And believe me it is overrated too. a couple of months back when I was conversing with a certain person of the opposite sex with no obvious purpose, the topic of drinks came up. She blatantly asked how often do I get drunk with a puff of smoke all around and make a fool out of myself. In all honesty I said “I am a teetotaler, vegetarian(irrelevant) and a non smoker. But ya I don’t need external agents to make a fool out of myself [grin] I’m eternally intoxicated [wink]”. And she had to say this “Oh! Why? Principles huh? [wink, grin]”.I had met her an hour before and there she was asking me the one question I’ve been tweaking the answer to since my school days. After a “Naah. Just to have something to brag about. Heard it is a great line that women fall for[Grin]” “[Giggle] [giggle]” and half hour of chatter, I subconsciously made a note to try to avoid that question at all cost.
Now, I’m not saying I’m not proud of it nor am I gonna canvas against these stuff. It’s quite simply a matter of choice and I don’t want to discuss it as such. But the idea of what to do and what not to do, should it be labeled as principles? For example, will Sidhu label speaking normal English, against his principles? I think it should be called something on the lines of “Whatever I want to do” or something.
Anyways, it too has a downside. Some time back I went to a bar with my friends and while they were busy selecting stuff to order from a really impressive menu, I very confidently turned it to the last page for the lighter stuff. (Wonder why all the non-alcoholic stuff is prefixed with a ‘virgin’ while the opposite of it is ‘bloody’?) To the bearer I confidently said “one Virgin Piccola” and he blinked to assess if I was serious. Only after my friends ordered something did he heave a sigh of relief and went in with a shake of his head. After that he went all out to insult. That thing I got was adorned with an umbrella, cherries and fruits on the side of the glass, much to my company’s delight. (jackasses)
What makes me go through with all this and still hold dear certain self imposed restrictions despite having nothing against it? I mean if I were against it morally, I would be trying to dissuade my friends’ right? (which ppl claim I did initially). After some serious thought, I realized these are reassurances that I’m in control of my actions. After seeing my close friends and relatives who have been trying to give up smoking or a friend of mine who has been trying to rid of booze only to end up getting drunk time and again, I guess its more of a whim to take control.
As if to reiterate the fact, I can’t think of one rationale reason for me deciding to lay off ice-cream for the past 4 months or a silly bet after which I decided to stop coffee (I couldn’t start my day without it). As the guy in ‘Wanted’ movie says : “This is me taking control of my life” and to that add “Just to garner my ego” Guess the strip below is relevant :D
(click to enlarge)Oh and just to do away with a misconception: I was told that, apparently women (atleast down south) would want the guy to be addicted to any of the so called ‘vices’ so that they can take the credit of ‘changing’ them! God save us men!
This is kind of dedicated to a friend who can’t stand people who smoke or drink and still was curious how I never tried it.
