What if life was a party? A party that never stopped, that went on into the days, nights and years! Where the music rocked, where the lights stayed dim, where the atmosphere was electric, where there were no rules, but endless fun….

Let me tell you a story.

Many years ago, there was a king who ruled over a rich, happy and industrious people. When his daughter was getting married, he was visited by an angel one night. who consented to grant him a wish as a gift for his daughter's wedding. The king, without thinking, asked for his daughter to be happy forever and his people to have such a good time that the wedding feast would never end. And so it was. When the fairy lights came on the village looked like it was covered in a golden sheath. When the musicians began playing all the people came pouring out of their homes to dance in the streets. Wine and food flowed and the entire village made merry. The children having no one to supervise them ran into streets and began misbehaving. The ministers who were deep in work, doing the town planning were so distracted by the noise, they came to investigate and soon joined in the fun. The doctors were so inebriated they became slack and lazy. The judges joined in the fun and soon there was no functioning legal system.The guards in the kings palace looked enviously at the revelry outside and soon decided if every one was enjoying themselves, why not them? The only person who watched all this with growing concern was the king, because now everyone was having such a good time, there were no checks and balances in place. The whole system was collapsing. No one was on guard, soon the neighbouring village heard about this and decided to annexe the kingdom. Overpowering them was easy , as no one put up a fight. The kingdom was lost, all because of a single careless wish!

Fun is good but in moderation. ‘If life were only a party’, we would be constantly tired and hungover. We wouldn’t know our friends from our foes, our strengths from our weaknesses, right from wrong. Balance is the key. Let the party really begin, let’s depend on our spirit (not the bottled ones) to really savour life. Salut to ourselves and to a glorious 2010!