I entered the restaurent and it seemed like a women dominated world. On the right hand side there was a gang of eight chirpy gals.. celebarting the birthday of one of them( The one who was unwrapping the tiny gifts).They were a little too noisy for my ear drums. on the left there was a triad of girls. These were a bit older than the , just out of school, eight bunch. I got seated. Just behind me was the kitty party group of the homemakers all middle aged. Since I was sitting with my back to them ,I could not observe them any further. I had fish on my mind. Wanted to relish fish with lemon and coriander sauce. To my dismay fish wasn't available. But ironically I felt I was in the fish market. The eight were still enthusistic in there never ending conversations complimented with giggles and accentuated by exclamations ,continued distracting me from the menu card. The triad weren't noisy but they were in focus when i tried to look away from the eight. Then entered a 'six' of saree clad women. Nice replicas of Ekta Kapoor's serial... one of them whose weight had refused decrease after her previous pregnancy , delicatly carried the now 1 year old baby girl. They seemed to be completely out of conversation, may be sobered by the in law effect.I felt a little relaxed by there scanty whispered conversations and had finally decidedon the menu. Amidst the din, surprisingly, I was still able to recognize the song whose instrumental was miserably trying to surface over the bubbly feminine voices.
As i started to eat the chicken that replaced the desired fish, a few more gals walked in. The number kept on increasing and till it reached 11. Good they couldnt find a place to accomodate all.However they stood a little behind me , a few of them seated, discussing the alternate places they could go. All of a sudden i felt surrounded .Women of all ages just talking away , as if they wont have a second oppurtunity after this sunday afternoon. By now the baby gal has also started crying.
It sure had turned to be a noisy lunch. Then for a silly second I wondered why was I so destressed. The noisy gals were just a group of friends enjoying . The kinds I used to be a part of. But as one grows up and moves on in life, one gets lesser and lesser oppurtunities for such gatherings. So for the rest of the time i enjoyed my lunch and smiled at the thought of the noisy gatherings me and my friends had in college.