When you move into a new city, where hardly anyone knows you, there can be two ways you handle the situation- you feel lonely, bored, and home sick; or; you could see it as an opportunity of freedom. Freedom to try new things, things you would normally never do, because of all the social pressure or because you might be made fun of, or for any other reason.
Well, I fall into this second category of people. Being a no one in a city had excited me from the beginning, and so I decided to try things I never did till now.
liquor here is so cheap (beer for RS 35!). The low cost had always attracted my attention, until one day I gave in, taking Karthik into my side, who btw wasn't new to drinking. So I had the assurance that at least I won’t have to throw it all if I am unable to drink it. Now, the big question was- Who will go and buy it, since none of us had bought it before and it felt “odd” (Oh God! How will I ever buy a pack of condoms?). But then again, being unknown gave us confidence and both of us went and Mr. knowledgeable Karthik asked for Haywarts 500.
All done, we sat down to drink, and the plastic cup of Verka (in which curd is sold here) that we had kept became my glass, while Karthik chose to drink from the bottle directly.
The first sip taken in, and my reaction- “Oh God!!!! What have I drunk??? Its like the most bitter homeopathic med!!” The whole of my body shook after that first sip. And to think of it, I had the whole 250 ml left to finish. Karthik provided “moral support”, advising how to gulp it down without holding it long in the mouth. But nothing helped, and I realized why people have snacks while drinking. I somehow managed to drink almost all of it (along with some bhujia that was there in the room, thanx to Nasir). But as they say, your patience thins away when you are close to the end. Just when the last sip was left, I decided to throw it away, as I cudnt tolerate the bitter taste anymore. And that’s when I decided not to drink it ever in the future (hopefully).But I also realized that it provided the warmth from inside, and that in cold climates, it could help fight the chill.
But the worst was yet to come. No sooner had I finished the drink that I started belching, and it had that taste of beer that I just hated so much now. Oh man! The belching continued at varied intervals till I went to sleep. Geeeshh…. I hate it when belches are full of the taste of food u have eaten (even if I love the food), and here I was, belching out with the taste of something I had just begun hating. That gave me another strong reason not to touch Beer again. Though, my list still has wine, vodka and champagne left to ‘taste’. And the next day, a very strange thing happened. Wherever I went, it smelt like beer. The soap inside the CSIO’s lab, the lunch, pretty much everything that emanates scent smelled that awful smell of Beer.
I wasn’t successful in the next thing I targeted. Sheer bad luck. I guess 1 month’s time was just too short for that.
The third thing that I cud do was set the most sexy desktop wallpaper of my choice, without having to bother about others and their questions, since each one of us used their lappy on their lap, and hardly anyone ever meddled with your lappy or sat beside you while u
were operating your laptop. So, one of the first sign of my freedom was my changed wallpapers, from some decent shirtless actors to semi-nude models. Some real eye- candy for over a month. Oh! I loved it. Success or failure, whatever may be the case, I loved living in anonymity here. It just gave me a chance to be myself, without any botherations. And with all this ghumna- phirna, I achieved what I had in my mind when I chose Chandigarh for training .
