Party time

Time was when having an all-night party was a measure of its success

We all know that there is a polite time by when guests should arrive at a party, but is there one when they should depart? Living in Delhi, given the city’s long working hours and its even longer traffic jams, “See you at 8:00 — 8:30” means hosts need to be prepared to receive their guests post 9:00 pm (“eager beavers”), with 9:30 being peak arrival time (the “on-timers”), and those coming later making up the “stragglers”. There are at least a few who always show up closer to midnight, as a result of which dinner is delayed, and the