Pre Party Talks ....

Checked my Gmail ....... there was an Evite invitation sitting in my inbox. The Khanna's were throwing a party. Looked at the calendar, it was a weekend party so confirmed it without a second thought. Had a sigh of relief thinking that I didn't have to prepare lunch for that day ...... may be breakfast too !!

Went back and checked the remaining invitee list, most names looked familiar. Informed J about it and asked him to mark his calendar as well, no last moment excuses.

Two days later Sarita calls, a friend of mine who is also a common friend to the Khanna's. We talk , talk and talk ..... everything on earth but nothing meaningful ! And then the much awaited question without which pre -party talks are pretty much bland .... "What are you wearing to the party". Saree ?

What on earth is that ? Haven't worn it for ages ..... reminded me of the struggle I went through to wear and pose for few photographs on my last anniversary. Can't say a flat 'NO' and get the tag of getting Americanized and forgetting my own culture, traditions etc etc.Only the air hostesses with a fake smile in Air India can wear it perfect. Not me !

All this time I hardly thought what I wanted to wear. All I was bothered about was the good food Thali served. However the seed of what I am going to wear for the party got successfully planted in my mind after the phone call. The proof .... I walked up to my closet, checked on my own clothes ... hmmm may be this, may be that .... we'll see still a week left.

Next it was Kavita's call. "Hey saw you are also invited to the party of the Khanna's. Have you seen the venue ?" Even before I could answer, she jumped saying, "The Thali". Heard they serve good vegetarian dishes, not so sure about non - veg part. I thought who cares if it's veg or non-veg as long as I get to eat something that I don't cook.

Kavita continued , seems it is a little expensive, they have increased the price per plate. I wonder why some people ask questions if they themselves answer it. After a long monologue, "Hey what will you wear for the party ?" I haven't thought about it .... will decide a day before. What about you Kavita ? "That's a secret, I don't want to disclose it now ". I wondered what the heck is there to keep this a secret.This ain't any Cannes or Oscar's. Shrugged my shoulders and hanged up.

A day before the party, saw a reminder from Evite. Well for sure I would not miss it for the world. Who wanted to cook lunch on a weekend after all ?But it was high time I decide on what I had to wear. After all it was a chance to show off my wardrobe. I picked up a new kurta mom had sent for me. It was a pinkish purplish mauvish one ! What I wanted to say here is .... it's a color out of the world. Got it !! It was ordered to stitch in a Boutique owned by a NIFTian to be specific. But what accessories with it .... can't wear gold !! I didn't want to be like the rest walking like a decked up gold shop. Decided to keep it simple. Had heard it some where simple is sophisticated.

Finalised on what I wanted to wear. Picked it and walked upto J. Held the kurta on me and asked for confirmation if it looked good. I knew it did, after all it was sent by mom .... still feels good if J affirms it. J like always was busy browsing Wall Street. Hardly bothered to turn his head . I yelled and asked him to dump that Laptop. This time he turned towards me for little more than a fraction of second. Nodded his head and went back staring at the laptop screen. A great job of what to wear to the party was accomplished.

Minutes later .... Kavita calls again. I looked at her number undecided if I was prepared for another monologue. Hello ..... Hey,she started "we have decided every one's wearing traditional attire. I rolled my eyes .... who in this world are "We" to decide what I am going to wear. So Kurta is traditional right ? Umm, no Saree .... in her typical southern accent. Again a long monologue of who was wearing what. The Secrets are spilled. She was wearing a maroon jardoshi, something similar to Tulsi and Parvati from Ekta Kapoor's never ending serials. It had cost her a fortune, heavily embroidered , latest design .... blah blah blah !! And me on the other side of the phone with an artificial ... woow, lovely , gorgeous , pretty kinda words. Guess any fool in the world can make it out that I was pretending. The exhaustive monologue ended leaving me tired and sweating.

Confused again I walked to my closet. Pulled out some of my sarees .... Nah can't wear them. Won't be comfortable for me to hold the plates loaded with food. Toss them back again.

Will decide on the party day.

Party and after party talks to continue .......

Note : All names are fictitious. No Offense to anyone intended.