Here's how to throw a tea party, Ms Patil

President Pratibha Patil's get-together for Team India was 'chaotic', according to reports. The tea was served cold and the food ran out. Tips on throwingu00a0a successful tea party

President Pratibha Patil's recent tea party for the Men in Blue was nothing short of chaos. The get-together, which had been organised at the last minute, and was held at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday, April 3, allegedly had guests and VIPs clamour for space, as the media clamoured for sound bytes from the new cricket World Cup champions.


President Pratibha Patil, CM Prithviraj Chavan (extreme left) and other
political and cricket bigwigs pose with members from the Indian Cricket
team during the recent tea party held at the Raj Bhavan on
Sunday. Pic/ Bipin Kokate

Here's some advice Mrs P could do with and the guide to planning the perfect tea party: Details count. When planning a tea party, dress your table with your best china, silver and linens. These add polish and grace to the occasion.

Plan ahead. Select a date and send out your invitations. The weather and the layout of your residence will dictate whether the party is to be held indoors or outdoors. If you plan to hold it outdoors, make arrangements to protect guests from the heat.

Decide on a theme. Once you've done that, plan the menu. Include both savoury and sweet foods. Biscuits, sandwiches, cookies and cupcakes are eternal 'tea party' favourites that you can never go wrong with. Try to fix the menu to complement the theme.

Remember, it's a 'tea' party. Brew and serve a good pot of tea. Decide whether your guests will serve themselves from a table or a sideboard. Where will they sit? Around the room? The garden? Decide if you will have tables for groups of three and four. If guests will be serving themselves, all of the cups, saucers, napkins and silverware should be set out on the main table. If they will be seated at tables, these items will need to be set out in advance at each place setting.

Plan the music. Classical music playing softly in the background works well. Replenish, replenish, replenish. But do so discreetly, by removing the empty platter (or getting someone else to do it) and taking it into the kitchen to refill.

Ask for help. You don't need to handle this on your own. Get outside help if you need it. Enjoy your party. Get a tea-leaf reader to predict the future for guests, as an added attraction.

P.S. A Raj Bhavan official claims that most of what was reported about Mrs Patil's tea party, was untrue. He admits that the situation turned chaotic only because 200 mediapersons, instead of the anticipated 100 showed up. He also adds that reports about the food running out were baseless, as they had catered for 600 people, and 450 turned up. Hmmm.