The Ultimate Friday House Party Experience

Unlimited fun with my extended family…

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It’s the start of June — rains have just kicked in and so has the crazy work schedule. It’s Friday though, and there’s a house party tonight at Sandeep’s (aka “Chiku”) place. My phone’s been non-stop buzzing with WhatsApp pings. Our school gang chat — the “WiFi HiFi” group — is totally pumped for the night, and yes, everyone’s bringing their better halves too.

I thought of working from home today because of the rain. But let’s be honest — that privilege is reserved for the managers. What about the rest of the team? So yeah, WFH plan dropped. Off to the office I went. Took the car today — not taking chances with the rain and also wanted to make sure I’m not late for the party.

Chiku had taken the day off to get everything sorted. Well, he better — the party’s at his place after all. 😉

My day? A total chaos of client meetings. And with a brand-new project on the table, there was no way I would bail on even one of them. Meanwhile, my phone kept pinging with party updates, which weirdly kept me motivated to finish everything faster.

8 PM. I get a call from Vidya (my wife) — she’s reached home and is all ready for the party. Just as I start to pack up, boom — meeting invite pops up on my laptop. Starts in 30 minutes. High-priority client. No chance of skipping it. 😩

Quick text to Vidya:

Me: “Have a meeting in 30 mins. Will be late. Be ready, will reach by 9:30.”

Her: “Ok :(”

Meeting finally wraps up. I check the time — it’s 9 PM already. Phone’s still buzzing — party’s already on, and everyone’s flooding the group with pics…

First time all day I actually got a chance to respond on WhatsApp:

Me: “Coming guys. Just left office.”

Them: “Saale jaldi aa. Daru khatam ho gaya.”

(Come fast, the booze is over!)

I knew they were messing with me — no way they’d let that happen. But still, it worked. I was out of there in a flash. Didn’t even bother shutting down the laptop properly — just slammed it shut, tossed it into the bag, and bolted.

Ran straight to the exit, jumped into my car, and zoomed out of the office gate. One of the security guards waved at me to slow down, but he had no idea what kind of emergency I was dealing with. 😄

Once I hit the road, I didn’t drop below third gear. In no time, I was on the highway, weaving through cars like I was auditioning for Fast & Furious. Felt like a legit street racer. 😎

But of course, the universe had other plans. Just when I was about 15 minutes away (on a normal day), traffic hit me hard. Waterlogging had stalled a bunch of rickshaws and turned everything into a mess. Still, somehow, I made it home — it was already 10 PM.

Vidya was all ready and waiting. My phone kept buzzing with party updates. I kicked off my shoes, dropped my bag on the sofa, slipped into my trusty chappals, and we were out the door in under 15 seconds.

Vidya locked up, and we were off. Quick call to Kini to confirm the address, and what should’ve been a 5-minute drive to Chiku’s place… we did in 3.

Kini opened the door with a big grin. Inside, it was the usual madness:

Chikhal chilling on the floor with a beer

His daughter Jia and Chiku’s daughter Alisha screaming, “Girish uncle yyyyyeeeeeeeee!”

Lali camped at the dining table with a drink

Vimla at the computer table bossing Chendu around about which songs to play

And finally, Chiku himself — holding out a drink for me in one hand, and his own glass in the other. Legend.

There they were — the extended family. All the guys had a drink in hand (except Kini, of course, doing his usual thing of keeping everyone entertained), the wives were either serving food or busy chatting, and the kids were, well, just being loud and awesome.

“Cheers!” And that first sip of Jack Daniel’s? Man, pure heaven.

Now for my favourite part — food, food, and more food.

Chiku yelled from across the room: “Saale, dopehar se order karke rakha hai!”

(We’ve been ordering food since the afternoon, bro!)

“Chalo dumb charades khelte hai!” shouts Nidhi (aka soon-to-be moma), and just like that, the whole room jumps in. No explanation needed — we all know the game. The twist? Movie names could be in any language. The catch? Most of us barely speak more than three. 😂

We started with the usual Hindi flicks, moved on to Gujarati and Marathi, and somehow… landed in Bhojpuri territory. Gujarati and Marathi were still manageable — most of us have one of those as our mother tongue. But Bhojpuri? That’s where the guys got creative. They’d just make up any random-sounding title and sell it with confidence. One gem: “Nahi Dhui Kaakdi Khaai.” I mean, come on. No one questioned it — we were too busy laughing.

By the time the clock hit 1:30 AM, we were still buzzing with energy. But the reality check hit — a few had work the next morning. So, reluctantly, we called it a night.

Another get-together, another epic memory. Massive shoutout to Chiku and Nileema (aka Nelu… or Sherni 😄) for pulling off such a fun night.

Already looking forward to the next one. Now the big question: who’s hosting the next house party? 😉