For the longest time, my sister and I thought brandy was a medicine that cured colds . We thought rum and whiskey help prevent colds! In fact, on our rain soaked adventures in the Khandala hills during our childhood. we were given whiskey – neat or mixed with rain water. We both actually enjoyed drinking the stuff and as predicted did not catch any sinister viruses.
Another time , as a teenager I was playing with neighbour friends in my uncle and aunt’s bedroom where there was a stash of alcohol under the bed. Someone dared me to drink some. So I foolishly opened a sealed bottle and took a swig. The friends were mortified that I had actually done it and I felt like a hero!
But somehow alcohol did not impress me as an adult. Perhaps we had grown up seeing so much daaru being sploshed around and various people getting sozzled and making fools of themselves that it put me off . I associate it with losing control over mind and body. The taste is another thing……people have tried to educate the naive , uncouth me of the taste of fine wine( a visit to Napa valley with me spitting most of the stuff out) or tried to make me exotic cocktails. It just doesn’t do for me what it does to others! Perhaps I needed a larger, stronger dose. I mean it tastes disgusting. I have tried to pretend liking it but beyond a few sips, I have to give up. I would much rather have stinky blue cheese ( yum, yum), bitter gourd or Marmite than alcohol.
I am not a prude and do keep trying to like alcohol. I want to be able to stylishly hold a flute of wine and get drunk some day. I have loved mulled wine but that was more for the added spices and the warmth which was comforting in the cold. I still love a sip of brandy for its ‘medicinal’ taste. I would love to lick just the foam off the top of beer if someone is willing to waste a beer on me . I once thirstily drank a glass of Pimms at full throttle because I thought it was ‘sarbat’ ( with MIL giving company and thinking the same innocent thoughts)- I mean we saw the apples and mint floating in the alcohol and thought it was fruit juice so we both drank it up and got dizzy together. I love pina colada but wish someone would not bother with adding the white rum- it tastes so much better as a mocktail. I love Baileys but that’s because it’s milky- why make it bitter??
So if anyone asks if I drink I don’t know what to say. I’m no teetotaller-it’s a bit like being a vegetarian who will have only the curry from ‘non-veg’ dishes!
I really want to like the stuff. I want to know what makes it tick. Why do people drink? How much does one have to drink to get drunk?
I do keep trying. I tried drinking on the plane some time ago so I wouldn’t feel anxious about flying, but alas I couldn’t down more than a few sips. I just cannot do what they do in the movies- glug several shots forcefully. The fear of losing control is so strong that it stops me from crossing the threshold.
In my late teens, I carried a water bottle during my Bombay Pune travels. I had an old, flat plastic bottle, which fitted perfectly into my small travel bag. One day on a delayed Bombay Pune train journey I was sitting in the general compartment. I was thirsty and nonchalantly whipped out my water bottle. I cannot describe the look on the faces of some males on the train. To me it was just a bottle. To them, it was a bottle of XXX rum and here was this girl drinking from it. So what if it was only water but it was still a daaru bottle. It was at that time in my life I realised how taboo alcohol is for some people.
Shali 