Happiness

For quite a long time I wanted to write something about happiness, I thought may be I would be able to write it better if I am happy, but then it was coming to me for a nanosecond and then it used to  return to its original destination. So I gave up the idea and thought let me make a start and see if I reach the end with or without being happy.

Don’t we sometimes think that where does happiness reside, within us, in our environment or some place else? I am still to find an answer to that, the closest I have got is it resides within us and it’s a mere state of mind and nothing else.

So when do we feel happy?

Let’s take a few examples, we are happy when we get our salaries, gifts, promotions, appreciations at work, crack a good business deal, a pleasant surprise and the list goes on. So what happens when some of these things happen to us, our state of mind changes, it leaves the earlier state it was in and a new state of mind takes over.

No, it isn't surprising that our state of mind isn’t constant, given the fact nothing is permanent and change is the only constant on which this universe is surviving. So at a particular moment if our state of mind is joyful, the other moment it can be sad and another moment we may be angry on something. Is our mind also working on the same law of universe, “Change is the only constant”!

Shall we then say Happiness is momentary?

Now come on, Google won’t give you an answer to this question nor you can find the meaning of it in any dictionary, you will have to find an answer yourself.

Sometimes I do think, why does happiness needs to be so hyped up, if you smile all day, doesn’t that mean you are happy in any circumstances. I have seen people who never look unhappy or tensed, they are always smiling and they always look calm and composed. Not that they don’t have problems or anything (who doesn’t have problems), its just that they choose to remain happy, come what may. Shall we then say they have been successful in taming their state of mind and make it work against the “Change is the only constant” law?

Try and recall the last time you were very happy and how long did it last, I am sure it didn’t last forever, or do you remember the last time you were sad and it lasted forever.

I wish I could conclude the meaning of “Happiness” for you, and so, I leave that to you.

Drinks and Nothing Else

Well, I know some of you don’t drink or don’t like the idea of drinking or think it a waste of money or think that its not good for health.

That’s OK.

You are not the only one, there are a lot of exceptions just like you, who think, “What does one get by drinking”?

Not that I have a perfect answer to that question, or shall I say there is much more to life other than finding perfect answers to things that give you pleasure, such as drinking in this case.

It all starts at the age of 18 or sometimes 16, depends on the environment you have been brought up into and ofcourse your friends. Generally it starts with Beer as when your friends tell you to drink, you say no, I don’t drink or mostly we would say,if dad comes to know I am gone, etc. they would tell you, “beer isn’t alcohol, it contains a very minimal percentage of alcohol”. And then what, more often than not, you start.

Yes, you take the first sip of alcohol, or let’s say the first sip of minimal percentage of alcohol better known as Beer.

At first the beer tastes bitter but then with time it becomes smooth and pleasurable. Drinking beer today is far more economical than driving a car as its cheaper than petrol prices in India. For those of you who drive a car and drink beer as well, I am sure you enjoy buying that one bottle of beer more than buying petrol. For all of you who agree with me, lets raise a toast to that. CHEERS!!

And comes the time when you want to drink something more stronger, the so called hard drinks in literal terms. Whiskey, Rum & Vodka become your new friends.

When you are in college, you don’t have enough pocket money left after spending money on your girlfriend/s & movies, you tend to pick up a bottle of Royal Stag, Royal Challenge or McDowells when you plan to drink Whiskey as it comes at a pretty handy price. Let me try and recall, the first time I bought a 750ml bottle of Royal Stag when I was in college, I had spend around Rs. 200. 

And when you plan to drink Rum the best is Old Monk, as they say, cheap and best. Although now there is Old Monk Gold Reserve which is a refined version of Old Monk and tastes far better.

After college when you start working and earn some money, slowly your taste changes. You move to Blenders Pride, Signature, Teachers or 100 Pipers. And starts the arguments with friends on which of these 4 to buy, the first three have somewhat a similar taste whereas 100 Pipers is a lot smoother than the first three.

Vodka tastes better with juices and cold-drinks. Romanov & Smirnoff are two good brands that are available in the market. Some like to have Vodka in the James Bond style, “Shaken & not Stirred”, whereas some just like Vodka shots, it does hit you hard, not as good as tequila shots though. 

A time comes when your taste changes with age and you want to drink less but high quality alcohol. If you are a Whiskey lover, I know what you are thinking of, let me take a guess, you may be thinking of Single Malt. Single Malt is expensive and it does damage your pocket quite a bit, but then, nothing beats the taste of having Single Malt. Another interesting fact to it is you don’t have to drink those 6-8 pegs that you normally drink (or let’s take an average of 4-5 pegs), Single malt has a very high purity level and the quality of the alcohol is far better than the blended whiskey, if you drink 2-3 pegs you would feel as high as you feel after having 5-6 pegs of blended whisky, or may be better. This is one of the reasons you pay more for a  Glenfiddich, Glen Drummond, Balvenie, Kilchoman, Highland Park, Glen Ord, Bowmore, Laphroaig, Springbank, and Tamdhu. These are some of the best available Single Malt Whiskies in the World.

For Single Malt, the older it gets the better it tastes, and now after developing that taste for purity and class, you step up the drinking ladder by making collections of Single Malt Whiskey starting from 8 years old to 25 years old.

So whether its the weekend or its winters or its raining out there or its too hot or its festival time or its celebration time or its a sad moment, drink to prosperity and happiness.

DRINK FOR PLEASURE AND DON'T DRINK TO GET DRUNK..... CHEERS!!