My homage to Murphy
(If anything can possibly go wrong, it will)

Eve of Divya's Birthday. Milan. 6 very sweet and money conscious indian friends. Plan for the evening. Send Divya to help someone shop (she being the apparel designer, had to say yes), pretend to be tired and go home,but instead go pick up cake and wine for the party. Here are a list of things why I believe I am related to Murphy (so much so I believe his name was Murugappan , a nattukottai chettiar and illegal immigrant in America who decided to go cool...Murphy!)

The list

note: My partner in misfortune was Neelam. We are going to the church, psychologist and the voodoo speacialist this week in order to find out why these things happen only to us.

Scene 1

Mc Donalds. Sita clearing plate drops coffee. Spills and splashes remains ONLY on herself and Neelam (this would be a good time to inform the less informed Sita has never had coffee all her life. So much for helping)

Sends Divya for shopping and runs to take the metro to Esselunga (the super mart) to pick up cake

Out of the metro station, heavy rain. Nice and bloody cold

Enter Esselunga, no cake. Buy spumante (sparkling wine---- yes, we are self-proclaimed wannabe europeans. and the cheap price tag helps)

Enter pastry shop (miss tram) .Pastry shop hasnt heard of a complete round cake! quizzical look from people. we use the same old excuse.....INDIANO. they look satisfied. exit and take tram back to the metro station

divya waiting to take same tram from train station as we exit it. divya giving us the 'look' as she sees us carrying wine (like ya right she doesnt know its for her birthday!). make up stupid excuses and run. neelam inside the train. me outside waving. take the next train, meet neelam

find another mart, get in. THEY have CAAAKE. good. go to find snacks.....and just then some thing goes pop. yes, the wine bottle popped open, actually burst open and suddenly two of us drenched in spumante and a big pool of it forming right at our feet. Staff not helpful as the wine is not from their store. Neelam however is. Runs out of the store, or tries to. A big man stops her at the exit and asks her to pay for it (in rapid Italian). Neelam (state rank holder FOREVER uses one of her many skills- language and gets out of the sticky situation (literally!) .

Sita takes cake, runs out and cuts hand while clearing shards of glass. Walk smelling like drunkards to the metro (looking like illegal immigrants alone doesn't help. you need the alcohol effect!). Well thank god for small mercies, we both get into the SAME train. Reach tram stop...no trams. Still raining. Not helping. Exhausted after being on our feet all day, slyly planning for birthday, getting drenched and smelling like decayed fruit!
On our way back home Neelam and me in anticipation of the pot luck dinner using leftovers from the diwali dinner are in for a rude/ hungry shock. No potluck! apparently as we had a presentation next day morning we didnt have time to reheat things! ( i hate nerds!) After figuring out what to cook for myself for dinner I think....wat losers to ruin a perfectly fun evening. Then I think again. Wat presentation?

Well at the end of it did we have the party. Yes
Did we get to drink any wine. Yes
Did we have a cake tat looked like cake?....ehhh yes
Did the birthday girl get the surprise? I think she did. Either that or she acts well!

At the end of the day (we celebrated the birthday at 11. We decided to change to Italian time when we came from India. But thats as far as we go, day light saving isn't what we want to believe in. (Hey who are u calling a hypocrite?!)
Well we had wine and cake and a surprised birthday girl. What can I say but ' All's well that ends well' . Murphy to Shakespeare in 4 hours. Works.