It was Indu's birthday and her mother was taking all of us to the newly opened cafe, especially meant for birthdays that has everything from pastries to pizza. Birthday parties were always fun, I was excited and eagerly waiting for the day. I spoke of nothing else but the forthcoming party, till everyone in the house called a cease-fire. The D-day finally arrived. I could hardly contain my excitement. I went through all the dresses but none of them seemed to be perfect. My mother came in with a disapproving look at all the dresses lying helter-skelter on the bed. She briskly picked up one and asked me to get ready fast as time was running out. I decided to do so. Finally, I was ready and waiting for Indu's mother to pick me up. I got into the car and wished Indu heartily. All my friends were there and all of them wanted to say something. It was cacophony with all of us trying to outscream the other. I wondered how Indu's mother drove the car but we finally arrived at our destination. We tumbled out of the car and ran in as fast as we could. We found a nice big table and settled down comfortably. We laughed and giggled at everything and everyone. Somebody joked about the people at the next table and had us all in peels of laughter. Indu's mother had gone to give the order and we all waited eagerly for the food to arrive. We talked excitedly about what each of us was going to eat. Everything was going fine. We were through the tasty cold drink and munching the finger chips. The cake arrived looking delicious. I took a nice big slice and settled down to enjoy myself. I wanted more and so took my knife and fork. I am always nervous with this cutlery business. The knife moved back and forth but the piece didn't separate. I cast a sideward glance to see how the others were fairing. Everybody was busy and nobody seemed to notice me. I put a little more effort and Ah! finally the piece separated. I triumphantly picked it up with the fork and put it into my mouth. That was the trick. You just had to put the right amount of force. Then was the cold coffee time, we all were eagerly waiting for it and then finally, I could drink it, Ahhhh, it was so so so yumm!! I steadied my hand and started on the second piece, as it was not separating, I put a little more effort into my hand and jerked a bit. The whole slice separated with a big slide and shot into the air. I watched aghast as it sailed through the air and landed on the next table. Out of fear I spilled the cold coffee too, the huge cup broke and the entire table became messy with all the spilled coffee, spoiling my favourite clothes that absorbed the entire coffee, I sat mortified in my seat wishing the earth would swallow me up. The people at the next table gave me a horrible disapproving look, In fact, a man was looking quite belligerent and then Indu's mother apologized, I never felt more embarrassed in my life. I somehow went through the party and returned home. The moment I saw my mother I burst into tears. She pacified and told that it could happen to anyone, just that I had to be a little more patient. - Anjani Jaya, Bhavan's Vivekananda College, BtGC-2