Partying in Style: The Army Way!

PARTYING IN STYLE: THE ARMY WAY!

By Elisa Patnaik

Gleaming cutlery, liveried waiters, an array of scrumptious cuisine, foot tapping music coupled with lively dance... a tinkle of laughter here and a chat session there — all set in a perfect ambience. Sounds too good to be true. But, the Army surely knows to party in style and how. One of the greatest highlights of an Army cantonment life is parties, parties and more parties. Entertaining and being entertained, hosting and attending formal parties, informal get-togethers and impromptu festivities are an intrinsic part of the fauji life, especially during the peace tenures, where the officers and ladies are away from the tensions of a field posting and separated family life. "With our nomadic way of life, where we have to move from one station to another which also includes field postings, parties are the best way to know one another," says an officer posted at the 11 Infantry Division in Ahmedabad.

"Since you belong to a close knit community and the unit is an extended family, one gets to know other officers and their families quite well through these parties." His wife agrees, "Army parties are great ways of knowing each other and having fun at the same time. As it is, we spend very little time with each other so all these parties more than make up for the loss!" Socialising is an inherent part of Army cantonment life, which includes hosting and attending parties. While some of the parties are set in the Officers' Mess, where the ambience is ceremonious and formal to an extent, others are informal get-togethers at each others' houses where at times, the revelry continues till wee hours of the next morning. The impromptu parties where the lady of the house receives guests at the middle of the night, (bachelors mostly who insist on having dinner!) have their own appeal too. Then there are the regimental guests dinner which are organised with such meticulousness, élan and splendour that they would give even five-star banquets a run for their money.

"Each party has its own charm, but the mess parties are enjoyed by one and all since you kind of get used to them and feel at home despite the formal atmosphere," feels a young officer's wife, recently introduced to the Army lifestyle. "The whole idea of having a party is social interaction. The company is great and so is the atmosphere and food. What more do you need to enjoy!," she gushes. Notwithstanding the fun and glamour of Army parties, the 'regularity' with which they occur and the 'excessively formal' atmosphere are not amusing to some. "Army parties are lively, but they are organised too frequently," moans an officer's wife. "Moreover, there are too many dos and don'ts to comply with." However, ask any retired officer and his family what they miss the most in their post-Army life they quip in unison, "Parties, of course!" Partying is a deeply binding anchor and tradition in the peripatetic Army life. Its raison d'être, however, goes much deeper than its surface appearance of being one of the most frivolous, though certainly attractive facets of social life in the Army.