PARTYHOLICS

Signs of a Partyholic

2010-01-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

You come home from a party at about 1 in the night and your mother asks you, "What happened? Party itni jaldi khatam ho gayi?" ("Did the party get over so soon?")

Theme for a Dream

2009-12-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

(Because that's the best title I could think for this post).
If you have almost the same set of people on your invitation list as the party before and after yours, how do you make your party 'different'? The easiest way is to go for a theme party. Apart from the weddings and pre/post wedding parties, December is turning out to be quite a month of theme parties:

T didn't want her anniv party in the middle of December to be one in which everyone turns out in jackets and coats and mufflers. She wanted to see skin [and show some ;) ] So I suggested a 'Skin, Sheer, Shimmer' theme Had people thinking for sure.
A little known entrant in Lucknow's social circuit is organising a Bollywood theme party. Yeah, some people are so original!
Another couple is throwing a party next week. Theme for the party is tentatively Bollywood of the 1970s! And yeah, I know that's not original either but since they're good friends, I'm pretty excited about that one. My Twitter friends have come up with some suggestions for what I could wear. Let's see how it works out.
And then there's Poo who's doing a Christmas eve party and predictably, wants us to turn up in red and green, colours I do not have in my winter wardrobe :(

So there's a mad scramble in my head for what I'm wearing when. And if you think I'm going shopping for these parties, you're mistaken. Being the recessionista (oh yes, I love that word) that I am, I'm just going to recycle some of my stuff. And hope the results are good enough to share with you soon!

Social Calendar of a Busy Bee

2009-11-29T07:05:00.000-08:00

Despite the ups and downs of life, partying continues uninterrupted. Here's a look at what my days ahead are filled with:

Nov 30: Engagement and sangeet of a friend
Dec 1: Wedding of that friend
Dec 2: Cousin R1's reception
Dec 3: Friend's sister's wedding reception
Dec 4, 5, 6, 7: REPRIEVE
Dec 8: Another cousin, R2's mehndi ceremony
Dec 9: R2's engagement party in the day, Nutsy's bachelor's party at night (and girls are going too) and somewhere in-between, our anniversary :)
Dec 10: R2's wedding
Dec 11: Nutsy's engagement
Dec 12: Nutsy's wedding
Dec 13: Nutsy's wedding reception in the afternoon, T's anniv party at night
Dec 14: Two couple friends' anniversary and at least one of them will invite us, I'm assuming ;)
Dec 15: A friend's son's first birthday.

Please contact for appointments after Dec 15!

Some days you just NEED to be out!

2009-08-31T03:12:00.000-07:00

This is what a week that I began on the I'll-stay-at-home note ended up as:

Monday: I was invited to judge an event for the Direct Marketing firm Amway. They were having a Mr. and Mrs. Amway contest and said it wouldn't take more than 2 hours. I reached the venue punctually at 5:00 pm and knew right from the onset of the programme that with 20 couple contestants, there was no way I was going home before eight. I was so wrong! The programme ended at 10:00 pm! Five hours of judging that left me ravenous for good food. The Guy and I ended up going out for dinner that night, but more out of necessity than anything else.
Tuesday: Was supposed to be a stay-at-home for sure. The Guy and I had gone to check out stuff at a furniture shop in the evening and were supposed to be back in an hour and a half. But Destiny had other plans for us. My sister received an award that day for her contribution to the cause of street children and my nephew wanted to celebrate it with an outing. My parents were roped in without a hitch and there was no way we could have refused. Nay?

Wednesday: My friend M had planned a dinner at her place for our newly-wed friends (eight months into a marriage is still newly-wed!). It was a well arranged but informal gathering that we thoroughly enjoyed.

Thursday: The only day this last week that we were home! The Guy and I have been fasting on Thursdays for Sai Baba. Thankfully, unlike the past few Thursdays, there were no invitations this time and we spent the evening constructively by eating healthy and staying at home.

Friday: Technically, we did spend this day at home but with friends coming over for dinner, it didn't quite feel like what a day at home feels like. It was a dinner, I thoroughly enjoyed hosting! I had planned a sizzler party because with only six people to feed, I could do justice to the idea. I wish I had pictures to show you how much pains I took to lay the table, but there was just no time for clicking! But please let me describe the details and feel good. The starters included, sunken submarines, galawat kebabs (outsourced), paneer fingers and corn salad followed by vegetarian and non-vegetarian sizzlers. I added a slight drama by printing out tiny menus for everyone and I can show you at least what they looked like.

My friends loved the idea though I was fully prepared to have it laughed at. I was doing it for fun anyway!

Saturday: Two more freelance bylines for me! A friend of mine and colleague also made her freelance debut in the same issue of the same newspaper. And that was cause enough for us to get together for dinner! Actually, it was a long overdue dinner: my friend and her husband have also recently launched their own placement consultancy and that's quite a big deal that we wanted to celebrate! Finally managed to do it this Saturday.

Sunday: No reprieve on Sunday either because it's the weekend - the official outing day. I stepped out of home at 11:30 in the morning and returned at 10:00 in the night! A hawan to welcome the latest addition to our family - my pretty li'l niece - at my parents' place was followed by lunch. We went shopping for The Guy after that. In the evening, we went for Kaminey with our friends and decided to try out a new eating place with Awadhi cuisine thereafter. Came home and had another couple drop in for coffee and discussion.

All of this happened in a week I was intending to spend at home :) But tell me, which one of those things could I have avoided?

Surprise to a T

2009-06-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

M and I brought in T's birthday with a surprise party on Wednesday last, as some of you may already know from here. In which case, you will also know about my swollen foot and the super duper success of the party. But heck, that's not half the masala there was! And everyone kept gushing at what great friends we were to be throwing T a surprise bash. M and I, modest as we are, brushed aside the compliments with a 'Touch wood!' for our friendship.

The masala mix began right when we decided on the guest list. Because our darling T is the perfect socialite, we had all the difficulty deciding who to keep and who to lose on the guest list. And considering that this party had three names attached to it (M and mine, because we were hosting the party and T's because it was her birthday), there were bound to be people who'd be offended for not being invited but really, it was impossible to accomodate friends of all three of us in a single party! So we tried to keep T's friends in mind (all of the one we like and some of those we're indifferent to!) and managed to come up with an invitation list that wasn't bursting at its seams and was made up of only fun people.

The venue was booked, the food and drinks taken care of and the only thing we weren't sure about was how we'd get T to the venue with her husband Appi. M came with the brilliant idea of asking another friend - K - to call up T and invite her for the party we were throwing! And K did a great job, sending late minute reminders to make it look all authentic.

We somehow managed to keep the surprise under wraps until the last moment so that when T walked into a party full of people singing Happy Birthday for her, her expressions were worth a million dollars. From dazed to shocked they went in a matter of minutes!

A lot of hugs and kisses later, came the tequila shots. M had 6 of them and was fell asleep in the middle of the party. T had some shots and two vodkas and refused to go home after that. Trip 1 was in the kind of shape that made it impossible for her husband to leave her side. Trip 2, in her drunken stupor, decided to take some pot shots on my dress, which I fended off with such aplomb, she forgot she was drunk! Her pati Ash is a sweetheart when he's tipsy and I must tell you he was a sweetheart that day. Ash 2 - another of our friends - was very very upset when the music stopped playing at about 2 am! Forgivable, considering how 'happy' he was otherwise!

We sound like such a party of bewadas, don't we?! But hey, take my word for it, three tequilas down and I was as sober as I was when I came in.

I was the official photographer for the day, toting my handsome camera! You want pics? Oh well, how can I disappoint you?!

My favourite shot anytime, the shoe shot:

Readying the tequila shots:

Last but not the least, me:

Thank you, thank you! :)

Old wine, older bottle.

2009-05-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

We went last night to check out a new lounge bar that’s opened in our city. We small town people crave big town stuff! We do, I admit. Like we want more nice places to hang out at, want more places that dish out more than good food, a little more variety to spice up our night lives. The sad thing in our part of the world is that a pub/lounge bar/ disc doesn’t run successfully for more than six months, by which time there’s another new joint to try out but when you finally make up your mind that the old one was better, the old one doesn’t exist to go back to! It’s already shut shop by then. Really sad.

But I digress. What I was telling you about was this new lounge bar called Aura that we went to try out Saturday night and came back wondering why someone would put in so much money into something so half-hearted. It’s an oblong shaped place, with the DJ console at one end of the oblong and the entrance at the other so that when you enter the lounge, you feel like you’ve been thrust into a time capsule - one that takes you back in time. Seriously, because it’s so un-innovative, this place, that you have to be really stoned to like it.

The lighting and the smoke did make it difficult for me to say I like or dislike the décor of the place because I could barely see any of it, but the sound system sucked, even by Lucknow standards. And the aura of the place was really weak. It just didn’t get to me. And frankly, it just wasn’t me. Everybody there looked bored and ready to leave by 1 am (that early!) and find a more chilled out place to spend the rest of the Saturday night at, even if that alternative was a friend’s home.

I didn’t try the food there, because we were at a dinner before heading to Aura, so I will not comment on that. But the only thing I liked about last night was that I got to catch up with the whole gang, you know, the gang that you see at all the good parties in town and the gang you love air-kissing and making inane conversation with. Some of that gang is my friend too.

Snag an Invitation

2009-05-05T03:57:00.000-07:00

Gatecrashers at parties no longer gate crash; they just get themselves invited. Beg, borrow or steal an invitation and save the trouble of gatecrashing!

Having observed this growing tribe of people, I've put together a list of the Top Five Ways people use to snag an invitation to a snazzy party. I'm sure you're not that desperate, but which one would you pick if you were?

1. Call up the host and tell him you're throwing a party next week, the date and place is tentative but that they should keep themselves free around that time. The host may feel obliged to return the favour you haven't done him yet.

2. If it's a party being thrown for an occasion like a birthday or an anniversary, call up the hosts a day in advance just to confirm if you remember the date correctly. Say something like, "I just wanted to be sure - your birthday IS tomorrow, right?" Yeah right, dude! That generally does the trick of making the host feel bad for not inviting fake friends who remember birthdays/anniversaries only because a party is being thrown.

3. Call on the day of the party. Make small talk. And then shamelessly get to the point, "I heard you're throwing a party today?" What do you think the retort will be? "Ya, and you have to come!" Unless the host is just as brazen as the caller and can get away with, "Ya, I'm just calling a few close friends over."

4. Send a bouquet/bunch of flowers on the morning of the party, if it's a party being organised to celebrate an occasion. Again, the host may just feel embarrassed enough to call and thank you adding how he's put together a last-minute thing and that you're invited.

5. Plan in advance. After someone's thrown a great party, tell them all the good things you've been hearing about it. And sign off with, "I would love to be there next time you do something like this."

Come across any of these ways?

What we wore

2009-04-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

On my birthday...

Parties can hurt too

2009-04-22T00:20:00.001-07:00

The day after my birthday, we were at KP and M's place where about 8-10 people were invited for a cosy dinner. The hosts have a jacuzzi in their house and because it was such an informal gathering, the boys were toying with the idea of getting into the water to beat the heat.

KP had turned on the tap to fill the jacuzzi. The Guy and I were sitting on the edge of the jacuzzi when Mandy - the friend who had dropped in from Delhi especially for my birthday - decided to play a prank on The Guy. He gave him a slight push, The Guy lost his balance and landed into the hot water jacuzzi. Funny? Not exactly. It so happened that the hot water tap was running and when The Guy fell backward his shoulder hit the flow of boiling hot water and scalded him!

We didn't realise how serious the burn was till the next morning when the red patch on his right arm turned dangerously brown and made his skin shrivel up!

Of course, nobody had meant him any harm and we're holding it against nobody. But to come back after a party with an unnecessary injury is so painful, literally so for The Guy.

The good bahu

2009-04-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's me, for a change. You will stop laughing at that when I tell you how I planned and neatly pulled off a surprise party on my mother-in-law's birthday! I am that nice and I do such random nice stuff.

Since pa-in-law was not in town, I thought I'd spring a surprise on my very nice MIL. I didn't want to do something very elaborate (that's reserved for my birthday on the weekend!), so I organised a women-only tea party. I told MIL my friends were coming over for tea so that she wouldn't be raising her eyebrows at all the fuss I was making about the house. Of course, she being the gullible soul that she is, was totally duped into believing me. And when the first of the guests arrived with flowers and gifts in hand, she was rather taken aback!

As a token of appreciation from the MIL, I got a slight rap on the bottom of my back. The trouble was worth it!

2009-04-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

So have I not been partying? Of course, I have! So much that I haven't felt like talking about it at all. But dahlings, how can I not fill you in with the juiciest, bitichiest bits of news from my social life? Here goes:

Last night, The Guy and I were out at a pub with some friends and friends of friends. The latter category of people included a woman from Mumbai, who'd been my husband's junior in school. She was there with a friend and seemed harmless enough, however slutty she may look. About three drinks later, the woman comes to me and starts talking about how she and this common friend of ours and The Guy had had such a great time when they were in Mumbai. Now I know for a fact that The Guy has not been to Bombay without me and on our last 3-day trip to the city, we were neck deep in a friend's wedding celebrations to go out anywhere else. So where was this coming from, I thought. Anyway, so the bitch (an epithet I decided on later for here) goes on about how The Guy had come alone and had been begging her to not tell me that he'd come to party without me! None of that happened except in her very wild imagination and why I think she's a total bitch is because she was just trying to brew some trouble between my husband and me. That didn't happen but she did just earn herself a really bad place in my books!

Anyway, so for the good stuff: I was so glad that my friends who were celebrating their son's first birthday decided to keep it as simple as it could be. Both the parents were dressed casually, and though that made me appear like an overdressed fool, I thought it was something other parents could learn from.

Talking about kids' birthday parties, I must tell you about my nephew's birthday bash. The li'l fellow, who I thought was turning 4 when he was actually turning 5, was super-excited. And so was I! And why not indeed - I got myself my very first tattoo that day.

How do you like my dragon :)

As if we don’t already have enough social engagements, I initiated this excellent idea of how we (just some close friends) should meet up once a month, have a pot luck dinner, and get food that we’ve cooked ourselves. The first of that dinner was organised at Fa and Sha’s place and went off very well. There were some rumours about how Sha was inviting some friends whom we didn’t quite welcome in that group and that was enough gossip to keep us all glued to our phones the entire day, but since it didn’t happen, it was all much ado about nothing.

But that’s not what has been the highlight of the gossip galleries. I’ll tell you what has: a couple kitty (oh pray, don’t tell me to explain what that is) that we agreed to join and totally regret now. It was Ro’s idea and the couples whom we’d be interacting with seemed like alright people. Till we actually spend one entire evening hob-nobbing with them. Disaster, folks, that’s what I thought it was.

Anyway, so Ash’s wife Trip put together a last-minute party to call in his birthday. And I must say, Trip’s a great hostess, managing so much by herself. No spicy bits of news from there, just a good time!

Then there was a family do organised by my cousin. He’s much-married, has two kids, and should’ve known that a party without liquor wasn’t going to be able to hold its own. And while the younger lot of people didn’t complain, the older lot (including my dad and dad-in-law) hopped over to the closest watering hole to get themselves a drink, unmindful of how my coz would take it. He took it very bad, to say the least and I’m not surprised. Probably, I’d have reacted the same way had I been in his shoes. But if I had been in his shoes, I’d have known better than to expect the 50-year-olds to give up their daily round of drinks for me!

During this time I also spent a weekend in Benaras with my friend T. So T, being a native of the place, took me to the restaurant at Taj there and believe you me, I was totally floored by the hospitality at the hotel. I don't quite remember what the food tasted like, because all I came back with was an after-taste of their impeccable hospitality!

Sha called up a couple of his friends and their wives (including The Guy) inviting them to his restaurant for a trial of a new band he would have there if they were approved. Seemed liked an interesting mid-week break except that I was in mood to go out and watch a host of people gobble up great grub while I was fasting (it being Navratras). So I refused to get out of my pajamas and bed and The Guy decided to go out alone. When he reached the venue, guess what was there to welcome him? No, not a band but a poster that said, Happy Fool's Day! It was April 1st so what else were they expecting?!

Side-effects of Partying: #1

2009-03-25T23:52:00.000-07:00

The kilos you put on because of perpetually eating out.

Not nice!

In which I play the irritable host

2009-03-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

The Guy's birthday party was put together at the last minute. At least, the guest list was. I was prepared for a last minute change of mind in which he would decide to finally invite some guests over and had accordingly sounded off my MIL as well, since she's the one who's in charge of the kitchen! We had already put together a menu for about 20 guests much before The Guy declared his list of friends whom he wanted to invite. Most of them were his school friends and their spouses, and a few other good friends who wouldn't expect any formalities at a party arranged in such haste.

Things fell into place, as is usually, and thankfully, the way things happen before parties at our place. The weather being what it was made it easy for us to host the party in our garden. With MIL at the helm of affairs in the kitchen and FIL's well-stocked bar, The Guy and I devoted our energies to making things look as pleasant as we could. And I can say we managed pretty well with the help of all the staff at our disposal.

But something switched off in my head mid-way through the party when guests began to act a little weird. Considering that it was close set of friends, I expected them to understand that everything was being taken care of by the family and the staff and we hadn't called a caterer to help us with the dinner. So I got pretty miffed with friends who started insisting they wanted dinner at 11 but did not proceed to the dinner table till after 12! In the interim, the food was warmed and laid out where it turned cold and had to be reheated and served all over again because the guests who were in such a hurry to eat and go couldn't get themselves to move towards the dining table.

I would have liked to point out to these friends that the party was not at a restaurant or a hotel where things would be ready-to-be-served any which time they pleased, but obviously could not and therefore turned a irritable instead. And being the kind of person that I am, I'm sure there were a lot of people at the party who would have guessed that my mood had taken a down-turn.

In hindsight, I still think how these guests behaved was wrong. But I also think that being the host, I should have maintained my cool. I played a bad host by getting miffed with my guests. To think of my comfort was wrong because a good host thinks of her guests' comfort first. Always.

That I realised my mistake is some consolation. And I hope I won't make the mistake again.

Holi Hai !

2009-03-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

T threw a Holi party on Holi day and despite my resolve to not play with anything but gulal, I got beautifully coloured. No regrets though, since we had so much fun! Some snapshots from the party.

Wanted to see more of me? That's me being dunked in colourful water!

Paani ka badla paani se !

And that's The Guy being attacked!

Bachao!

You get as bad as you give!

Beer, whisky, vodka don't count.

The host with the most - colour, that is!

Unstoppable!

2009-03-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

One reason why I've been so, so tired ever since I came back from Goa is that I have been partying relentlessly ever since. Here's a day-to-day update of how I've been there, done that.

We returned from Goa on Feb 25, gave ourselves time on the 26th to unpack and prepare for our next trip to Bombay.

February 27 was the birthday party of a friend's one-year-old. Like all first birthdays these days, this one didn't look like a kiddie party either. It was a cross between a kid's party and a cocktail. So there was a magic show and a tatoo guy for the kids, there was an elaborate bar and dinner for the elders. Since I had been involved in pre-party discussions and had even worded the invitation, I was a tad disappointed with the decorations for what was supposed to be a theme party.

February 28 was Sam's pre-wedding bash and was it fun! Had had a haircut that day, wore a hot purple silk dress and was already getting heady over the compliments. And then I downed 4 sambuca shots, 2 kamikazes and 1 vodka shot! That, when I'd gone to the party thinking I'd stay away from the drinks. But the barman was too cute and I couldn't say no to him! The first six shots made me very, very happy but the last one just took me away. It was one crazy night. Came home after wrapping up the party at about 5 in the morning!

The next day was the Haldi ceremony for Sam. A sunny Sunday afternoon affair where we played Holi with haldi. That's how it's meant to be in Bong weddings. Most of us had a huge hangover from last night and hid our blood-shot eyes with fancy glares. I thought this was the most fun Haldi ceremony we'd ever attended.

We left for Bombay the next day - all six of us - T and Api, M and KP, The Guy and me. After an uncomfortable flight, we reached Bombay with a mind to party all night. Unluckily, it was a Monday and the party scene in Bombay was pretty dead. Yet, we managed our li'l bit by first splurging at a place in Phoenix Mills called Shiro's with very Zen-type decor and very bad food and then heading to Bade Miyan. Both of them fell short of our expectations. But that wasn't the end of the night. We came back home to KP's chacha's place where our drama queens - T and M - refused to let us sleep because they had some drama lined up for the night!

Anyway, March 3 was Sam's engagement and sangeet. We had checked into the five-star hotel where the wedding was being hosted. The sangeet by his family wasn't a well-rehearsed affair but since all of them were having so much fun on stage during their impromptu stuff, that the audience couldn't help but enjoy with them! Things winded up early there, but no one was in a hurry to leave. So we moved to the disc in the hotel where The Guy got so sloshed, he couldn't hold himself up! Never seen M so drunk before. T and Api were way beyond happy. But I wasn't quite there that day. The 28th party was still recent for me!

March 4 was the wedding - an early baraat, followed by the wedding rituals which in turn was followed by the celebrity reception. So Amitabh Bachchan turned up. So did Jackie Shroff, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Urmila, Diana Hayden, Dia Mirza, Viveik Oberoi with daddy Suresh, Sonu Nigam, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Zulfi Sayed, Manisha Koirala, Gul Panag... long list!

We returned home on March 5, stayed home on the 6th and were ready to party again by the 7th. That was the day for the wedding reception in Lucknow. It was a sombre affair, that is, till the guests left. But since The Guy and I are in a habit of wrapping up parties before going home, we headed with Trish and Soo (Sam's bro) to his pad where he played some excellent music and had everyone - tired and exhausted - getting back on to the dance floor. Managed to be back home by 4:30!

March 8 was another very formal party, very not-fun that we just could not miss. Unbelievably, we got out of our house at 9:30 pm, bought flowers on the way, reached the venue, had our dinner and were back by 10:30 pm! Unbelievable!

March 9 was spend at a Holi bash at MB Club. It's an annual feature at the club and I love it for the excellent folk songs that are sung there. Enjoyed the good music and good food, though got a little peeved off at some friends' unfriendly behaviour there.

Of course, Holi is round the corner and we're expecting lots more partying this week :) Hold on for more colourful details.

(Cross-posting this at my other blog.)

Alcohol heals

2009-03-05T23:03:00.000-08:00

You know you're hooked to blogging when you're thinking up of a blog post in your inebriated state of being brought on by a cocktail of 7 shots - 4 sambuca, 2 kamikaze and 1 vodka.

Yes, exactly that's how much I was drunk on a friend's pre-wedding bash. And even in that state I was thinking of how a certain situation at the party would be matter for my next post. There and then I even decided the title of this post: Alcohol heals.

I'm obviously not a teetotaler but I also do not endorse drinking. However, when under the effect of the spirits two sparring friends patch up in the middle of a party, I'm glad to say not everything's bad about being drunk. M and T kissed and made up because at least one of them was too drunk to hold on to her grudges. And the sentimental fool that I am, I instantly brought forth my tears - the khushi ke aasoon or whatever - and made a spectacle of myself by letting them roll down my cheeks, taking with them my sparse make-up.

There were guests at the party who thought I was crying because I'd had a tiff with The Guy. But I don't blame them - how could anyone assume that I would be dumb enough to be crying for two friends who had been fighting like kids? That's how dumb I am, however. And couldn't care less then about what people thought of me.

There are more stories of how people end up in squabbles and fights after getting drunk, but having seen the reverse to be true as well, I believe alcohol does heal relationships. Do you agree?

The Goan Carnival

2009-02-26T02:41:00.001-08:00

Party lovers' paradise - Tito's Lane

Sunset at the Colva Beach

There was more of me in the water, but this is all you get to see!

The women selling wares at the beach

And here's what I ended up buying...

The relaxing foot massage

The Guy and Me - metaphorically

Flights of fancy - Para Sailing

Pillion riding on the scooterette

Spotted on the roads of Goa...

Pink bougainvilleas and lattice work doors - a quaint Goan house

The colourful houses

A pretty welcome at the hotel

That's the name of a pub there. Helps me sign off this post :)

With love...

2009-02-16T01:05:00.000-08:00

If you're waiting for the chronicles of a romantic rendezvous here because I'm talking about Valentine's Day, you're going to be sorely disappointed. The V-Day party I'm going to be talking about isn't your typical frills and fluff party. On the contrary, it's typically nothing because it was so different.

My sister's NGO for street children, Ehsas, came up with a novel concept to celebrate Valentine's Day. On February 14, a small party was organised at Gharonda - a shelter home for some 20-odd street children. Volunteers at the NGo, or 'friends of street children' as they are called, got together with the children to express a love for each other that's not bound by definitions or labels, the kind of love that emanates from the bonds that humanity forges.

The party was a simple affair. We played kiddy games: musical chairs, relay race and treasure hunt. The kids danced and gave handmade Valentine's Day cards to their guests. The volunteers also got a chance to meet each other and spoke of how being associated with Ehsas had made a difference to their lives.

What made this gathering special was not what happened there but what all of us came back with. I think these children have amazing spirit. They've seen life the way none of us ever hope to and yet they laugh loudly, smile freely and their spirit remains unfettered by their bitter experiences. When you look at them, you realise you have a million more reasons to be happy than them and yet it's they who seem to be enjoying life and not us. And it's not a realisation that pulls you down; it's a realisation that make you feel bouyant because you can be happy then, even if for a while.

To be honest, words aren't quite doing justice to the party and photographs may do a better job of describing what the day was like.

The kids dancing on Bum Bum Bole from TZP

Two kids busy with themselves:

The relay race in which the volunteers had to dress up the children in party clothes in as little time as possible:

And the winners are...

Playing musical chairs

A volunteer and theatre artist who teaches these kids theatre sharing his experiences with all of us:

The parties that were

2009-02-06T01:14:00.000-08:00

A week of hectic partying has kept me very happy and very busy. Here's a round-up of the parties that were in no particular order:

People usually hate family parties. But sucker that I am for dressing up, I grab these opprotunities to strut in my sarees and suits and love the attention that I get because of them. Which is probably why I enjoyed the family lunches and dinner that kept me occupied on Saturday and Sunday. It was the 50th wedding anniversary of a distant relative, but since they've been sparring with their close relatives, we were expected to be acting like immediate family. I'm quite okay with it, as long as I get enough compliments doing all that!
I was quite miffed with Ha and Cha (husband and wife, our friends) for not having invited us for a single party the whole of last year and being offended when I threw parties that they were not invited to! Now, that's quite another matter that they did not throw a single party for anyone last year, but hey, you can't be feeling bad if I want to reciprocate your gesture? So anyway, last week was Cha's birthday and quite sure that like the past years, there would be no party this year as well, we decided to not even ask the customary question - 'So what are the plans for the day?' But when I did call up Cha in the evening to wish her, she promptly invited us to meet up for dinner! I was surprised, to put it mildly, but what's a social life without a few surprises?
By the time the plan could be finalised, there were some 20 people who had been invited by Ha and Cha for an impromptu dinner - so not mangeable if you start planning it at 9 in the night! Anyhow, the party was organised and quite a few people didn't turn up because they had prior plans. The Guy also had plans for a boy's night with some movie buffs like him, but he gave them up to be present for his school friend Ha. I like this dosti and all!
Checked out a new fine dining place that opened up in the city. Nice, posh, good food though a tad too crowded for my liking. We ordered Thai food and totally loved it!
Some six of us girls met up for coffee the other day. The meet was hosted by Waz. Now it was one of those things that you can't avoid but can't enjoy either. I went about two hours late and did not order anything for myself because I just wanted to make a point. After some fake smiling and mean talking, it was time to go home. But the three of us - T, M and me - hadn't been able to really make any good of the outing and wanted to spend some time together. So we stayed back, ordered lots of food which, for some reason, we hadn't ordered when Waz was there, and talked to our heart's content. Bitching, you could also call it but since it's strictly between friends, I don't think it qualifies for that. I'll stick with talking.
An impromptu drinks and dinner thing was organised at my place on Friday. And since it's still technically winters and we were doing an outdoor thing, we had a small bonfire to keep everyone warm. I wasn't too excited about this do because I've had just about enough of entertaining people at my place. I like those people, but sometimes the running about gets a tad too much. As the hostess, I can rarely enjoy as much as I would like to. But when a party disperses at 3 in the morning, I do have the satisfaction of knowing that my guests had a good time.
Another party that T, M and I (with the men in tow) got invited to was a medium-ish gathering. We had expected just about the whole town to be there, but there were only a few of us. Gave the party an "exclusive" air that comes quite handy when you want to talk down to society people. I don't resort to such stuff - throwing names etc, not unless I want to give someone a taste of their own medicine.
Yesterday, there was another meeting-up of the girls gang over coffee at Trip's place. It was supposed to be a simple affair but if you have it, you won't stop short of flaunting it, will you? And culinary skills are something that Trip has loads of! She had whippep up some really fancy grub: mushroom quiche and paneer stoodles and amazing pudding. Before I invite her to my place, I'll have to attend some cooking classes!

Do you think a bhajan sandhya is a party?

2009-02-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

Save your opinion till I tell what I'm about to.

Last Saturday, a social butterfly, let's call her Ska, invited some of her friends (read other social butterflies) for a 'Mata ka bhajan'. Ska's M-I-L had invited her high profile set of friends as well. And since bhajans and kirtans are strictly women's domain, men weren't even asked to come.

However, that's not where my story starts. The women turned up for what was supposed to be a
religious if not spiritual affair, in all their finery, high on bling. An unlikely place to dress up to, one would think. But women who turn up in diamond danglers and heavily embroidered suits on such an occasion do not apparently think enough. Well-dressed is good, but over-dressed is not.

The thing with most religious ceremonies is that people are not really interested in them and are forced to be part of them. But this wasn't a compulsory do that you had to go to if you didn't want to. You could have easily opted out of it. Why make it an excuse to dress up, meet up and gossip?

To discuss about some "kitty" and crack some stupid jokes about who's wearing what while someone is singing paeans to his God, is to really disrespect the sentiments of those people who are participating in the bhajans with devout ardour. Few and far between as they may be, there were those kind of people present there as well. If you cannot share their sentiment, don't. Shut up in that case and wait for the right time to blabber and bitch. Because a bhajan sandhya is not a party!

Shoe Shot

2009-01-29T11:32:00.000-08:00

This blog is all the proof you need to know what my weekends (and days) are made up of. And one of the reasons I love partying is because I love dressing up, more than anything else, my feet!

I think shoes speak louder than words. Even louder than clothes. If I'm checking out a guy or girl, I'd judge them totally by their shoes. Clothes don't impress me much. That's just me.

No prizes for guessing that I have an expansive shoe wardrobe. No, I don't have Manolo Blahniks, Jimmy Choos or Guccis in my shoe wardrobe, not yet, but it's got a lot of stuff that I love. And I thought I'd give you a visual peek into my shoe wardrobe - one pair at a time.

Hopefully, it would be no torture for you if I can package it right. So what I've come up with is a weekend shoe shot that should speak at least a few words about the kind of weekend I had. Every Friday I'll be sharing with you my last weekend's shoe moods (you didn't know that thing existed? Aww, c'mon!) Comments are welcome - about the shoes and the moods. Share your foot fetishes if you want to! And tell me what's your latest shoe buy. Anything, as long as it's about a shoe.

I'm starting the series with a pair of golden Guess sneakers that are oh-so-comfortable, snazzy and make the subtlest style statement.

I wore them almost all of the time last weekend that I spend at my family house in a small town some 120km away from Lucknow. And like the picture says, it was a super relaxed weekend where all I did was put my feet up, literally, and have fun!

(Cross posting this at my other blog as well)

Weekend Getaway

2009-01-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

An extended weekend like the one that just passed would be the perfect time to party for a person who loves to party, right?

Wrong. I did not attend any parties in the last three days. But that’s not to say I didn’t have any fun. The Republic Day being on a Monday this year made this the perfect time for a weekend getaway. The Guy and I along with two other couples and Nutsy drove 120 km to travel to an unromantic U.P. town where The Guy’s ancestral home is located. Since none of the ancestors have survived to live there, we had the place to ourselves for two days and two nights of uninterrupted entertainment. And let’s just say it’s an understatement to say we had a blast because that doesn’t quite describe the kind of fun we had.

The special effect: The Guy and I have been for holidays with all the friends we spent the last weekend with, but never with all of them at the same time. We’ve holidayed with Couple 1 – T and Appy – in Australia. We’ve holidayed with Couple 2 – KP and M – in Kashmir last year. And Nutsy has been with us to our ancestral home before. But the fun was that for the first time we had managed to plan a getaway, however brief, for all of us together. And since all of them are so special to me, the last weekend was extra special!

Home truths: The house is an old building situated in the centre of green, open spaces. It’s not posh, no, it’s not even an ancient architectural marvel. It’s just a quaint and welcoming place that puts you immediately at ease. If you asked me compare it with something, I’d say it’s like a farmhouse: sparsely furnished, but clean and comfortable.

All fired up: So what did we do that made this trip so much fun? Well, like a lot of my other fun parties this winter, the bonfire has a central role to play here too. We would spend the evenings out in the lawn cosy-ing up around a warm fire, chatting nineteen to a dozen. The free flow of booze helped to loosen up tongues, so that a bonfire session that started at 9 in the evening would be reluctantly wrapped up at five in the morning! Since it was such a close group of friends, it was easy for everyone to let their guards down, to up the ante on cheap jokes and to be happy, whimsical, cerebral and totally inane at the same time. There was some star gazing to be done (by T and The Guy), some patching up to do (between KP and M), some arguments to be had (between Nutsy and me), some slow dancing (between The Guy and me, Appy and T), some teasing (by M and me) and some really scary moments to be laughed off (by all of us)!

Fun in the sun: But we aren’t just a bunch of boring almost-30-year-olds who think fun is only about sitting together and chatting. During the day, Appy and M played cricket with a group of kids, while the rest of us did some target practice with an airgun. Let it suffice to say that I was pathetic at it. We borrowed bicycles from The Guy’s cousin, clicked pictures on a tractor and to top it all, had a tarot reading session with Nutsy at the helm of affairs! I was a little miserable after my reading because the cards didn’t say what I wanted to hear, but since it’s a crime to be sad on a holiday, I put aside my miseries.

Foodilcious: A group of seven lazy adults who’re indulging in so many activities require a lot of food to be keep them going. Which is why Dayalu bhaiya – our cook in Lucknow – was transported to the house even before we could reach there. He made sure our ravenous stomachs were kept full with omelettes, parathas and shakes in the morning, dal-roti in the afternoon, salami, seekh kebab, French fries, pakoris, chicken drumsticks in the evening and a very, very late, modest but delicious dinner.

Dorm norm: We would go to bed just in time to miss the sunrise. Since all of us were sharing a single spacious room, M’s best jokes were reserved for after lights-off. She and Nutsy had us holding our stomachs and crying for dear life because of laughing too much! And that more than made up for other pre-sleep activities that couples usually like to indulge in but had to forego that night. Of course, the different patterns of snoring that we were subjected to weren’t funny when we were trying so hard to sleep, but in the morning that too became a butt of our jokes.

The Misfits

2009-01-22T22:56:00.000-08:00

Having been married for five years now, The Guy and I have a comfortable circle of friends - most couples, some bachelors - the latter steadily moving to the former category. We used to ang out pretty often with ROA, one of our bachelors friends, till very recently - when he got married to a girl who's not half as fun as us! And that's kind of changed the equations between us. She's everything that our gang of girls is not - shy, reserved and so seedha! Eww!

So the problem is that how do we party with ROA without his wife? And how do we party with both of them without getting bored?

Last evening, we went out for dinner to Taj with two other couples: KP & M and T & her husband Appi. Asked ROA because we thought his wife was out of town (mean, mean, mean me!) and turned out - she was in town. So we prepared ourselves for it mentally and decided to have fun despite them.

Things went exactly according to plan: we had fun despite them. And they, we suspect, got quite bored. No apologies. Not that I dislike them but just that after a long day, I'm not interested in entertaining anybody. When I go out I want to enjoy, not be busy making sure someone else is enjoying, because that's just too taxing!

If you think that's mean, well, we are like that only. Okay?

How to Throw a Great Party Tip # 2: The Right Mix

2009-01-20T04:39:00.001-08:00

Not of the ingredients in a cocktail, but the guests at a party. Throw in the right people together and you have to do little else to make sure the party's a hit. On the contrary, if you've got a badly put together guest list, whatever else you do to make sure the party's a hit, will not work.

So at Nips' party the other day, he did the latter. We got together on his terrace for another bonfire party, a barbecue, some wine and the works. But he ruined what could have been a great party by inviting a totally mismatched group of people.

Rahul and Ash don't so much as say hello to each other and shouldn't have been invited together to a small gathering of 15 people where it was difficulty for either to avoid each other.
Waz and I don't share the best rapport and I found another million reasons to be peeved off by her and her husband that day.
Ash's wife P's non-stop chatter had Trip doing everything she could to escape her company.
And it made no sense to invite Nutsy when all that Nips ever says about him is derogatory.

Phew! How much worse could it have been?

Right from the moment we reached there, we were waiting for the party to get over. Of course, such parties are great places to get some fodder for gossip but certainly not to enjoy. And it could have been so much more enjoyable had the hosts just stuck to a guest list that made some sense instead of trying to collect a crowd.

Wasted efforts, I say.

How to Thow a Great Party Tip # 1

2009-01-17T00:54:00.000-08:00

Do not throw a party because you HAVE to.
Throw a party because you WANT to.

It makes all the difference.

Snippets from the parties that were

2009-01-15T07:19:00.001-08:00

For about a week or less, there was such a quiet on the social front that I thought my partying was jinxed just because I started a blog on it! Thankfully though, we licked the jinx late last week and the partying calendar breathed back to life with a family get-together at N masi's place, another at Sammy's sprawling bungalow (read palace), a small bonfire again at home for half a dozen people, an evening out with M and KP, a wonderfully lazy brunch on Sunday at the club, an impromptu birthday party for KP - not necessarily in the same order. I even skipped a lunch party because I knew there would be no men there. I kid. There were no men there, but that's not the reason I skipped it. I had other engagements at work and couldn't make it.

Nothing juicy, but just sharing some snippets from the parties that were:

M and KP and the two of us spent Saturday night doing what couples edging towards middle-age (okay, I exaggerate) do - have a quiet dinner! So we met up at the Lucknow Gymkhana where a horde of families had collected to play good ol' boring tambola. In the middle of a drinks and daru evening, the guests were asked to observe a minute's silence to mourn the death of a club member. Amidst suppressed giggles and shuffling of lazy feet, the guests stood up staring at each other, wondering who exactly it was that passed away. Totally unnecessary, this deliberate invitation to disrespect a dead man's soul, I say!
What do extended family of the extended family talk about when they meet you for the first of the twice-a-year meetings? "Ab good news kab suna rahi ho? Bahut time ho gaya..." "Good news," you must know, refers to having a baby. In response to which I must make some sounds that resemble laughter, shake my head in any direction that it decides to go and try my best at evading the question without trying to come up with anything that may sound remotely rational because nobody wants to hear anything. What is it with people and their inappropriate questions? Do I ever ask them such stuff?
At Sammy's party, the guests split into three distinct groups that had no intention of mingling with each other. Not the sign of the best party, I say, but no harm done either since everyone was happy just being by themselves.
At N masi's place, the food is always a treat and therefore our natural focus when we are over at her place. She'd whipped some lip-smacking chicken lollipops, keema cutlets, vegetable kebabs and masala potato for snacks and an equally scrumptious main course comprising biryani, chicken masala and some other stuff I did not look at!
The highlight of the bonfire at my place was that Soo took one of my high ball glasses with him :( And I don't know how I can ask it back from him.
At KP's impromptu party, we were fed leftover's from the previous night's dinner. And honestly, who could have told if the hosts hadn't told us?

Why we like to party: Reason # 101

2009-01-12T01:59:00.000-08:00

Where else would I wear all my pretty clothes?

Ingredients for a warm winter evening

2009-01-07T01:06:00.000-08:00

1. A beautiful bonfire

2. Some candles to set the mood

Something like this:

3. Great grub that the guests can't resist

4. Friends, of course!

Cue for commentors: Leave a comment for my amateur photography skills, pliss!

We were not drunk!

2009-01-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

It was New Year's eve and we had all the right in the world to be drunk. But we were not, I insist. And if you think otherwise, you must be really sober for New Year's eve.

Anyway, so for the very first time I brought in the new year without my family. And with my friends, a lot of whom have become extended family for me. So it gets difficult to bitch about them. For the rest, well, I can't stop myself from stating the obvious.

So S wore a black & white tie (who wears a tie on New Year's anyway?) that was strange. He's a great guy, S is, but with a slightly misplaced sense of dressing. Take a look at the tie he wore and you'll believe me.

And we're wicked, to say the least! M and I had a bet that I'd take off this weird tie. And what do you know, I won the bet! I was dancing with S and acted pretty drunk - drunk enough to do crazy stuff like take off his tie on the dance floor! Poor S didn't know what happened to him and I was mean enough to act apologetic!

Usually, I'm not so mean. I'm quite nice actually. But I digress. And that's probably because I don't know how to put everything that I did or witnessed there in a coherent fashion. So I shall fall back on the very useful bullets to do the trick for me.

Some people were drunk. One of them - Shaz, let's call him - turned to a friend after midnight, wished her a happy new year and then stated impudently, "I want to kiss you." He should consider himself lucky he was just shooed away with a lot of abusing!
New Year's and tears are a heady combination. For me, at least. So I promptly called up all my family members at midnight to shout my lungs out to be heard over the loud music and say, 'I love you and miss you'. I shed copious tears doing that. And felt very foolish.
We are quite accomodating. If there's no tequila, vodka shots will do for us. But I promise, we were NOT drunk.
We're also very innovative. And entertaining. Since there was only music and no dance troupe, we - boys and girls, both - decided to try our hand (and legs) at pole dancing. The pole that held up the tent on the rooftop venue came really handy for our adventure. I think A did it like a pro!
That's not all. There was more entertainment. T and R (girls both) climbed onto the table next to the DJ's console to shake their booty. But because T is such a great friend and cannot be bitched about, I had to bring her down to earth.
It became quite warm that evening. Everyone's jackets and coats and capes were off after a while. I had a miniscule but well-quilted shrug (to which my MIL asked innocently, "Yeh kuch bada nahi ho sakta tha?") which was shrugged off every once in a while.
And then of course, there was Ap. and her husband TT who had bought tickets to another party as well where their friends were waiting. But Ap. being such a social climber couldn't have not come to this party because it was arranged by Mr. Popular in town. And so they kept their friends waiting at another venue. And told them the next morning that they had planed to party hop but couldn't because Ap. was sloshed. Well, Ap. was sloshed: she went around wishing people twice or thrice, while TT tried to remind her she'd already hugged that person once before. But I still say, we were not drunk, she was.
Who says people who party are all frivolous? We observed a minute's silence to remember the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks and played the national anthem. And no one disrespected the sentiment or the moment.

That's the party spirit I love!

Why? What? How?

2009-01-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

Simple: I have so many party tales that it seemed unfair to burden my lone blog with all of them. And if I were to chronicle all of them there, I wouldn’t be left with much space to say anything else. And I do have so much more to say, but not at the cost of killing all the soiree stories.

So, well, there you have it – why a blog that’s completely dedicated to my days and nights of partying: the ones with friends and the ones with family, the ones with complete strangers and the ones which don’t qualify quite as a party altogether, the ones at fancy places and the ones at make-shift venues, the ones where we celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and the ones where we’ve found an excuse to party, the ones where we put on our silks and diamonds or halter necks and cocktail rings and the ones we go looking all doudy and done in… You get the idea?