Notes from A Naval Brigade Grouping at The Courtyard

The ‘Covid-20’ batch got to meet their work friends and here’s what I took away from that lovely evening by Ann Mary Tom, Copywriter

It’s just nice, to meet a person.

The lockdown joinees had it pretty hard. There were all these people we were working with, but all we had was a name, an occasional face viewing on video calls, and a voice. But a person is so much more. A person’s presence tells you so much more.

‘Rahul Pai Webchutney’ has such a hearty laugh. ‘Priyanka Borah’ from the emails, is such an insanely cool woman. ‘~Ishtaarth’ is just as smart as he sounds on the WhatsApp groups. ‘P.G Aditiya’ should do stand-up. ‘Gautam Reghunath’ has such an impeccable taste for masks — was anyone else bewitched by his mask? ‘Binaifer Webchutney’s voice is honey-sweet. ‘~Prashant Gopalakrishnan’ is so nice. ‘Ananya Webchutney’ is so funny. ‘Tasha Webchutney’’s presence is so calming. ‘Sabah Webchutney’ is now my sister.

Themes are always and only, for aesthetix.

So we were asked to wear blue and white to follow a nautical theme. And mind you, organisers, we all really thought we were going to be asked to cosplay as Popeye.
But, it was just for pictures — and pictures we forgot to take :)

Casts are the greatest conversation starters.

I’d recommend anyone that hates initiating ‘the talking’ at parties to try this — wear a cast to a party. Broken bones translate to unanticipated attention towards you and also, never having to compete for attention. Slowly watch pity and concern from people, break into heart-to-heart conversations.

And if someone walks past you — a person that made it to a party with a broken leg, without striking a chat, what kind of person is that anyway? You don’t need them in your life.

Minds are such great storytellers.

Most times, what we think of a person and what the person is actually like are simply disparate worlds.
Like when I thought Pai was ‘a very scary person’ but Pai wasn’t ‘a very scary person at all’. And like when Pai thought I was a very ‘propah lady’ but I wasn’t a very ‘propah lady’ at all.

Teetotallers are tough, tall, strong glaciers.

Introduce a teetotaller to the joy of being slightly buzzed at a party, and you will be turned down with unimpressed eyes. Mock a teetotaller for being boring at a party, and watch how your burns are only burning you — they’re glaciers.

Alcoholic: “Hey, drink a mimosa!”

Teetotaller: “Hey, have you tried samosa?”

Down your mimosas to gather the courage to tell someone you admire them.

Borah was like some sort of tigress that was on top of the food chain. Ananya and I needed to tell her. So I downed a mimosa and Ananya told me about how I should try a samosa. Borah now knows I’m a fan, and I now know the stories behind all her mad tattoos.

Experiencing ourselves as interesting is elating.

The lockdown got us used to people avoiding any contact with us — eye contact even, for some weird reason. For a person that talked to people at supermarkets, this new normal WAS NOT COOL. And all of sudden, there was this gathering, where everyone wanted to sit by you, and wanted to have their fists meet your fists (handshakes were not welcome at this party) and wanted to know more about you.
I was flabbergasted. What a breath of fresh air. What a wonderful evening.

Thanks, goodboy Webchutney?

P.S: Thanks ‘not very scary Pai’ and Mehar for being the sweetest organisers and for being the reason I was even able to make it to the party.