I had nothing grand to attend; besides, I was in no mood to sit at home either. So off I went to attend a spectacularly boring christening reception on Sunday.
You haven't to do much at such dos. Just smile, nod your head, say good morning, ask how are you? and pass a nice remark or two. It really doesn't demand much. And you don't even have to be witty and restructure your hi helloes.
Easy work you see and there was good food too. So, I got to work and rewarded my mouth amply. I drank a lot of Sprit and made it a point to taste every dish the waiters carried. I also surveyed the buffet carefully and only after much thought and analysis let my tongue run loose on all the dishes.
There were the games as usual: Bombing cities (BC), passing parcels (PP), etc, etc.
"Why don't you play?," asked one of my darling relatives as the Master of Ceremonies (MC) made the right noises for BC.
"Too old," I shot back - with a smile, of course.
"Oh come on. Just play."
Actually, I needed an excuse to move about and observe the ones invited. So I got up and played BC. What my bad luck! Before, I could begin my observations, my city was bombed! And its citizens were supposed to sing an item number as 'punishment'!
"Let's sing Jhalak Dikhla Jaa."
"Yes yes sure."
But my mouth was absolutely sure it did not want to. It stuck my lips together and chained my tongue. So I negotiated with it and we agreed to let my lips smile as the rest of the citizens sang that item number so tunelessly, my ears were all set to divorce me.
We danced too. Not really good at it I am. But manage I can. After all, dancing doesn' t require you to have an IQ of 202! All it needs is a couple of feet. Whether they're both left or right doesn't matter. Just hop, twirl, wriggle and do it all over again. Of course, you need music too, but here, that did not matter at all.
The baby - Naomi by name - for whom we were being so nice to each other, was too busy to know we had come to see her. She just looked around for a while when her parents cut the christening cake and then realised the crowd was not really worth her attention. So, she rolled up her fingers, yawned and went off to sleep.
She had not awoken even by the time we left.
You haven't to do much at such dos. Just smile, nod your head, say good morning, ask how are you? and pass a nice remark or two. It really doesn't demand much. And you don't even have to be witty and restructure your hi helloes.
Easy work you see and there was good food too. So, I got to work and rewarded my mouth amply. I drank a lot of Sprit and made it a point to taste every dish the waiters carried. I also surveyed the buffet carefully and only after much thought and analysis let my tongue run loose on all the dishes.
There were the games as usual: Bombing cities (BC), passing parcels (PP), etc, etc.
"Why don't you play?," asked one of my darling relatives as the Master of Ceremonies (MC) made the right noises for BC.
"Too old," I shot back - with a smile, of course.
"Oh come on. Just play."
Actually, I needed an excuse to move about and observe the ones invited. So I got up and played BC. What my bad luck! Before, I could begin my observations, my city was bombed! And its citizens were supposed to sing an item number as 'punishment'!
"Let's sing Jhalak Dikhla Jaa."
"Yes yes sure."
But my mouth was absolutely sure it did not want to. It stuck my lips together and chained my tongue. So I negotiated with it and we agreed to let my lips smile as the rest of the citizens sang that item number so tunelessly, my ears were all set to divorce me.
We danced too. Not really good at it I am. But manage I can. After all, dancing doesn' t require you to have an IQ of 202! All it needs is a couple of feet. Whether they're both left or right doesn't matter. Just hop, twirl, wriggle and do it all over again. Of course, you need music too, but here, that did not matter at all.
The baby - Naomi by name - for whom we were being so nice to each other, was too busy to know we had come to see her. She just looked around for a while when her parents cut the christening cake and then realised the crowd was not really worth her attention. So, she rolled up her fingers, yawned and went off to sleep.
She had not awoken even by the time we left.
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