India, May 18 -- The police in Surat, Gujarat , in all their wisdom, have prohibited exuberant birthday celebrations in public. By calling rituals such as smearing cake on faces and giving birthday bumps as "cruel and violent" behaviour, do the cops have a point or are they needlessly shoring up their worth as neighbourhood vigilantes? Is this another case of overreach by the authorities? Could be a bit of both. Celebrations, especially involving the youth, can and often do get raucous but if they are not bothering other patrons or the public at large, then frankly no authority has any business to intervene and play spoilsport. After all, a bit of smeared cake never killed anyone. However, it is also true that some birthday celebrations c...