I went to a musical extravaganza the other night at one of the posh clubs that have cropped up in the outskirts of Lucknow and got bored to death. Well, the music did contribute to the ennui but more than that it was the fact that there were just too many boys around!! No, no, no please do not mistake me. I am a completely heterosexually inclined young woman but these days I am somehow thirsting for female company. This craving started approximately six months ago when I realized how I had slowly but surely gained the tag of being the Last Woman Standing!

Barely a year out of college and I find myself at the mercy of ageing auntyjis who have nothing better to do than convincing me to become a participant in the process of human reproduction. I am better off as a spectator, thank you very much!

Three of my fast friends (whom I know since the time we were not even able to spell out our names correctly) are proud moms - and two more are scheduled to walk down the aisle. It wouldn't surprise me to hear the pitter patter of little feet in their blissful homes by next Christmas! Oh! The bliss of getting married! All that fun of colour-coordinating everything from hairpins to nose studs (now you know why it takes months for the trousseau to be ready); all that attention from relatives who recount the good old days when you s(p)oiled their clothes with gooey chocolate droppings; all those endless ceremonies that are harbingers of good times ahead. It's so angelic to even think about all this, isn't it?

But wait. The catchphrase in this fairy tale is "good times." Indeed, what rollicking times are those when you have to eat all those dreaded mithais for days on end in spite of your efforts to convince everyone that you simply don't have a sweet tooth! And how can you overlook that exhilarating feeling of getting up at six in the morning to make bed tea for your in-laws' entire household. They simply love to sip taaza chai made so lovingly by their beautiful bahu - after she's dutifully had a bath of course! Why would one miss the luxury of getting up at noon relished by spinsters like me? No way! And when a year later, the stork arrives with that little bundle of joy, it's party time! Really? Yeah, getting up at three in the morning to attend to your precious darling's tantrums while hubby dearest sleeps on sure seems exciting! No married woman would trade that for any other joy in this world now, would she?

Yeah, yeah. I can see all my happily married friends shaking their heads in sympathy at me. What would I know the pleasures of wedded life, they'd say? True, I don't. And I don't think I'd like to trade my eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, a luxurious bubble bath (again uninterrupted, mind you), peaceful meals and my afternoon siesta (besides other stuff) for anything! Definitely not for marriage! Hey, I am not exactly against the institution of marriage. In fact I have a wonderful loving boyfriend with whom I plan to tie the knot some day. But that "some day" is still a few light years away. In the meantime I am looking for female company.

Any single girls available? ;)