Alone Or Lonely?

THE SOCIETY DINNER

"An absolute sterling outfit indeed!" rejoiced her mother in glee. "I always knew I had this inborn genius in fashion! What do you say..,"

The girl simply stood by her mother, staring at her sheer reflection in the crystal mirror of her bedroom. The dazzling black colored tea-length gown that she wore was indeed eye catching! The fabric used in the gown was pure velvet and very appeasing, the velvet back knot of the gown was perfectly positioned beneath the derriere and the embroidery too, ideally lay at the lowermost fringes of the gown, literally every minute little detail was aesthetically taken care off. It was undoubtedly a treat for the eye, for any fashion critic!

"Yes mom, its truly a masterpiece! I bet you have splurged out a lot of cash this time as well!" she exclaimed with a witty grin, but somewhere deep down in her mind she very well knew that all of it was customary.
The Society dinner was always an extravagant affair in her family. The brand new outfits that she received each year surpassed those of the previous years in terms of their exquisite beauty and elegant fashion. By now she almost had her entire wardrobe loaded with such elite bits of fashion! These annual incoming pieces were always more than welcome in her outsized wardrobe, in which she meticulously stored all her erstwhile pieces too. Her wardrobe now in itself had transformed into a boutique of its own kind!

Everybody in the household was busy pampering themselves in front of the mirror almost immediately after tea, except for the house maids who were engaged in cleaning up the lunch plates and setting up the kitchen suitably. The girl's father had also dropped in by tea time and since then had been fastened to his room. The time seemed to pass by quickly that afternoon and finally the much awaited evening had shown up.

"Your Dad might call out soon to leave, are you ready sweetie?" her mother cried out from the kitchen. She had been instructing the house maids to look after the house in their absence.

"Almost there!" came the reply as the girl hurried down the stairs into the kitchen. Her mother though being in her late forties, was a fair and lean lady whose wrinkle free skin surely could deceive anybody of her age. She had put on a gleaming red silk sari that made her look even more gorgeous. She was very particular about her skin and shape, which made her a regular customer to all the gyms, parlors, salons and spas in the neighborhood.

"So which sumptuous restaurant are we heading to this evening?"asked the girl inquisitively.

"The Grand Plaza", came a rough masculine voice from the doorway. The mother- daughter duo got startled and turned around to see a hefty and handsome fifty year old man, dressed in a black colored tuxedo walking calmly down the stairs.

"Dad, you look great! The black tux is making you look at least ten years younger!"chuckled the girl wittily."Thanks darling! By the way, even you two gorgeous ladies can give me a tough match today," said the big guy laughingly.
"The feast is about to start at eight and it might take a while to reach, we must leave now" he said.

Having said this, the threesome hopped into their plush white sedan and set out. Even as the car made its way through the busy streets of Hallmark town, there seemed to be a restless silence that had stationed itself in the pallid automobile. Usually such moments are quickly overtook by some music from the car radio or simple chatting with your co passengers, but especially in this particular vehicle everybody was so into themselves that it was difficult to say whether it was a typical family traveling by road.

The Grand Plaza was a newly renovated area in the neighborhood. In less than a week it had become the talk of the town for its interiors, ambience and varied cuisine in particular. It was five minutes to eight when the three of them arrived at the restaurant lobby. All the guests had to record their presence by writing their names along with their time of arrival in the register at the reception. As though a matter of pride,

the three names...

'Mr. Rajeev Mathur,

Mrs. Anjali Mathur,

Ms. Mira Mathur '.......were punctually registered with the time 8:00 pm in the chronicle. Calmly, the three then headed towards the terrace where the dinner was organized. A few guests and the Society Chairman had arrived a little before time while the others were still dropping in at their convenience.

Almost instantly after entering inside, Mr. Mathur, managed his way to one corner of the terrace where chiefly the men were making themselves comfortable with some light drinks and a game of pool, while Mrs. Mathur glided her way through to the other corner where essentially the women indulged themselves in a game of cards and a lot of gossip! Such groups are a common sight at any social gathering. The person to enjoy the most at such events is the one who has a shrewd sense of adhering to any of such groups! Thus Mira too began looking for the group she could join.

With the blink of an eye, she stood among a crowd of four, all of whom shared the same society as well as the same college with her! You are always at ease and in full spirits when you are accompanied by your pals however, it always remains to be seen whether you can be a part of the discussions that go on in the group or end up being just a silent spectator! With Sana, Riya, Sonia and Rina whom she had known for about six years she felt lively for a while, after all they were a few of the only friends she had! There were the usual talks about fashion, spa treatments, a bit about college work and mainly boys...!!! Riya and Sonia had their share of boyfriends since the beginning of college. Rina was dating a guy she met a few weeks ago at a mall. The girls spent hours boasting about their boyfriends and Mira was feeling exactly as anybody without a boyfriend in such a company would feel! It was as if she was standing mute in a bustling crowd. It was literally testing time for her patience whenever their conversations headed in this very direction! She had no other choice but to keep listening.

Finally some noise at the terrace surely seemed to drop down as the special multi cuisine buffet was set up and everybody gathered around the tables to stuff in their hungry tummies! The aroma of fresh hot food had filled up the arena and far away in a distant corner some sweet delicious confectioneries awaited the guests for dessert. It was late in the night and the moon and stars had shown up too. Slowly the crowd began dying and the Mathurs too left for home.

After such a glamorous night, on their way back home Mrs. Mathur was busy updating her husband about the most recent affairs in the society and Mr. Mathur was gulping in as much information as he could. Simultaneously, Mr. Mathur was discussing new business prospects that his peers in the society had ventured in and what scope he had in all of them. The road to the Mathur Villa was silent at night but much noise was brewing up in the white car that headed there.

.............................................................

A/n: Formal events and formal wear are a big No most of the times. Not because it's something out of the world or something very complicated to wear! It's just the pretentious part that comes with it in a baggage. As I precisely like to say
'Its not difficult to fit in the formal shoes it's difficult to carry them' When at such a place it really irks the most when u have to pretend to enjoy any such event whereas in reality, if given a chance u might as well try and jump off the balcony just to make an escape from such a place!!!

Well, guys I would love to know if anyone of you has ever tried...such a gimmick!
PS: the jumping part :p

Vote and comment.