Slumber Party

I have never ever attended a slumber party in my life, although I have spent many sleepless nights during holiday with friends. It sounded exciting when my friends invited me to meet for a night at friend’s home.

Furniture is moved away from the living room, mattresses and cushions randomly placed across the room. The wall is decorated with fun on the mind, (Hungama scrolled in crazy manner).

The preparations were done,(excitement and planning began fifteen days prior to the event) although the girls (actually women) were to meet only after having their heavy dinner of roasted and spiced finger foods followed by proper dinner at Sasural restaurant.

But still, the home kitchen had to be stocked with late night snacks. There were biscuits, banana wafers, chocolates, sweets and unlimited supply of cold water. The women refused to eat, saying, they were full but still tasted tit bits from every packet that was passed around till they slowly stretched their legs, then their body and soon went under blanket when their eyes began to droop.

Group pictures are must- it is mainly for those who could not make it to the party.(100% attendance would be 50 close friends, many could not attend due to unavoidable circumstances)

At Sasural, women were anxious to finish dinner and go home. The dining table at the restaurant was too long, service was slow, and conversation was not easy, so while the food arrived, there was some time for photo sessions

The ladies were fashionably dressed for the party and all looked gorgeous.

The fun began as soon as the women slipped into their nightdress, saris folded and tucked away neatly into their bags, Some with bad knee quickly rushed to sit on comfortable sofas while other sat on cushions or cross legged on the floor, some rested on their elbows with hands on their chin while others leant lazily against the wall.

The show begins…..

It is Oscar award night, most of us have dreamt of Oscar awards or simple recognition in some field, after all we are the bunch of talented people who are often recognized on Watsapp for our witty messages throughout the day. True friends know our worth and we were to celebrate the grand event in our nightdress (oh, I wish we all could have worn our flowing night gowns instead of pyjamas)

Anyway..Jahnavi, Lata and Nalini entered the stage (on the mattress facing the audience) Nalini held the red Oscar ribbons and envelops, Lata swinging gracefully around her hips, with a smile and blinking eyelids, walked towards Jahnavi who most animatedly welcomed everybody in the room. She was really fabulous with her role as the compere, her voice loud and clear. Since they were meeting Bindu after many years, she was invited as chief guest to do the honor of giving away the prize of recognition.

Awards of different categories were called out one by one, each one for their distinct talent. The names were revealed after opening the envelopes and the recipient honored with the red ribbon with heart shape medal around their neck. They were encouraged to speak few words. The winners expressed their appreciation with raised eyebrows, some overwhelmed by the honor, burst into tears, wiping their eyes and nose with the hem of their dress and some too excited to say anything at all.

And the awards went to:

Vijaya got the HASI TO FASI Award for laughing and giggling all the time.

Lucy got the FAST AND FURIOUS Award.

Dilu got award for BANDIT QUEEN

Sandra for JUNGLE BEAUTY

SANGEETA for STYLE DIVA

Lata got an award for being NAUGHTY AT SIXTY.

Shipra got the IRON LADY Award

Madhu, Bindu and Annie(in absentia, she attended only the dinner)  got the award of THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Jahnavi got the CHETAN BHAGAT Award for her writing skills.

Sharbari got a STRAWBERRY PUDDING Award

Sita and Nalini got SADHU AUR SHAITAN Award.

Pushee got DANDAWALI BAWARCHI award

Many of them had ribbon round their neck, throughout the night (and I am told that some of them even took the medals home to decorate their living room shelf.)

The eatables and drinks made their rounds while we prepared for the next game of tambola.

We had many more games planned for the night, like playing antakshri and some naughty group games, but heavy dinner at Sasural and then additional snacks at home played tricks over the eyelids…with droopy eyes, some of them chose to stretch, just lie down for a while..

The voices became blurry, and suddenly lights went off with just few of us who sat alert on the couch in darkness....whispering away our anecdotes till the daylight began to sweep inside the room.

After the hot cup of tea, we, like zombies, headed home to catch up on sleep that we had lost during the night…….