Muchas gracias Señor!
Sometimes, after a
long day at work, you just need tequila. You just do. There's no
explaining why, or justifying it. You. Just. Need. To. Do. Tequila.
Shots. In 2007, I had one of those days. And lucky for me, so did my
friend and flatmate. We just didn't know it, until we did. Let me
explain.
We had this annoying
boss at work. An army man, in a fun office, who just didn't get the
'fun' that work was supposed to be. He just made an average work day
feel like an exhausting one. When we got home from work, we decided
to relax and watch some TV. We changed into comfortable pyjamas,
found the right channel to watch, and then looked at each other and
said in unison, “Tequila!”
For a few minutes,
we relished the thought of tequila burning down our throats, while to
hit our work-addled brains. Then we realised there was no tequila at
home. Bummer. No tequila at home. How bloody unfair! How could we
live like this? How could we deprive ourselves of the one thing we
needed, no, wanted that
evening?
In
a few minutes of determined and synchronised thought, both of us put
on our home slippers, picked up our wallets and keys, and walked out
the front door. We were on a quest to buy tequila. We walked down to
the nearby store, and found...NO TEQUILA. We walked to the next
nearest store, about 500m away, and once again, NO TEQUILA! What a
cruel universe! We tried a third shop, another 700m away. The guy
looked clueless when we said the word “Tequila” as if we had just
asked him for the freaking kohinoor diamond.
We
got into an auto rickshaw and went to the heart of the city, on a
Friday night, in our pyjamas and house slippers, looking for tequila.
Potential low point. But what the heck?! We were both adults, very
much in control of our alcohol consumption, which was clearly less
than the two drinks a week mark. We just wanted tequila! That's all
we wanted. We arrived at our favourite pub. A pub that has people
dressed for a Friday night party, while we wore pyjamas. Obviously,
the bouncer wouldn't let us in. ROADBLOCK!
We
were women on a mission. We called our DJ friend, and asked him to
send our regular waiter outside for a minute, and in hushed tones
informed him of our tequila requirements. Señor
Jose Cuervo HAD to make an appearance soon. The waiter told us to
meet him in the basement parking, by the employee entrance. Black
Market tequila it would have to be. So we went to the basement and
waited all of ten minutes, and Jose Cuervo Gold greeted us with his
happy red sombrero.
We
paid a little extra, and left. We even had the auto rickshaw wait for
our getaway.
We
got home, and with a thrill, reached in the refrigerator for lemons.
NONE. But we did have sweet lime and oranges. Well, they're both
citrus, so we improvised. Shot after shot, we toasted to our
perseverance. We toasted to our creativity. We toasted to innovation.
We toasted till our bottle was empty. By this time, we may have even
forgotten that we were employed. We forgot about sending goodnight
messages to family members. We actually forgot we had cellphones.
But, we did remember food. Our growling stomachs reminded us very
loudly. I quickly made a kichdi, and we decided to take a nap while
the pressure cooker cooled down. A power nap if you will. At
2am.
A
while later, I woke up partially on my beanbag, and partially
sprawled on the cool floor. My friend was curled up into a
comfortable ball on the only armchair in the house. I walked into the
kitchen expecting warm kichdi, when I found the pressure cooker was
cold. And the obnoxious smell seemed to be permeating out of the
thick steel. I opened the pressure cooker to find congealed and
bubbling kichdi, clearly gone bad. I was befuddled. How could this
happen? Then I looked at the time.
It
had been fourteen hours, in the middle of summer, with
the food left in a pressure cooker till 4pm. I threw the food in the
bin and slammed the lid shut, trying to get away from the stench in
my hungover yet disgusted state. I went to look at my phone and saw
several missed calls and messages from family and friends who
wondered where I was. I then looked at my friend's phone screen to
see several messages and missed calls waiting for her too. I gently
woke her up, and we sat for a few minutes, stupefied at the time. We
guzzled a bottle of water each, and began returning calls and
messages.
We
reassured our family and friends that we were fine, and just detoxing
from electronics. Nobody needed to know that while we detoxed from
gadgets, that we were actually intoxicated otherwise. Most of
Saturday had gone by without our knowledge, so we made another quick
meal, ate, and went back to sleep.
On
Sunday morning, we woke up fresh and hungry, seeking the perfect
breakfast after a stomach-full of Cuervo- Eggs. As we ate, we relived
the joys of tequila shots and tried to recollect the stories we told.
But what stood out in our conversation, was the sheer delight and
contentment we felt, having exorcised that Friday from our conscious
mind. For the rest of our lives, everything that happened at work
that day would be overshadowed by our night of debauchery with Señor
Jose Cuervo. Señor
Tequila,
you are a lifesaver!