The birth of Christ is celebrated across the world with much reverence and joy. At DI this day is celebrated with happiness, gaiety and delight. The red and white shamiana added to the festive look as it did warmth. Tables, pre-booked by members, were lined up across the courtyard. Each table had a designated waiter assigned. Such meticulous planning goes a long way in helping smooth and timely service on such days which sees several hundred guests, all out to celebrate and have a good time.

Indoors@DI looked splendid, with the LED dancefloor lighting up the floor and disco lights adding to the party experience.
'Merry Christmas' could be heard every few moments as guests cheerfully greeted each other. The chill of the last few days seemed to have ebbed, encouraging all to bring their best party wear.  The best of haute couture could be seen as both women and men dressed to celebrate. Many chose to wear the Christmas colours of red and green. Shimmer and sparkling seemed to be the choice of most, echoing it seemed the twinkling of the guiding star.

Christmas is a family celebration and DI ensures that the young and old, the littlest ones along with not-so-little anymore get to enjoy this special day together.
The music for the night was in the hands of the talented band 'Pop Cult' and famous DJ Shakey. Together they ensured that DI members and friends had a fantastic night.
The emcee for the night, Leslie, conducted the show with all the elan and wit that he is known for.

Pop Cult took stage and as soon as they started playing, we had our littlest members go on the dancefloor and dance with great joy and gusto.
The sassy and lively Tanya belted out one power-packed song after another.
'Achy Breaky heart' had the party goers on the dancefloor. No Christmas party at DI is complete without the popular fun contests and games that make each session exciting and ever so rewarding.
Leslie began the innovative games and contests for the people on the dancefloor - the lady closest to the alphabet 'C' in the hall won a special prize.

Sterling Reserve was the main sponsor for the evening and had offered bottles of their coveted whiskies as the prizes, along with some bottles of wine and boxes of chocolates from the club.
The next contest was won by the 'gentleman' with most rings on his fingers - Ronnie had 5 rings to Gustavo's 4, and he won both the contest and the coveted bottle of Sterling Reserve.
If the adults were enjoying the dancefloor, the DI children were not far behind. Tanya's powerful rendition of 'Self Control' had the children pairing up and trying pair dancing. Little Sierra decided she didn't need a partner and was busy grooving with a wide smile. Seeing the children dancing with abandon, Leslie indulgently  observed that DI was probably the only club that allowed children on the dancefloor after 9 pm on a night like this. Christmas is special and seeing the children thoroughly enjoying themselves was a pleasure to watch. Little Jaden, looking dashing in a suit, complete with tie, was seen trying different moves of pair dancing with many of his little friends, often taller than him, making a very cute picture.
Leslie announced the next contest - the lady with Christmas colours, both red and green would win a bottle of wine. Philomena Paul was the only lady to have both colours and the bottle of wine!

 

Outside the tables were laden with food and drinks. Snacks and set-meals were easily available on the purchase of coupons. Many chairs were empty, since their occupants had moved onto the dance floor.

DJ Shakey played popular dance numbers and had the crowd dancing to the beats, whenever Pop Cult took a break.
Another innovative contest by Leslie had the coveted prize of the Sterling Reserve whisky bottle. The person with 25 on the ticket was to win the coveted prize. A gentleman with ticket number 425 was the lucky winner. 'Rock-a-bye baby' had the children back on the dancefloor in full force.
The super-hit 'Cinderella at the Ball' game required couples to line up. The ladies were asked to take off one shoe and our DI children muddled them up. The men had the task of picking out the matching shoe for their lady and make her wear the shoe. Men struggling to find the matching pair was a  sight to see. The winners received a bottle of Sterling Reserve.

Pop Cult came back on stage with the ever popular 'Jail house rock'. Leslie invited the enthusiastic participants to pair up for a round of the 'Grand March'. The couples followed the conga-line and were soon group-dancing with the Mexican Shuffle, Boogie woogie and Birdie dance. Tanya belted out power packed 'Feeling Hot hot hot' and 'Give me hope Johanna' which got all grooving energetically.

Leslie asked the audience to name the band members and points were allocated. A lady in red had maximum points. Apart from the talented and dynamic Tanya Sen, the other members of Pop Cult are guitarist John Paul, drummer Gaurab 'Gabu' Chatterjee, Bassist Mainak 'Bumpy' Nag Chowdhury and keyboard player Dominic Saldanha . Originally started as an acoustic duo in 2017 by Tanya and John to play cover songs, the outfit gradually expanded.

The last contest was to locate the lady with the longest earrings. A gentleman on the dancefloor was made the Impromptu judge and had girls with dangling earrings contesting for the first place. A difficult task indeed for the gentleman, but surely he was envied by the men for he had so many beautiful women vying for his attention. A winner was finally picked. She received the last prize for the evening - a box of delicious chocolate.

To say that the DI Christmas party was a hit would be an understatement, with over 1000 members and guests wanting to stay back and continue the celebrations into the morning. A few requests (hardly in jest) for the party to end with breakfast were heard, a testimony to the DI-lightful night the Council, entertainment and food committees had put together.
 

[Picture credits: Shubham Poddar and Tanya Robinson]