Party life

monshu knows me so well. When I was bitching over dinner on Saturday about feeling perhaps too run down to enjoy Game Night, he reminded me, "Once you get in a room full of people, you perk up." And he was right, even if I did ultimately crash hours earlier than would normally be the case.

So it was tonight. When I woke up feeling peevish and exhausted, I put it down to a bad spell the night before and, deciding it would be far too self-indulgent to take a day off work, I dragged myself in on the assumption that I would eventually get into the swing of routine. Instead, the opposite happened; by mid-morning it was abundantly clear that it was taking all my energy just remain upright and alert. So I crawled back home and into bed. [Note to self: Keep taking the fucking zinc for at least a full day after you are feeling better.]

A nap did me some good, but I still found myself in the embarrassing position of having to call up the Old Man and cancel our post-work clothes-shopping date--a date which he had proposed only because he knows I can't go to the family wedding this weekend without a new sportscoat. Then I was confronted with another dilemma: Lakshmi is in town for the first time in three years. She's here for a conference, so tonight was her only chance to get together. Do I still beg off and put myself to bed early?

My body said, "PLEASE!" but my brain said, "What would Lakshmi do in your place? Without question, she would show up." So I did. After sitting at Mysore Woodlands with a plain lassi for half an hour with no sign of anyone else, I asked myself how much longer before I could order something for myself and go home with it. Thankfully, it was only another ten minutes before that became a moot question. My infirmities faded more and more from my mind until I reached the point where I had to warn myself not to overdo it, because I wasn't anywhere near as good as I felt.

In particular, I knew I shouldn't have agreed to an ice cream at Patel's Café afterwards, but how could I say no? Plus it gave me a chance to reassure Bumiputeri for like the hundredth time that I didn't hold a grudge against her for playing collect-and-trade half a year ago. Oh, and to show everyone what pani puri looks like in the wild. (Fortunately a couple came in and ordered some; I wasn't about to after our family-style South Indian feast!)