Speaking Task (A Party)

We Indians have this tendency of celebrating all the little joys of our lives.

This is why we have myriads of festivals, religious and cultural, that allow us to add colors to our mundane existence.

But, these are not sufficient. People need some special moments that they want to enjoy with their loved ones.

Previously, a birthday  was all one needed to throw a huge party and invite all the friends and acquaintances for celebrations. 

But, it started losing its charm when people began spending unnecessarily on grand venues and expensive but useless gifts.

And then came this naming ceremony of my niece and it felt like a breath of fresh air to me.

My cousin Aakash and his wife Nitya are my favorite couple. Two months ago, Nitya gave birth to a cute little daughter and filled our family with joy as we got to see a little baby in our family after a very long time.

We have this special ritual of naming a baby according to his/her horoscope.

A priest is consulted for this, and he tells us the zodiac sign of the child. We name the child according to the zodiac sign.

This is a family function, and generally we celebrate it in our house only. 

But, my cousin thought about making it a grand celebration that we could remember for a long time.

He booked a banquet hall as he wanted to throw a huge party on that occasion.

The place is situated just opposite the famous Hyatt Hotel in my city, and despite its relatively smaller size, it gives a tough competition to Hyatt Hotel in offering world-class service to its customers.

We were excited to go there as we had attended the wedding reception of my cousin at this place 3 years ago.

On the day, the celebration started in the evening.

I reached there in time as my sister Disha is a stickler for punctuality.

Once inside the banquet hall, we felt as if we were in an exotic foreign hotel.

We couldn’t take our eyes off the grand chandeliers and classic paintings that adorned the walls of the hall.

In one corner a pianist was playing soft music on a grand piano. The air was filled with that music.

Then, exactly at 8 p.m., the ceremony started. The priest in saffron robes sat in front of the my cousin and his wife.

Their little girl was sleeping peacefully in her mother’s lap.

The priest anointed the girl’s forehead with sandalwood paste, and according to our ritual he announced the girl’s zodiac sign.

As these things were going on, we were eagerly looking at the food counter where hot food was waiting to be served.

As soon as the ceremony ended, we all epicures of my family rushed to the food counters.

I can still remember how mouth watering all the spicy dishes were. And we cousins enjoyed gossiping with each other while savoring the best Gujarati cuisine.

At the end, the host couple gave us each a silver bracelet as a return gift.

We were asked not to bring any gifts, and they strictly said ‘no’ when we offered to give some money as a gift to the child.

Today, when I look back on that episode of my life, I feel that social gatherings are a strong cohesive force that keeps families together.