As a few of ya may know, I had a gr8 time at an office bash recently. However, while there I was among a minority that didn't drink alcohol. Now most in that minority had never tasted alcohol but for whatever reason abstained. But, I could see that a few were tempted to try it out. I on the other hand found it very easy to stay away from alcohol. Know why? .....
I come from an over-protective, traditional/orthodox middle-class family ... which basically means that I neither had the money nor the freedom (phone conversations monitored, curfews @ 10 pm and so on) to indulge in anything remotely "exciting" for a teenager. But, after i turned 18, I decided to try alcohol at least once ... wondering what the big deal was .... and an oppportunity presented itself shortly ...
At that time dad was with a well-known MNC bank and for the annual office meet, they chartered a Catamaran that would cruise almost all night off the Gateway of India. I made my way through the crowd and asked for a beer ... very excited for it would be my first!!! (ya ya don't smirk ... :)
The bartender handed me a frothing mug of Fosters ... but before I could take a sip, a bunch of people recognized me as "the HR manager's son" ... Now, I was nervous ... I couldn't let Dad find out thru them ... so for damage control, I made my way to dad and casually (concealing my nervousness) informed him that i would be trying alcohol tonight ... strangely enough, he was cool with it ... and so I made my way back to my Fosters, filling up on starters on the way :).
Now, I must tell you that I have a sweet tooth and have always imagined that alcohol would be sweet and really tasty ... and with all this at the back of my head I raised the mug to my lips .... and then ... I almost spat it out! ... it was NOT sweet ... and it certainly wasn't tasty! It was a huge letdown ... and after about half a mug, I set it down and wondered why people were so crazy about this ...
Then as I binged on some more of the delicious greasy starters, I thought of trying some wine ... after all I'd drunk wine served in those tiny glasses (toasts to the newly weds) at wedding receptions and it wasn't too bad ... it was sweet too ... So I went to the bar and asked for wine. Now he asked me - Red or White? I had no clue what he was talking about ... but, being the 'confident n cool' teenager that I was, I said "Red, please". Probably coz' the only wine I'd seen (Port Wine, mind u) was red in colour. So, I tasted true Red wine too that night ... and it was just as horrible as the beer I'd tried earlier. But, I did drink half of the glass, mingling with the crowd, before giving up and chucking it into the sea.
I was really dissapointed with myself ... why didn't I like beer? Everyone else loved it ... but as i was pondering this and so many "collosal" problems that plagued my angst-ridden teen life, the boat started rocking ... i mean Catamarans are built to give a stable/steady ride ... but here, i could feel the deck sliding away under my feet ... but everyone else seemed calm ... then i realized that i was drunk ...
Sheesh!!! I felt really uncomfortable as I was taking unsteady steps and finding it hard to maintain my balance ... I hated that I wasn't in control of my senses ... Somehow I pulled/dragged myself to a dark corner of the boat ... and held on to the railings and looked at the dark sea ... the waves actually seemed quite inviting I must tell ya ... I must've stayed there for quite a while before I started throwing up ... Yuck!! ... Starters, Fosters, Starters, Red Wine ... Yuck!! into the sea ...
I felt much better after that 'cleansing' experience ... and made my way back to the main deck ... mom and sis came over and asked me to join them for dinner ... i was in no mood for dinner ... even though it was a lavish spread and I love a good meal ... so i just sat there ... cursing alcohol for robbing me of the chance to have a good time and an even better dinner ....
I decided then and there itself that I would never drink alcohol again ... and to this day, Thank God, i have not had even the slightest attraction for alcohol ... I've never had to miss any dinners due to alcohol again ... :)
And any time I feel out of place at a party where almost everyone is drinking, I order Apple juice and walk around with it, pretending its some hard drink ... and I'm left alone (read - not teased) by pretty much everyone ... or I just order a Mocktail and pretend its a Cocktail ... after all who can tell the difference between a Bloody Mary and Tomato Juice in a party? hehe :)
... Necessity - the mother of invention ... how true ;)
----
I didn't wanna actually write this initially, as it shows how childish I am in so many ways ... but then I thought what the heck ... u guys think I'm a kid as it is, eh? ... hehe :)
Have a gr8 weekend ya all!!! Ciao!