New Year Nervousness

New Year Nervousness

I am restless and edgy thinking of the last few days of this year. I dread invitations to parties. Nowadays people do not even have the courtesy to call, they simply send Whatsapp invites that sound more like a command than an invitation. 

I am a loner and an intensely private man. For me, attending a party is a punishment. Anything that I hate more than a party is to attend a religious function at someone's house. Most of the time, I put two large whiskeys under my belt before I go for religious ceremonies. 

I grew up in a mofussil town with a population of less than two lakh people when I left my home. I had not heard of Merry Christmas and Happy New Year that fall in December until I was 25 and went to Goa for a business trip. 

For me, the new year meant Diwali in October with food as a principal theme. But now that I live in multicultural Mumbai, and that too in a suburb of Bandra, I dare not escape New Year. 

The other day, Percy, my handyman at The Bagels Cafe disturbed my peace and quiet I love when having my coffee to inform me that there will be a Christmas carol singing tomorrow evening at the cafe and I must be a decent man and attend. I limit my music sense to Hindi film songs so Christmas carols are not what I look forward to. 

I have been invited to several parties by the hosts whose age ranges from the 20s to 80s. A common theme among them is their ability to hit the bottle with the same vigor, a trait close to my heart. I have accepted 3 invitations, two solos, and one with the wife. I am not a sociable man, but I must appear to be one. 

For the big night, I am staying at home. My routine of this night has not varied in the last 30 years. The early meal, a large single malt, a small dose of a sleeping pill, and hit the bed before fireworks try to wake me up at midnight. This is the only night when I mix my drink and a pill. 

My last thoughts before drifting off to sleep are about how the new year will be. This year, I will think of all the friends who are dead and all the new friends I will make in a new year which airline I will fly as I travel again, and the government's battle with the farmers. 

Before I think of the other things, I am fast asleep. 

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