Day 72: Life of a Party

I hate parties. Maybe "hate" is a strong word but I definitely do not love them. And by parties I mean gathering of more than 5 people at the same time, usually not all of them you would care for, for various happy purposes such as weddings, birthdays, treats people are forced to give for migrations and promotions, festivals, general group consumption of alcohol, random chit chatting etc. Usually am rather uncomfortable in a gathering of more than a handful of people and in such occasions I try to keep to myself without being rude. So yeah, you could probably call me an introvert that way.

Last year when I went back home to Kerala, I happened to meet an uncle after about 6-7 years. Now this uncle is the exact opposite of me. Not only is he absolutely comfortable at parties, he is also the life of any party he attends. He makes people laugh, comes up with great conversational material, dances, sings, and makes sure that he and the rest of us have a real merry time. So last year too we had a party to celebrate his homecoming together with mine and once again he was at his party-best. After things quitened down, I casually mentioned to him that I can't believe he is still so energetic, fun loving and can brighten everyone up so easily. To which he replied that it is not like he doesn't have his share of problems but he strongly believes that if a group of people are coming together for whatever purpose, all of them should enjoy those few hours and he tries to make sure they do.

I believe something about what he said stayed with me. Recently I notice that I attend more than my usual share of gatherings. But of course, being the "life of a party" was a far cry.

I had recently been back to Kerala for a cousin's wedding. While I was there, I guess I contributed to the general festivities with songs, dances, henna drawings, non-stop talking, cracking jokes within my limited sense of humour etc. And today, my aunt who also happens to be the bride's mom, called me to have a chat.

This is what she said. "I am so happy you could make it for wedding. It was really fun to have you around. You have changed so much. Earlier you used to be so shy. But this time you were so jolly. Everyone said you were the life of the party."

928 more to go.