Friday, June 24, 2005

Hic.Hic.

Ok.You seen a lot of movies.You know how they jump back into the flashback sometimes.Jump into one right now.
_______________________________
FLASHBACK :
Venue :New Boys Hostel ( The hostel where Me stays )
Characters :
Me ( Age: 23 , The guy who writes this blog )
X ( Age: Looks like 33 , is 24 , Another IIM C student.Another New Boys Hosteller)
X : "Kya re , you dont spend long hours talking on your cellphone these days.Hope all is well between you and airtel guys ? "
Me : " Yeah I am just back frm a movie with the airtel CEO".
X : "Ok yaar seriously , we dont find you spending long hours roaming around the hostel , on phone with that shy smile pasted on your face .Is everything fine ? "
Me : "Yeah life is beautiful.I messed up things between me and her."
X (with the expression ramsay brothers would love to capture) : Oh shit.Shit shit shit.How did this happen ? "
Me:"Angelina Jolie proposed to me and I left her."
X : "Its ok man.Just come to my room some time.A chilled beer and you would feel better."
Me : "I feel fine.And I don't drink."
X ( Ramsay brothers expression recreated ) : "you dont still ! You are 23 kid ! And after what you have been through , you have to drink! ."
___________________________________________
OK.FLASHBACK ENDS.THIS IS NOW.
I do not drink.I do not drink.I do not drink.
You heard it right.A 23 year old boy who does not drink.But I am normal in other ways.I do not wear a pink skirt and I dont wear lipstick.I have a decently manly voice and a if I dont shave , you can see that I have facial hair too.Just that I dont drink.Then why am I branded a sissy Mama's boy for that ? Not that I have any problems with that.Just curious.
The first and only time ,I 'tasted' some vodka at my IIM C freshers party at the hostel.Allegedly,I sang loudly,danced vigorously to every C grade punjaabi song played , ripped my shirt away ,and danced till 4 in the morning till the sound equipment guys drove off with their stuff.
The next morning , I got up at noon ,picked up the cellphone , called mom , told her I drank , apologised for that, and since then not a drop of liquor has passed these lips.
Not that I go around being a walking "Say NO to drinking" poster ,preaching the ills of drinking and how it makes men beat their wives and drive their cars off bridges.But I dont drink because
I dont see any sense in doing that.I love my liver.I love being in control of my senses.
At the hostel parties , most guys drink a lot of booze.A guy got drunk , smashed a bottle on the floor, then jumped on a table to dance , then fell down from the table on the glass and cut his foot.Another guy here got drunk at 2 in the morning, and felt real romantically inclined after that , and then went to the girls hostel to confess how much he loved a particular lady , and the lady almost pushed him off the third floor and called in Calcutta police.Sounds fun but not if you are the drunk one.
But still , guys and girls drink.Why.Bollywood ? Yeh , the macho guys in the movies always drink.And additional bollywood points if they drink directly from the bottle.In the movies , they break up , and drink.They lose a job , and drink.Mom dies , and they drink.They are happy , they drink.Yeh , movies maybe.
Scientists in some lab found moderate drinking is good for the heart.You want to save your heart ? Eat less of those Bread Pakodas , run like a dog in the mornings , do not run after girls .
My uncle says a chilled beer in the summers helps him cool off.You want to cool off ?I will turn up the AC , I will put Ice packs on your head , I will put you in the refridgerator.
Devdaas said drinking helps drowning life's sorrows.Dear Dev ,(putting an arm around his
shoulder) ,we need a light and clean heart to drown them.You lost your K..K..Kiran, oh I mean Paro,and I lost mine.But you did not own Paro , and neither did I own her.Drop the ego.We came in alone , will go out alone.I know what happenned between me and her , and I dont want to escape from it.It happenned.She was there and still would be somewhere.She may be reading this , and I am happy I have learnt all attachements cause misery.You love , but have no right to own anyone's life.Life moves on.The sun still rises, frogs still croak , the internet still works , I still screw up my grades.So dear Devdaas Kumar Ahluwalia ,just step out ,smell the roses , listen to "sohniye" by Juggy D at mindblowing volume,laugh a lot , do good and realise that come what may ,life is a joy to be lived and spread love , not necessarily gain love.
So Why drink ? I dont wanna lose control.
I dont wanna actually get drunk and grab my finance professor by his collar and shake him and yell "Why did you give me a C , sir !!!."I dont wanna get drunk and grab the departmental store guy downstairs and shake him and yell "Why do you charge money from me when I buy something from you , buddy ?? " I dont wanna get drunk and run out on the street and grab the first girl I see and shake her and yell " See , my parents are doctors , I am their only son ,I am I am at IIM calcutta , and whoover you are , please marry me , miss !!!

But I may have missed something.There may be something great hidden within that bottle.A lotta people drink , and they feel good about it.My dad drinks , most guys at IIM C drink , my uncle who spent 11 days in hospital with a liver problem due to drinking drinks, a lot of IIM girls drink and Devdaas drank. So something has to be there.And if there is ,I can always lie to my mom.I can actually drink without letting her know. Then I may not spend the next hostel party sipping coke around quiet south Indian girls while drunk guys go around ripping shirts , falling off tables and kissing each other.Any purpose in drinking? Hic.Hic.
Listening to: Red Red Wine - UB40.( Talk about coincidence )

41 comments:

Ellie said...

yaaay...me first! :)

And hic...yes! intoxicated by the post.

In our college too, the latest fad is getting sloshed then utilising the free Airtel to Airtel calls (yep! we had them last sem in the gujju dreamland!!!) over the lady they have bestowed their attention on...or want to.

They seem to believe that girls mite reciprocate to their maudlin behavior...or are sweeped off by their 'heroic' a la Devdas style inebriated state!

And well...dint come looking for answers to the psychologically demented attitude, seems u have the same questions anyways!! :D

Ashish Gupta said...

I always used to feel out of place in wing booze treats sitting with them or alone at my room. oh that was wat I 'used to'... not anymore!! Hey, didnt' said will drink.. i meant won't feel out of place :) thanks for the inspiring post!

well nothing much like that- i used to hold myself in high esteem for this and was proud- just that I will more now knowing some person 'out of place' just like me:)

Nidhi said...

were u drunk when u wrote this post??

:P

im sure u were !!

bye tc
nidhi

Tipsy Topsy said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tipsy Topsy said...

all the nice guys in office used to drink.

hated it :(

LovingAndLosing said...

I used to be judgemental about people who drank. I stayed away from them. And then my friends drank. What do I do? So now I'm okay with people who drink. But I'm not okay with drinking. I agree with you about being in my senses. I love it. In fact, I get high on oxygen. I don't need alcohol. Hats off to you. In my opinion, life's too short to waste moments being intoxicated. Hope you don't crack under the peer pressure :)

Abhi said...

@ Ellie : Yeah ! U did it buddy ! now on this momentous occasion of being the first one to comment , wat do u get ? A Fosters can ?

Free Airtel-Airtel calls ? Ur college must be heaven fr modern day Soni Mahiwals.

@ Ashish : We are alone no more my fellow teetotaller.The next time u stay alone in ur room during a wing booze thing , just know that somewhere in a room in Kolkata , I understand you.;)

@Nidhi : Oh No.See..hic..i drink no...hic...i in full hosh..*falls off the chair*

@Tipsy Topsy : Yeah , I hate them too.Infact during my summers at EnY , there was ...oops..aargh..why do you know MK now.

And no posts on your blog ? Kuch kaam pakad liya kya ?

@ DefinitelyMale:And I thought the amount of alcohol you can hold reflects the size of your bladder.

Abhi said...

@ Ms. V : Thanx buddy.They called me a sissy boy.mama's boy.Scared of growing up.milk drinking goat.my dad has offered me beer thrice.i still havent cracked.Keep walking.

Jam said...

Hey there,

I dunno about all the drunkards being so gregarious. I know some guys back here who withdraw into a shell when they get high on alcohol. Some of them get really depressed when the liquor hits them.

As for me, I get real happy-go-lucky when I m drunk, and God save the poor souls who I really hate, when I m drunk. I m prone to going up to them and telling them what I think of them when I m drunk. Hey, hold on, I do that when I m sober also !!!

Cheers.........Jam

Abhi said...

@RK : Yeah buddy .is like the agni pareeksha for you.U have got thru 4 years of engineering.Now for the 2 years of mba.may u emerge a virgin.

@Jammy : yeah man , liquor helps u be what you are sometimes , but then why need a bottle to let you do that.As Ms.V said famously " I get high on oxygen !!".A real likable thing to say.

Abhi said...

@RohitKaul : Just dont get into this now buddy.Just dont.:)

LovingAndLosing said...

Yay! You're quoting me :D Ohh, wait a minute. You're just trying to seduce me, aren't you???

Hee hee! Sorry, couldn't help that one.

Anonymous said...

how cool is that! girls are always on the look out for the MBA types and a no alchohol attitude would be an added advantage.. heheh oh by the way i`ve tried every trick in the book to sign up here as a fellow blogger but i`m not able to do it. talk bout an would be software engineer! "thesandsoftime.rediffblogs.com" thats my url... would be honoured to have u visit my blog although it would take me 3 life times to write as well as u do

Tipsy Topsy said...

nahin re. just studying a bit. new post should be up soon:)

Abhi said...

@Deep : Bhai main paida hi mard hua tha.never had to try to become one.;)

@TT : Padho Padho desh ka naam roshan karo.The country needs you.

Jam said...

Hey Abhinav,

At times one is too scared to let one's true self show to the outside world. It is at times like these that one takes the aid of liquor.

When you are drunk, the world is confused whether you are being your true self, or you are kidding the rest of the world, and that kind of confusion is precisely the kind of outlet for all frustrations.

Cheers........Jam

Abhi said...

@ Ms.V : Sheesh...do we have let the world know this ?;)

@ Divya : You know my cheeks go a lil pink when im embarassed.Right now they are dark maroon.hill buddy , am just a nut puttin up some crap between phases of sleeping at room and sleeping at classes.It will be an honor for me to hit your blog , i can actually put that in my CV.What a lil rude rude rude can do to people.

@ Jam : Yeah , I understand what u drunks go throug;).But I really try to be myself without the bottle, i cant live the world's way pretending and pleasing others.'My way' is wat sounds better.

Tipsy Topsy said...

new post up..and hahahaha ..so that's what abhinav looks like!

Anonymous said...

"people who drink to drown their sorrows should be told that sorrow knows how to swim.."
hey abhinav keep believin in urself..u can alwayz hav a gud time without wine n women..!!';-)

Anonymous said...

exactly my feelings dude!!!! reading ur post made me think that i m reading my thots....btw, wat happened 2 ur LOC???? :D

An Unknown Citizen said...

well even i never used to drink till my third yr. However,last yr we had so many job tr8s n other occassions tht i was persuaded by my friends to drink. After my debut, i have drank on numerous occassions.
hey, i am no guzzler by any means.
i never exceeded 2 pegs in any of these sessions.i agree with u tht drinking is a complete waste of time and most importantly money.
U wake up dizzy the next morn and feel lethargic thru out the day.i hope to completely stop drinking inthe next academic yr.

Anonymous said...

I do not drink.
i am not one of those who feel that drinking is wrong or u r committing a sin or something...but coz i dont like it...i have tried it and i can safely say that its the most aweful thing i have ever tasted...i once had scotch and it tasted like paracetamol...so from that day i decided i would never drink.again i must say that i am not against it...see if u drink its ur problem but please make sure its your problem not someone else's...drink to a limit so that u dont hurt someone the next time u drink and drive..i know it sounds cliched but its absolutely true and awefully important...
but i must admit that i am amazed at the reasons people give fpor drinking...like some people have here...if u want to forget ur sorrows is drinking the only getaway??...and those who drink coz they like the idea of not being in control of themselves and like losing control...i just cant imagine how someone could be that stupid...

just for the record i dont smoke either...and this time coz i hate the very smell of it...i cant stand near someone whos smoking not coz i ahve asthma or something but coz i just cant tolerate that smell...its that simple...

@definitelymale : dude, u need alcohol to prove the extent of ur manliness???...i pity you

Archana Ramesh said...

Sissy boy, Mamma's boy.....how many are there anyways? I'll tell you what....you've made a fellow blogger proud of knowing you along with your mother [sniff sniff!!] IF you did apologise to your mother the next day when you had a vodka.

Anonymous said...

Hey Abhi,

I went to a pub for the first time in my life after coming to Hyd...i.e last week...and since then I got drunk twice ( within a week , that is !! )...After reading your post ( and the comments too! ) I have decided to do away with it. Atleast I won't get drunk just to get away from my sorrows......It doesn't make any sense to runaway from life....

Regards,
Aparna

Vaibhav said...

Hmmm... whatever happenned to not taking life too seriously??

Its fun. I don't drink to escape anything, my liver is top class though I've been drinking for years, plus its not like i HAVE to get drunk every day or at every party...

I think, at least for some people, there is some kind of a stigma attached to drinking... how else can anyone be so against drinking without having tried it...

It's a matter of personal choice of course, there isn't any right or wrong!

Abhi said...

@TT : yeah i read that.n why did u laugh ? Im waiting fr ur pic to come up.

@Smita : Thats a cool thing to say.And yeah , im having a good time without wine , women , fast cars , good grades , n a lot of other useless things.:)

@Abhishek : Oh yeah ? U did feel that way ? great men think alike.about the LOC , she turned up , took away all my clothes n has vanished again without returning them.But being a weekend with no classes, i can afford to be naked in my room.

@Debprotim : Wow , do we see a conversion here ? Thats a really good thing if u stop drinking brother , though ur booze store would hate you for that.

@Naveen : Now you seem a disaster for the booze and ciggy industry ;).But its real great to see that people still value their sense of control over booze.Keep walking .( and dont think of Johnny Walker now )

@Archana : Hey I really did that.Infact when my mom came over to calcutta a month later , I even pointed out the guy who offered me the vodka.I actually said 'Ma , hes the guy jisne mujhe pilayi!'.

And Im proud of you buddy , you are the only 'international' blogger I know.Reporting from UK.wow.

@Aparna- Wow.If any part of this post actually makes u do that , that will be most pleasant thing I shall have contributed to along with helping my mom peel potatoes.You are right , face life , face your sorrows , understand them and before you know , they will be just memories which left you wiser.

Abhi said...

@Vaibhav : well , it just started out as me exprssing my personal opinion buddy.The rest has been shaped by the comments.And yeah its just my personal opinion which deems it a waste , but so do a lot of other's.

Abhi said...

@ Vaibhav : And about not taking life too seriously buddy , that does not translate into not being serious about things for me.I do think about things like me and have opinions , just that my 'way of thinking' has got real adapted to a non serious manner.Even this post wasnt put in real heavy or selemn words , was it ?:)

Vaibhav said...

Hehe... no man... not you... i was talking to people who seemed to have a serious grouse against drinking... c'mon what's this "I'll NEVER drink" stuff!

Regarding the taste... to concentrate on the taste is to miss the point of drinking. Would you stop jogging coz you start sweating?

Having chilled beer with friends on a summer night is... in one word...bliss. And I get nostalgic when i look back on my college days and the fun I had and the wild stuff we did when we went on binge drinking sessions!!

As for wasting time/money... drinking is recreation... it's a party... a break from the mundane matters (not sorrows... just unavoidable mundane stuff) of life...

And definatelymale... dude! you are an embarrassment to drinkers like me! I hope thats just your way of kidding around!

Vaibhav said...

No offence to anyone! I don't differentiate between those who drink or not drink :)

I am just sayin' that there is an aspect of drinking... pure harmless fun... that everyone (drinkers as well as non-drinkers)seems to have missed here!

Abhi said...

@ Vaibhav : Ohk , I get your point buddy.Its like watching a movie,reading a book , going jogging ...like something you do to have a lil time off.Hmm..ok..lets raise a toast to booze being a 'time pass' fun thing.But somehow I prefer watching a thriller on my computer whenever i need to do that.And sometimes this thing starts as a bachelors recreational thing and goes on to become a master's addiction thing.Anyways heres your peg.:)

Vaibhav said...

Hehehe ya I agree... like everything else... too much of it is bad!

You just have to take it in the right 'spirit' :)

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

my my i have been listed on ur blog! time for me to turn beetroot red.

Arindam said...

A non-drinker. Wow. My mom thinks i fall in this category. so i let her think on.

Hey, thanks for dropping by...come by more often.

TC.

Anonymous said...

dunno whether its ur writing or the mature outlook thts most appealing..keep us entertained

Abhi said...

@ Divya :Liked it.Linked it.Simple.Beetroot red.I wanna see your face.

@Melchizedek : You got a real entertaining blog buddy.am sure to hit it regularly.wats this name about though ?

@Anon: mature outook ? can you just make my dad believe that ?

Priya said...

hey mr.vagabond... finally i know ur abhinav.. me enlightened.. wakaw!
..p..

Abhi said...

@Priya : yeah i figured I will be a celebrity someday.so no point being anonymous.

Anonymous said...

the way u provide the jawan mards and the jawan aurats of today to stand up against the peer pressure,u'llm sure have ppl mailing u to provide solutions to their other probs :) Happy counselling .... vaise main bhi kuch kena chahtha hoon...I started drinking when i saw my GF drinking, my "man" ego was hit but then i jus cant be myself infront of her nor can i leave her ..... Preety confused .. help kar na bhai !!! :)

Abhi said...

Fellow T total er here :)

Says it all I guess.