Whenever my wife and I have to attend a party, there is enough chaos before we leave home for the kids to roll their eyes and for the maid to pull out her hair.

Gifts would have to be wrapped and clothes have to be ironed and worn, with seconds to go before out designated time of departure.

When we finally get into the car, we're invariably quite late and there has been many an argument along the way, which has resulted in that much more tension.

An even tenser situation results, however, when we have a 'do' at out home and when we have to put our best performances as to please-all hosts.

The scene at our humble abode, just minutes before the guests are to arrive, resembles that of a busy bazaar. One of us is usually busy with the laptop(me), another is shouting at all and sundry while running around the house (my wife), the kids are on tenterhooks and the TV is blarring. The maid and the borrowed 'help' look as if they've had enough and are never going to be part of any party again.

Indeed the pressure is really on!

Opinion is divided about the precise moment when i usually coax myself to leave the computer and join the frenetic clean-up operation on such occasions. What ever be the truth of the matter, the fact is that there is a frenzied period of activity
just before the guest arrive that is akin to the last over of a T20 thriller.

Our best efforts to host the perfect party have the tendency to go awry, however, to a variety of disruptive influences. Sometimes unwanted visitors arrive minutes before the party is scheduled. On other occasions, long telephone calls hold up preparations. One gaffe is to underestimate the quantity of food required.

Some guest evidently find our food so delicious that they polish off bowl after bowl of the stuff. The result is that a few diners are left staring at empty pots on the table!

Even such errors are pardonable, but not what happened last time. A certain gentleman and his wife turned up for dinner one evening and we kept scratching our heads because they were not on our list. An examination of my cellphone later revealed that I had texted him the invitation, instead of the intended person with the same name.

P.S: the above is an edited version of an article I read few days back, it's simple and straight, yet an interesting read, familiar to what happens in our homes.