I am not a party person, but Indian parties are something else. They are not big, they are huge; they are not frequent, they are constant. People here know how to party since they come to life, they enjoy doing it, and they are better than anyone else anywhere else at it.
I have been at small get-togethers with DJ, I have danced until morning under the disco lights of a let’s-just-have-a-party party, I have brought small flowers bouquets to birthday parties that were much, much bigger than most weddings where I come from.
And in case you are wondering if I have been to one of those famous Indian wedding the answer is no: despite that being my second highest goal, right after being a bit player in a Bollywood movie, it still remains unattended (as does the first goal, for that matter).
But back to the party. About a month ago I went to a birthday party, and around me there were the usual one-hundred/one-hundred-fifty Indians. And there, while I was dancing Om-Shanti-Om soundtrack, in the south end of Delhi, I meet this big guy from Naples, who dances like a crazy.
We talk for a bit, both happy to be able to speak our language, he asks me why am I here, and I return the question. To which he gives the most amazing answer: “You knows,I just was curious to see how was it, the overseas”. He said it like that (in Italian, but it sounds the same), as if The Overseas were just one big foreigner thing spread outside Italy, or maybe simply outside Naples.
“Definitely”, I remarked, “this is quite an overseas”.
We went back dancing, but later, while sipping a precious imported wine, I went back to the topic, amazed by his idea of the outside to explore. “So do you like it, I asked, this overseas?”. The fat guy from Naples smailed: “Of course! Look at this party!”. He put down his empty glass and walked towards the dance floor.
“Of course”, I thought, going back dancing myself, “such parties in the Overseas”.
