Before the lights go off

Last night there was a lot of shouting. Crackers went off by the hundreds and the skies lit up. Chants of "Indiaaaaa, India!" from what sounded like drunken voices continued beyond midnight. Perhaps this is supposed to represent patriotism. Being cynical and uncivil aren't considered unpatriotic. Perhaps we live in a twisted world.

At dinner tonight we ordered in, which was almost a bucketful of chicken for me. I wasn't sure how hungry I was but I observed myself filling my plate regularly from the bucket as well as the bowl and the food vanished in an instant. There was a point when I would go for months on vegetarian food alone and had felt I might give up on non-vegetatarian food. That position has been reversed.