' You are Cordially invited...'

I don't know about you but I have always felt excited at receiving an invitation. A sliver of thrill travels up my spine and miraculously  manages to find its  own convoluted route to my voice. People in the know ( my family)  tell me that my voice hovers between a quivering and a breathless tenor while accepting the invite. In the event of having to decline the said invite the voice teeters on the edge of melancholic anger, the anger directed at whoever is the cause for the 'sorry, we will not be able to make it' . The melancholy is of course, reserved for myself.

Wedding invitations elicit a mixed bag of response. If the card is accompanied by a box
of , well ,anything- mithai, chocolates, badam ki giri, even cardamom and mishri, true happiness is felt. Here, one is  slightly foggy about  the routine- is the  card  opened first to check out the who what when of the wedding or is it the box that gets preference. The sneaky suspicion is that it is the box. The red /yellow cellophene covering  is ceremoniously unwrapped  and the cover lifted. A sigh of  pure ecstacy is released if it is mithai. The bliss of taking a peek at the diamond shaped kaju ki katli, or, even better, at the moss green pishta burfi ,and the thrill of renunciation that one will not be eating the mithai is unmatched. Next in the pecking order come the chocolates. They work well  for the children and their friends and are packed off in the 'chocolates section ' of the refrigerator. The badams come a humble third because of their prosaicness and their association with  health benefits , though it is they that are actually consumed first. Cardamoms, well, I know the cost of ilaichi is no laughing matter but still...I do wish people would go in for mithai- for the reasons already mentioned above.

An unaccompanied card is looked at with slight misgivings and a tut of sympathy. It reinforces the argument of the school of thought which holds that 'One is a lonely number'. Misgivings because ,'what will the actual marriage be like ...' and sympathy as in, ' poor things...' The daughter invariably , and more so lately, professes herself to be in total and absolute agreement with the austerity drive. The husband, fence sitter till now, jumps to her side. Since political correctness is the order of the day and it is just so incorrect to declare oneself in love with mithai and bhaji dabbas that I , perforce, swallow both misgivings and sympathy and agree that it is so nice and in keeping with the times that people have stopped sending boxes. Family receives this in disbelieving silence but by then I am happily mulling the possibility, in silence of course, that may be the oversight will be remedied at the marriage itself.

However, what is truly upsetting is the latest trend of sending electronic and phone invites. You know the ones that urgently solicit your presence at  the bhoomi pujan of the ultra delux apartments coming up on Sohna Road or whichever road/expressway. What is upsetting is that there is no mention of breakfast/lunch/tea/dinner and whatsoever no mention of any laddoo ka dabba. All that is mentioned is that one will get a 10% discount on the booking amount if one is among the first five to give a down payment!

 What really took the cake the other day  was an invite in my mail. It stated that in the X institute  pursuit of excellence they, on the occasion of teacher's day, were cordially inviting me to be present to receive an award for my contribution to said excellence. You can imagine the swell of pride in this public affirmation of my excellence, till then visible to only a few.  Stat I ring up the husband, the son, the daughter and share with them the tidings. That the tidings are met with stunned silence I take no note of. Next on the to do list is a beautifully worded acceptance mail . In short it states that yes, I would be honored to receive the award from an institution of such impeccable and unimpeachable reputation. Here, I nudge away the inner voice which tells me that I have never heard of the thingy. Now  I have ,I inform the inner voice. The next day the institute reverts. They are absolutely delighted with my acceptance of their invitation. Would I like to pay the charges for attending  the event by credit card or would a demand draft work better?