatever catches your fancy.  Or if you would really like to make an impression, get a few small gold fish bowls and attach an invitation card to it. But better still, take a long stick or a rod that looks like a fishing rod and dangle the invitation card on the end of it. 
On the card you can write: NOTHING FISHY ABOUT THIS INVITATION.
                                         
Inside:  I JUST WANTED YOU TO CATCH MY BAIT.
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY 
AND I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO 
AN EXCITING FISHING VILLAGE 
THAT IS FULL OF FUN AND GAMES. 
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:
SO LETS GO FISH TOGETHER.
 JOHN ABRAHAM
 

THE DECORATION

Cover the entire ceiling of the party room with low hanging nets and have a cut out of a huge fishing boat at the entrance. Hang danglers of fish and prawn entwined in the fishing nets and have a few cut outs of crabs all over the place. You can even borrow a few live crabs from your nearest seafood joint for special effects. Make a beautiful khoy bag in the shape of a huge octopus with his eight legs dangling down. 

Hang a light blue sari on one wall to give the effect of the sea, and pour a 
bucket of sand beneath it. Place a few potted plants and make cut outs of palm trees and coconuts and place them on the beach along with a few shells. Keep a cane basket in the corner of the room and fill it with paper cut outs of gaily-painted fish. 

Or else paint a beach scene on a couple of chart papers and use it as a backdrop to this whole setting.
 

THE ENTERTAINMENT

If you could get your family together to practice a few steps before the party, you could put up a small skit and do the fisherman's folk dance as it is quite easy to learn and looks good too. For games you could have:

THE FISHING GAME: for this you should attach tiny magnets to tiny little gifts and hide about 30-40 of them in the sand pit. Then take a couple of sticks to which you should attach a strong thread and a tiny magnet. Give these to the children by turns and let them fish out their surprise gifts. 

KING PRAWN: played on the lines of 'Queen of Sheba', you have to divide all the children into two teams. Here the King Prawn will announce an article saying, "King Prawn wants…"and whichever team is able to find that article and bring it to the King is awarded points. Finally the team with the highest points wins. 

SHOOT THE EYE OF THE FISH: use a bow an arrow and ask the children to aim at a huge fish dangler. The child who hits it closest to the eye wins. As a variation you can have them pin the eye on the fish while they are blindfolded. 

FISHMODELLING CONTEST: give the children lots of clay to play with and give out the prize for the best sample of sea life.  

RETURN GIFTS

When the children are ready to leave, have one of your relatives or servants dress up like an authentic fisherman holding a huge basket or a net filled with the return gifts, standing at the gate. He should fish out each return gift from this and present it to each child as they leave. 

1. Soap danglers in the shape of fish. 

2. Small net dupattas (if the party is for girls).

3. Hand towels with a motif of a fish and the child's name on it.

4. A lunch box in the shape of a fish.
 

THE CAKE

Try to follow the theme of the card that you have chosen. The cake can be in the shape of a crab, a fish, a prawn a seahorse or even seaweed. A lobster would look really impressive. But an octopus would be just great. 
Or you could even choose a simple square or rectangular shape and have the entire fishing village theme done on it. Another good idea is to have it in the shape of a fish tank or an 'under the sea' look. 
 

THE BIRTHDAY DRESS

Typical Indian fishermen dress up in a banyan and a 'lungi'. Walk barefoot as it will complete the impression. If it is birthday girl you could doll her up in a 'navari sari' (a nine yard sari instead of the usual six yard one, which is draped in the Maharashtrian style.) She can also wear colourful glass bangles and a bright 'bindi' and tie up her hair in a bun. Don't forget to put jasmine flowers in her hair. 
 

AGE GROUP OF CHILDREN

The children should be in the age group of 7 - 14 years to most enjoy this party.
 

PARTY FOOD

1. Croissants in the shape of crabs.
2. Fish and chips.
3. Prawn wafers and fries.
4. Boat canapés with a corn and mushroom filling. - For this you must take a few toothpicks and stick a triangular flag on top. Put this into the filling in the canapé to make it look like a little boat. 
5. Starfish vegetable tikkis - or patties in the shape of little starfish.
6. Coconut punch cocktail - made with fruit juices, coconut water and sugar syrup.
7. Barbecue cottage cheese and fish tikkas.