Dry Week

A friend of mine, V, recently had his kid brother visiting him. V’s brother had just finished his 12th board exams and wanted to relax and have a good time before joining college. So V gave me an emergency call to help him baby sit. V explained that his brother was just about 18 and he didn’t want to take him drinking and also told me to shut up about the times when we had drunk ourselves silly.

As is the case with most middle class families, V’s parents also continued to remain oblivious, stubbornly so, of their 20 something son’s alcohol consumption habit. Sitting in another town, they like to believe he is their golden child, brilliant in academics, always making them proud no matter what he did and he would never do something despicable such as consume alcohol or smoke. No doubt V is a brilliant boy, but the boy also enjoys his whiskey and can't do without his nicotine pacifier. V has been one of my best friends and this blog is not intended to sully his golden boy image as it may sound.

So V and I decided to come up with a whole lot of activities that did not involve alcohol in any form and it was bloody difficult. Whenever we have had friends visiting us, we never really had to plan we just do the rounds at the pub till they get completely wasted and the rest would take care of itself. In their drunken stupor they would either throw up or simply pass out. And then you load them in the car and bring them home and tuck them in bed. It was as simple as that. I played a good host, a great tourist guide who showed them all the watering holes in town and entertained them. No one ever complained about this arrangement and we continued to do the same each time.

When V and I go around town we have a track record I am not particularly proud of.

‘Remember Dhiv, you threw up here the first time.’ V smirks pointing at some pub

‘Oh you were no better, you threw up and fell on it there.’ On my turn pointing to another pub

‘Dhiv You danced on the road.’

‘You took of your shirt V.’

‘You…ok this is not about who made a bigger ass of themselves. It is about where are we taking my brother?’

‘Undoubtedly you were the bigger ass. Hmm…’

We drove around silently racking our brains for ideas. Suddenly booze seemed like the inevitable ingredient of good times! I mean to think we have spent most parts of our life without it and it still was merry seemed so strange now. So we spent a good 2 weeks without a single drop of alcohol, we did everything we had forgotten we had fun doing. We went cycling, played loads of board games, drank loads of coffee, went on long drives, watched loads of movies, cooked at home. All in all it was a dry week and I have had so much fun, in fact I am all ready to play hopscotch (ok now that’s going over board).

I guess what I am trying to say is beer guzzling is fun, no doubt but it can never really be the quality fun that we have all given up long ago. Nothing can really substitute a good game of scrabble or lovely Sunday lunch.