No…I don’t drink…is that a problem?
I was at the office party last evening, and chatting with someone with a glass of coke in hand. I was chatting animatedly, and standing quite close to the person in question, seeing as neither of us could hear the other properly over the din of “nakka mukka”. X approaches me with a smile. The conversation goes something like this.
X: Hi Amrutha! Nice party isn’t it? By the way, is that rum?
Me: (Glancing at the glass of coke in my hand) This? No. This is coke.
X: You don’t drink?
Me: No.
X: (Now openly staring at me and at P, the guy who was talking to me) You don’t? Hmm…can’t quite believe that!
Twenty minutes later, this conversation repeats, practically verbatim with another person. This happened at least three times at random intervals. A good hour and a half later, I was again with someone, a guy again, with a glass of Sprite. The conversation with random passer-by? Lather, rinse, repeat!
If you notice, each of the time a random passer-by asked me if the glass in hand was rum (or gin and tonic in the case of Sprite), I was chatting with a guy! Someone tell me! What’s the connection between me talking to a guy and not drinking? My final conversation with random passer-by, let’s call him G, went like this.
G: So, Amru…had your drink? Is that Gin and Tonic?
Me: Uh..no…that’s Sprite.
G: (Incredulously) No?
Me: (Calmly) No.
G: (By now completely drunk and quite out of his senses) C’mon! Don’t tell me that! A girl like you, studied in Paris, talks to so many guys, is so friendly…but don’t drink? What ya?
Me: (By now deciding that I’ve had enough) Hmm…excuse me while I go my sixth tequila shot!
Sigh! Some people will never understand! They are better left alone, aren’t they?
Disclaimer: This post contains no reference to anyone, living or dead. Any resemblances are purely coincidental! 😉
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6 Comments
Praveen
You don’t drink? 😉
Uhm….Not in public!! 😛
indianhomemaker
This does happen… 🙂 I face this too! I did drink for a while after I got married but then stopped, so there is double shock from those who have seen me drink 🙂
karthikeyan pandian
take a look at this link published by Antonia Abbey, PhD, Journal of American College Health. Vol. 39, January 1991
http://www.interactivetheatre.org/resc/alcohol.html
Also take a look at this article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Casanova#cite_ref-Childs_1988.2C_p._14_96-0
I am not writing this comment for your article alone , but for me ,for the men who spoke to you and anyone who reads this 🙂
Vetrikoru secret vetrikoru shorcut nermai nermai nermai than
Suki
Try having to explain – “Yes, I eat non-veg. But I don’t feel like it now”. In front of relatives who I’m meeting for the first time in a decade or in my life. Argh. Thankfully, college friends were much more understanding when I made a face at their rum-and-coke-in-a-bottle and said “it tastes like shit, I don’t want any :P”
selvan
Its something like this.If a woman young or old is seen in public she is considered fair game. So even without any provocation our fellows tend to try their luck.If they are rebuffed then also they will say all kinds of filthy things about their victim.If they are successful also they would consider her an easy conquest.
May be because of the restrictive atmosphere at home and neighbourhood men act the way they do.
Rajesh
I suppose these kinda conv. can take place for sure in my good ol’ madras…