Bala karthiga M

The night owls have been glorified and articulated to be extra creative – well I strongly disagree.

I had a revelation when I woke up and made myself a cup of tea, this morning. I don’t know if it was the very rhythm of grabbing my mug, placing a bag of Darjeeling tea and then adding the boiling water out of the whistling kettle, and then adding some honey and sipping into the tea – but the very routine of it, makes me think a lot.

Every single time.

It’s almost the end of the academic year, and there’s a Farewell Party coming up.

There’s going to be drinking, there’s going to be booze and lots of partying. As I was thinking of what I’m going to wear and how I’m going to get there or how much work I have to do before leaving and that kind of party related stuff, the first thing that came to my mind was this:

How early can I leave that party so that I can make it back to the hostel and I’m in bed by a reasonable hour and yet it is late enough to show my best friends and the others that I’ve stayed up late?

I don’t want people to tease me for still being a kid who gets to bed before 10.

Well,  don’t get me wrong. I love parties. I love socializing and meeting new people. I like chatting, gossiping, teasing around, taking selfies and all that.

BUT I ALSO LIKE MY BED.

And I NEED at least eight hours of sleep every night, in order be as less-cranky as possible.

You know how you used to say that I was born sixty years late? That is so true. I was not meant to be young. My friends loves partying. There’s nothing they enjoys more than a wild DJ night.

Occasionally, they’d all come up to me all excited and say, ‘Saturday night! We’re all going to go out! We’re going to go crazy! We’re going to have fun! We’re gonna get some dinner and dance and meet people and it’s going to be amazing!’

They’d look at me like a bunch of fascinated children (and with the NITT fest going on, this has been happening almost every night for the last three days) and I can feel the zeal dripping out of their soul as they look at me eagerly for an answer.

Well, I try to look enthusiastic.

I honestly do.

I try to look like she just described the best night ever, but in my head I’m thinking, ‘Oh, that sounds awful. That is so far away from my idea of a Saturday night.’

What I had planned in my head, is that I was going to be home by quarter past eight. I wanted to take a short but relaxing shower, and I wanted to be in bed by half past nine.

I was going to have a cup of hot chocolate to make me all warm and cozy and sleepy. I was going to write into my journal, read a Classic, and listen to some 90s Rahman songs until I fell asleep.

That.

That’s my idea of a perfect Saturday night.

However, having said all that, I will say yes occasionally to all the partying and the outing. I might even get a little bit crazy with my girls, and let my hair loose for one night. With my room-mates, Swathi and Shriya at least.  In our twelve months of living together, I’ve gone out like properly gone out with them for like six times.

Five of those occasions, I hung around them,  and chatted and it was all fine. We also usually have night-outs at CCD, where we stay up all night – the whole gang, and we drink several cups of coffee, play games and watch movies together.

However, on one of those occasions, I ended up sleeping on the couch near the cafe and they had to literally drag me back to the room. (Well, you can imagine how embarrassing that might have been for me. I try not to think about that night.)

So, here’s this post to all indoor-lovers out there.

If you feel a little different from your friends, and you don’t like going out or you don’t like getting drunk, it’s okay just to say no.

It’s okay for you to go up to them, and say, ‘Hey, You know what? I’m happy going to bed at ten and falling asleep while reading a book. I’m okay with that.’

They’re your friends after all, their job description is to to keep you happy and comfortable.

Not wanting to spend all your weekends out of your room doesn’t mean you’re anti-social or that you’re boring. It’s okay to have different interests, and still be great friends. I believe this is how Swathi and I make things work between us. She can’t stay inside the room for long, and I can’t bear to stay outside. And yet, we always manage to hang around together!

It’s okay to occasionally go up to your friends and say, ‘I’m sorry, this is how I feel, but this you and this is me.

Our ideas of wild nights, differ on a large scale, but that doesn’t change a thing.

If you want to go out, party all night, and fall asleep on the couch of a strange place, you can by all means go ahead and do that. I’ll be there to have an eye on you and carry you home.

But if you want to stay home and read and just fall asleep early, you can do that as well. I will not judge you for that nor will I be mad, because darling, that’s just what friends are for.’

And there’s the recipe to everyone’s happiness.

XOXO,

Bala.

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