Why I broke the vow

Yesterday was 'expats night out'. We have some consultants working with us on contract and we all went out for a couple of beers yesterday evening. And after having a sweet lime soda, I finally ordered a beer because of the direction the conversation veered towards.

You see, these guys are paid something between 500 to 1200 USD per day. So the topics under discussion were:

1) How to open accounts in Cayman Islands for taxation purposes
2) Whether to go to Thailand or Malaysia for the coming 2nd October long weekend
3) Whether or not to take the next contract that would pay 1100 GBP per day
4) How expensive it has become to buy a place on the Riviera

I drank.

Salute! And Sorry.

This is for all my non-drinking friends who have given me company while I (or me along with other drinking friends) have had our drinking sessions. I realised yesterday the depth of your friendship, patience and indulgence.

You see, I have quit drinking since this last Sunday (now I dont want to see those smirks and rolling eyes, you alcoholics out there. The statement is open-ended; i did not say I wont ever drink again) . The first 2 days I was alone and it wasnt a big deal. But yesterday, a friend of mine had come down from Cal and came to meet me at my place with a bottle in his hand. My cousin, who also stays me, joined him when he got back from work, and it took a lot of consistent refusal from me to finally convince them that I wont drink.

Anyway..after a couple of pegs they started a typical daaru-table-discourse - topics ranging from global poilitics, social maladies to socialite cleavages. And since i was sitting there wrung-out-dry, in about an hour i went from being bored to irritated to downright angry. The evening ended in me retiring to my bedroom in a huff, while they continued to discuss the Iraq situation till 2.

Even though I hope my friends will vouch for me when I say I am a sensible drunk, I shudder to think if there have been occassions when someone has thought of me the way I thought of these 2 last night. This thought is motivation enough to think of quitting for good.

Like I said.."salute"...and "sorry".

Hats Off!

I know I had written this a few months back. I still feel the same about Sachin. But I take my hat off to him for his temperament. A century on comeback, that too with trademark style. I wish our Dada had also let his bat do the talking, rather than resorting to the shit he did in the last 3 months.

Congrats Sachin on your 40th. Who knows? Maybe Amitabh will make a good movie now!

How to overcome blogger's block - Mel Brooks

Nothing! I have nothing to say!

Have any of you guys seen 'History of the world' by Mel Brooks? If not, watch it today..mixed with some typical slapstick Mel humor, its got some screamingly funny moments, looking at the evolution of mankind, starting from the jurassic age right up to the french revolution.

So there was this scene depicting the utter poverty in France under Louis XVI, showing a marketplace where people are selling dead rats, apple cores and banana peels and a guy standing with an empty cart calling out 'Nothing! I have nothing to sell'..hilarious!

So if you have NOTHING to write, you can write "Nothing! I have nothing to say!"..

Had it coming

So? You thought this would be a tearful, respectful orbituary did you? HAAH! You havent known me that well then! Here's what i think.

He had it coming for a long time. When I first saw a show of his in Discovery I was amazed at the guy's guts. But it took me 2 episodes to decide that this was a guy who belonged in a circus, not a wildlife channel. The feeling I was left with everytime I watched an episode was that deep inside him, he had no respect for these animals. So you saw him wrestling reluctant crocs in the water, pulling out snakes from holes, kissing the world's most poisonous snake on a dare, prancing around with a croc with his 8 month old son cradled in his arms, playing catch-me-if-you-can with a pond full of alligators in front of a sell-out stadium blah blah blah.

He was in absolute contrast to the sensitivity with which guys in NatGeo and Discovery treat their subjects (was that the reason he was moved to the more 'racier' Animal Planet'?). Can you imagine a NatGeo show where the protagonist is provoking a lioness by playing around with her cubs so that she will get angry and give some good 'action shots'? Blessed with a typical cocky aussie bastard attitude perhaps Steve had assumed that all animals in his shows will play according to the script.

Well, one animal thought different. So here's a message to you. Whether you are a hotshot naturalist or a run-of-the-mill city dweller - dont underestimate nature.

Else, get fucked.

What a character!

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."
Best on spending.

"In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life."
Best on discipline.

"I was in for 10 hours and had 40 pints - beating my previous record by 20 minutes."
Best on the blood transfusion after his liver transplant

"I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep."
Best on alcoholism

"The greatest footballer in the world".
Pele on George Best