Tonight it was Little Italy, opposite Pizza Corner at Nungambakkam. Pondy was being toasted for his leap from Software Professional to Maritime Consultant. Cheeru, Jai, Dil, Maddy, Robbie, Delta and myself were also present to enjoy the Billabong white wine, prepared from the finest grapes from South Eastern Australia (the label said so).

It was quite funny.. the Steward got us this napkin-draped bottle of wine. He displayed it before me and I sheepishly pointed to Cheeru - recognized as the only wine Connoisseur among us. Then my cell buzzed, and I had to excuse myself. When I returned, my wine glass was full. The thing was, that after all the pomp and ceremony, all of us committed harakiri by not holding our glasses by the stem. What's more, the 0.5% alcohol Billagong wine was so tasty, that it was quickly gobbled up with the accompanying starters - cheese draped Nachos and assorted breads !

The pizzas were markedly different. They had unusually thin crusts, which on baking, made them crisp and kinda hard. I sprayed ketchup to make 'em soft. But as the dishes kept coming in, I started to relish the goulash on my plate. There was sauce dripping from everywhere and everything on my plate tasted wonderful. Towards the end, we were all so stuffed with the bakes, that nobody was willing to have the last slice of Pizza left on the serving plate. Finally, each of us took a bite to finish the thing !

And only then, did we order dessert. Somehow, there's always room for dessert.

And just as we were leaving, Madhavan makes an entry. I didn't recognize him in the 3seconds of direct eye-contact. The moment I did register who this chap was, my face probably gave it all, and the Dude quickly looked away. He looked shabby with his long uncropped hair. Must be the new look for his upcoming film. But one thing's for sure, make-up can do wonders.

The ride back was at a modest 60. Delta and I experienced single drops of rain on our faces. Not a drizzle. Just one raindrop at a time. It was wonderful.