From Rejection to the Center Stage

He is not the regular hunky-dory, muscle flexing, gyrating to music kind of an actor. You might even fail to recognize him if he walked past you or bumped into him while crossing the road. Yet he is intense. Versatility is his keynote. Meet the man of the hour – Nawazuddin Siddique. From a small town named Budhana in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, hailing from a farming family to the glittering world of Bollywood, his journey was not an easy one. 

He began his career as a watchman in Delhi when he decided to move out of his home. His love for stage and acting developed when he began watching plays at night after his duty hours were over and soon joined a theatre group. He enrolled for a course in National School of Drama and after graduating he moved to Mumbai to find greener pastures. However it was not a cake walk for him. In an interview to The Times of India he said he was a “rejected actor” and he aptly describes himself as a “kaala kutta” while speaking to DNA. 

It took 12 long years for this fine actor to finally set his foot in the world of Bollywood. From mere roles where you’d miss him at the blink of an eye in movies like Shool (where he is a waiter) and Sarfarosh (where he is a criminal appearing barely for a few seconds) in 1999 to Gangs of Wasseypur, Talaash, The Lunchbox, Bombay Talkies, he certainly has come a long way and with lots of accolades, acceptance and trophies. 

He is a man who can fit into the skin of any character with great ease and conviction. Be it Taimur in Talaash as a guy doing odd jobs in a brothel or as Shaik in The Lunchbox, the guy taking Sajjan Fernandes’ (Irrfan Khan’s) job when he retires or as the eccentric and wicked Shiv Gajra with an evil laugh in his latest release Kick.

In Kick where he appears after intermission, he steals the show right away from the biggies like Salman Khan and Randeep Hooda nonchalantly!

Yet you just cannot get enough of him. For here is a man who manages to steal the entire show and attention right from the time he appears and you will be left asking for more.

Little Acts of Love - An Ode to My Friends & Other Devils

The Sunday That Never Was

A stay-at-homebody that I am now, all my days are same. Be it a Monday or a Saturday or a Thursday. It however does not mean that I have stopped looking forward to the weekends. My weekends are also are not very happening as it was ago. I end up hanging around with my closest of pals. Either they come over or at times I visit them.  I am off the clubbing circuit and as well off the pub hopping mode too. Not that I complain. I enjoy every bit of the receded pace my life is currently going through.

In this repetitiveness, the only thing changing was the weather. From pleasant days to slightly warmer ones and I wasn’t welcoming the summers enthusiastically.

Everything is instant in today’s time. Be it food, shopping, expressing feelings and making friends. All you need to do perhaps is just a click away. And in between all this, there he was –my brand new friend. You bump into so many people in the World Wide Web. It’s usually a rare thing to find someone who matches up to you – like peas in a pod.

“Rules?” he asked me reading my post which goes like this - “My life, my rules”.

“Keep it short and simple”, I told him.

Perhaps he was one of the few strangers I bothered to reply. Let’s face bare facts. He was the only one who had the brains to read the post and ask something interesting.

This is how it all began. It was slow, it was nice and it was getting better. We were not rushing into anything. For that matter we were not even in a hurry to ask “send in a picture of yours. I want to see how you look like”. 

He was talking to A-queer-N and I was talking to a Free Spirit.

It was after four days when we finally introduced ourselves, starting with our names, but that seemed not too essential as the ice-breaking stage was crossed already and we were happy with our pseudo-names. No not pseudo … it is not the right word. We were comfortable talking to our alter egos.

Much later we saw how we looked like. But then again, the comfort level was such immense that when I saw him it felt I could have recognized him anyways!

Like his name, he is somebody that cannot be tied down or chained to or tamed. Extremely moody he leaves me confused at times. One moment he is this restless, impatient, philosophical, right on your face and funny to the bone creature and the next moment he is nervous, hugely irritated and angry with some unexplained outburst of frustrations. Slowly and slowly I learnt to deal with it. And how I learnt it! That is interesting as well.

It was after about twenty odd messages when I sent him a stinker one day.

“It’s awkward when you shut up”, I said.

“I know”, replied the Free Spirit.

“So? What are we going to do about it?” I asked him.

“Let’s observe the silence”.

So there we were observing the silence.

“I’m breaking up with my girlfriend”. He sent me a message much later, but by then I was in deep sleep and I read it the next morning and I decided to still “observe the silence”!

Months later, we decided it was time we met.

I would be lying if I say I wasn’t excited. I was. Very much indeed. I looked forward to meet this man who struck the right chords with me.

“Sandwiches”, he said and also added, “beer as well”.

“Grilled chicken”, I added further.

So it was all set.

My checklist made and marked.

After a long time I had something to look forward to. I would cook with utmost care and I could not afford to let a thing go wrong.

And on that Sunday on the second week of April, 11:30 a.m. was the time I was expecting him to be knocking on my door. Inspite of having a late Saturday night, I woke up much earlier than I would do on any given Sunday.

The chicken was already marinating since a day earlier. I began with slicing the vegetables for the sandwiches and then went on to making the mayonnaise. So on it continued till my phone beeped around 10 o’ clock.

“I am sick. Can barely move from my bed”.

The message was so casually written.

I read the message twice before I pressed the reply button. I waited for a while. I did not know what I wanted to say or type. The feeling – there was a sense of rejection, denial… it was awfully negative - something I really wasn’t expecting. It was not at all a good feeling.

I said to myself, “Stop over-reacting.”

“Okay!”, is what I replied and continued making the sandwiches, wrapping them with slightly wet cotton hand towels to keep the moisture of the bread intact. I mashed the potatoes with generous amount of milk and cheese and black pepper. But at the back of my mind there was a feeling of restlessness. I was agitated.

“Oh! Come on now! The man is sick. How could he come for this brunch when he can barely move from his bed”, I re-assured myself. But still I was not at all ready to accept this. Yet I kept my mind calm and composed and went about doing my work. I told myself, even if the plan bombed, I will still grill the meat and eat it as well.

That is exactly what I did.

I wore my Davidoff Coolwaters after my bath and put on the clothes I had intended to wear… it did not matter if the Free Spirit had turned me down at the nth hour.

So I put the meat on the grill pan and uncorked one Budweiser too.

“Cheers” I told to myself as I sipped the beer. It was good. On that hot, dry April mid morning-afternoon, I could feel the chilled beer going down my through the esophagus straight into by belly!

There my phone beeped again and it was him, “So what are you doing?”

I told him all I did and how much I loved my aloneness.

“Have fun you!” and then continued, “Am alone in the house, looking after my grand-dad. He his counting his last days and so am I counting mine. Everyone’s gone out”.

Reading this made me all the more bitter, more than the beer you see.

I do not know if I would be this patient with anybody else. But there was and still is something about him that makes me react in a way I usually do not. It surprises me at times.

I knew it. I got my answers then. That he said he was sick and that he could barely move his body was a big lie. I had this hunch about it but now I was sure.

I felt bloody idiotic.

“I do not know what made you call off this meeting of ours. It was you who said Sunday it would be. Make up your mind, whether you are sick or is it your grandfather that made you cancel our brunch. At least you could have told someone in your family that you had an invitation and we had planned this at least a week earlier. How could you do this?

It all goes to prove the point that all the things we talk have been not worth it.

But I must thank you Free Spirit wholeheartedly. It was after a long time that I was looking ahead for a day when I could unwind and be me. You have no idea how much care I took while making the food. How much I had to persuade another friend of mine to buy the beer bottles for me as you know it’s a total No No for a woman to walk in to a wine store and buy booze.

Do I sound rude and nasty Free Spirit? Oh you bet I am. You hurt me a lot today. But then now I know how not to expect things this way. From now on I never will.”

Yes I was hurt.

“People who love to eat are the best – Julia Child”, is what he sent me back.

“And people who love to cook are damned fools indeed”, I said.

So that was it, my Sunday – a day I wanted it so badly. To meet my new found friend. But like I said maybe that particular Sunday was not his day. He was not at his best and thus he decided to chicken out.

But the ripples he created were far flung.

He still is a good friend. We still talk. We still talk in our alter egos. He still makes plans. He still wants me to make sandwiches. I laugh, I say yes and then I forget about it then and there. And then I smile more because I no longer feel bitter about it. Because I have stopped making plans or expecting things which I know might not happen eventually.

Is this once bitten twice shy is all about? I guess it is… it is which that particular Sunday taught me.

 

And the Monk talked

He: I have a huge hang over...
She: Wowie! Cool!
He: Nooooooo...this is bad!
She: Pop some dispirns or make some lemon juice and eat a huge breakker
He: I can't hardly get out of the bed.
She: How many did you drink?
He: Five long islands and a couple of bacardis later.
She: Now you are talking!!!!!

Couple of hours later:
She: (Taking a pic of the mushrooms she just cooked and sending it across to him) - My lunch looks like this.
He: I love mushrooms
She: I love mushrooms too...
He: I love you
She: I love you more than mushrooms...
He: Cook for me
Me: Come and stay with me.

He: Will do

Little acts of love - An ode to my Friends and Other Devils....

MY CHIRPY BUDDY 
A light sleeper that I am, I logged in to my messenger at the wee hour of the morning today. The very act of grabbing my phone while I was still groggy and in a semi dream like state of mind was only to know what time it was. After a dry and hot spell, the weather has been really good this weekend. It's been raining on and off. Occasional thunder squalls with lightning and clouds roaring, it been drizzling on. So it was 4:32 a.m exactly. I sat up, did a few rounds of deep breathing. Outside the sun was just beginning to rise. Was it being lazy today? Or was it the rain to be blamed? I could hear the birds chirping - the sounds are different. Too many species around I know. But I for the life of mine cannot identify birds - except for the regular crows, pigeons, dove and parrots. 
The deep breathing I did made me all the more fresher and sleep was gone completely. But instead of getting out of the bed, I continued to fiddle with my  phone randomly logging into my Facebook at that hour of the morning. And I must say this - Facebook gives me all the news and gory details of all and sundry. Its like a newspaper for me. As I scrolled my homepage I got a few juicy gossips and without even blinking an eyelid I immediately messaged my chirpy friend. And there he was online too... at that hour of the morning! He admitted that he knew about it and we dug deep into the matter without a care in the world and had a good laugh at the expense of our so called pop star "friend"! 
So why was my friend who is chirpier than a bird awake so early? I know he sleeps very late, but this was unusual. I did not ask him. I assumed either he had not slept the whole night and was still strumming his guitar or maybe he slept very early to have woken up at the crack of dawn. But he proved me wrong. It was a horrid dream that woke him up he said. He was gorging on mutton he said. It felt so real that he woke up salivating! 
And I had a mighty laugh. 
We both have been on a restricted diet for a long time now and we keep updating our progress. There are times and moments when we binge, indulge and wear the "to hell with diet & exercise" attitude. I was craving for a king sized chicken burger with cheese and mayonnaise in plenty for the last few days and a day ago he was at the food joint where I wanted to be too for the burger. As rude and cheeky as a good friend can be and also get away with it without getting arrested, Mr. Chirpy Chirp sends me a picture of all that he was eating. I kept deleting the pictures and he kept sending it again.
"Why this torture? Why didn't you at least say that you were planning to go there?", I asked him.
He smiled and said, "But you were to attend a wedding today. So I did not ask you. Plus as far as I can recall you were supposed to be on the fifth day of your G.M. Diet!!!"
"My diet went for a toss. Yes I am off carbs and sweets still but am not following the diet. I gave up yesterday", I replied.
I was so tempted to go and eat that burger to my heart's content that yesterday being rainy and gloomy, I still went ahead with my plan. And as luck would have had and like the saying goes - Man proposes God disposes - the restaurant was closed! 
When I told my chirpy buddy about it, he laughed liked mad and again sent me those pictures! 
But now that his sleep was gone for all the mutton curry he dreamt I can actually say that at least now we are even. The score is one all. 

This is how it is between us - we both can talk non-stop without breathing and you know how it is - if I call him or he calls me we don't even say the "Hello"... we start from the point we had left and this goes on till our phone batteries give up. 
Its nice to have you as a buddy Chirpy Chirp. I love you just the way you are. The way you make me laugh. Your logic makes more sense. You are not judgmental. You let me be me.

Thank you! If I ever say all this to you I am sure you will think I am out of my mind. Because we are past that stage of our friendship where we need to assure each other. 

Its just a feeling I had, so I wrote it down. And it gives me a great sense of achievement that our scores are one all!!!

Adonis & Isis

As I begin to write this I wonder what if the woman was me? What if the man in question was someone I loved, if not for entirety then at least for six month or maybe a month or a week or just twenty four hours? As long as it lasted?

NOTES TO SELF : BY ISIS

I have known Adonis for a very long time. For the last twelve years he has been around... on and off... in and out... on the outer periphery of my huge gang of mad friends. I usually do not form opinions about people. Adonis was the last one I needed to have an opinion.

I do not recall when was the first time I met him. It was a random meeting during one of the weekends. That was so long ago. 

So there he was - Adonis. In a pair of light blue Levi's and crisp white linen shirt and a pair of brown suede loafers. Why do I have such vivid recollection about all that he was wearing? This has got to do we the very fact we got introduced. As he walked into the living room, the hostess introduced us and as we exchanged the customary "hello" Adonis  looked at me and then pointed towards our hostess of the evening and said, "She is the one I am responsible for all the rumors. I got her pregnant!".
He was so casual about it. I didn't know how should I have reacted. It was too much a blonde moment for me. The girl (our hostess) gave him a very angry glare and walked away. The next few minutes seemed unending and the silence would have killed us if only Adonis had not broken it with his smoothness. Yes we all had heard about this issue. But till that moment I did not know it was him. 
I left the thought there forever, until now when I started to write about it. 

I have been a quiet kind of woman always. Only the closet ones know me - how ruthless, brash, intimidating and insane I am capable of being. 

Adonis had always thought me to be quiet, aloof and cold. I never had a problem with it. 

And all this while I have come across women of all ages and sizes dying to be with him - in a long term or  short. It did not matter to them as long as they were together for a while. I have seen him or have heard about it or he has admitted about it all. Too many women he has had in his life.  

A true blue Casanova, smooth talker, charmer, highly intelligent with equally good looks and manners coming as an added bonus like an icing on a cake, an extra topping of vanilla ice-cream with cold coffee, the extra mayonnaise and cheese in your king sized burger. 
A pure boyfriend material... a lover any woman would love to have...  

So on a warm afternoon when Adonis calls me out of the blue I was rather surprised.

"Are you deaf?", is exactly what he said. 
"I didn't hear the phone ring", I replied.
"You home?" 
"Yes", I replied.
"I am seeing you in the next seventeen minutes", and he hung up.

So there he was knocking on my door. Was it after seventeen minutes? I do not recall that. Nor did I keep a count of it,

It was good to see him. We met once briefly a few months ago at a very social gathering. And yes, he did drop me home that night. Prior to that he dropped me home one more time, but much earlier, when we were say ten years younger.

We spoke for a long time, one on one, face to face, frank to the point of being brutal.

"You are not what you are", he said.
I raised my eyebrows, "Is that bad?"
"Bad is the new good. I am beginning to like it", he said squinting his left eye.
There was nothing on my part to be amused or surprised or be floored. Afterall it was the Casanova speaking. He must have used these lines on too many women too many times, I thought to myself.

Surprisingly the time we spent together, the long conversation we had was so meaningful. Adonis on his part opened up to me as a friend. He shared his thoughts, his fears and insecurities. He was not that bad... just that he rubs people the wrong way with his attitude and talks. 

And then it was time to call it a day. 
To sum things up, he put it very beautifully, "Isis, do you really think I am a womanizer?"

Nodding my head in agreement, I said, "I don't have a problem with you being one. Why are you asking me this now? At this hour?"

"To hit on a woman for a casual fling is one thing. But to have a decent conversation forgetting how time went by, to let out my fears to a woman is very rare. Its not always about sex Isis. I did not have this in mind when I called you and said I wanted to see you tonight."

He looked into me deeply, smiled and continued, "There were times and instances when I was tempted hugely. The two occasions when I dropped you home. How badly I wanted you to tell me to step inside for one drink. And you being icy cold never did say it."

I couldn't help but laugh, which I think was rude but you see, the kind of circumstances I got introduced with him, it left no room for doubts! 

As he got ready to leave, checking his pockets for one final time for his car keys, cell phone, lighter and cigarettes, he held my face with both his hands very firmly, looked straight into me and kissed me on my forehead. 

Much later, deep in the night, the phone beeped. It was Adonis. "Can I call you?"
"Sure you can", said Isis.

They spoke for another good forty five minutes. This is how good as it gets.

But there are things Isis must tell him.

Adonis does not know that Isis finds him irresistible. He is too good to be true. He is the kind of man she has always wanted to be with. (Like those hundreds of other women who could do just anything to be with him). She knows well if they meet again, the kiss on the forehead and holding hands would go to another level, a step further. And would she be able to stop him? And would she rather? 

For Isis there is too much to lose, too much is at stake. She knows it well, he is not the man for her. He is a smooth talker, he will get his way, work his charms to woo her. He tried it already. But she told him on that evening, that she is not ready... and that it is too early.

As Isis and I sat down with our steaming hot cups of coffee, she tells me all this with so much of genuinity and yet with so much fondness for the man, I couldn't help but wonder, what if I was Isis? Would I behaved the same way?

When there is a whole bunch of women desperately wanting to be with Adonis, here we have one quiet and charming Isis, who admits liking the man yet she decides to let go. Now isn't that beautiful? Isn't that saner? Isn't that the best and simplest way to keep just the friendship alive? For her it was those few hours they spent together talking which would last a lifetime, than being impulsive and give in to the moment.

Isis reminded me of what the Buddha said, "In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you".

www - when the world wide web becomes what went wrong!

The internet is like a pandora's box.... I have been hooked to the www for such a long time now. I think it was during my Post Graduation days about fifteen years ago when I stumbled upon this amazing medium. My first e-mail i.d was with usa.net. A friend of mine had created it and we would exchange mails when sitting across the small cubicles of a cyber cafe. Browsing internet was a highly premium then. They used to charge fifty bucks for browsing only for thirty minutes.

I never have had too much of bad or sour experience with this medium....
To come to think of it.... I logged into this site in the year 2005... which is close to nine years now. The best thing about this medium was the ability to keep myself anonymous and yet be able to express things freely. We live in a society full of fucktards and hypocrites. My blogs had my name to it and then I realized there were my annoying and nosy relatives reading all this and whenever I'd bump them at social gatherings all they had to say was about what I wrote. They never appreciated about my writing but wanted the gory details.
So I changed my url altogether with an abstract "scarzeroed" as my name.... and it suits me well too!

From paying fifty back for half an hour to accessing internet on a phone, we surely have come a long long way I must say.

Two weeks ago I installed a free video calling app in my phone so that I could cut on my outgoing voice and video calls to my husband. Currently we are in a long distance relationship because of occupational hazards.

And someone pinged me out of the blue. A total stranger. I was just trying to get used to this newly installed app and much later I realized my location was "on" and so people who had the same app installed could look up in the '"people nearby" section. So this guy sent me a "hello".... and because I was so much into R&D of the new app, it took a while for me to see the messages as well.
I looked in  to the photograph and when my mind said "he looked decent enough to hello him back", I did exactly that.

The first few exchanges were interesting and three days later I found myself actually looking forward to strike up a conversation with this total brand new stranger.

Soon we moved to a more comfortable Whatsapp.

But now that two weeks have passed I have a different opinion about him altogether. No... I do not mean bad. People cannot be tailor made as per our liking but nevertheless I get negative vibes from the man in question.

He is actually getting a bit annoying now. He should realize we have just met on the internet and there are things I am not comfortable sharing with him. He cannot trespass and try and get too close to me. It sucks! It really does.
 I have made him understand that. I am a very "right on your face" person. I told him the things which I do not appreciate. But either he is a total nincompoop or a dimwit to have not understood. Not that I used very tough language.... "I sleep early because I am an early riser". Is that so difficult to understand?
On a weekend we did chat till 1:00 am in the morning. But that does not mean its going to be like this everyday.

All I want to tell him now is -Dear Mr. Stranger pal... please do not assume I am your girlfriend or your lover. We met on the internet and that's it. Please do not expect me to be sticking on to my phone messaging you every minute, sharing every detail... what I ate for lunch, which programme am I watching on television, what did my daughter take in her lunch box to school, what is the colour of my underwear.... you know this is hugely claustrophobic and I am in need of some fresh air.

Mr. Starnger... you need to get a life on your own. You cannot trip on looking at my weekend with friends album in Facebook.
I assume you are a total loser. Am I being blunt? Oh yes! You can bet your fat ass on that.
You said I have a very interesting life, yes I do because I try to live my life to the fullest and try and do as much things as possible. I don't want to die with any regrets. And yes... I am very disciplined. I have a time table and function that way.
But what about you... all I could gather is you have a nine to five job which you always extend to eight. You do not talk to your wife. You sleep in separate rooms too. You have no friends. You do not make an effort to reach out to people. You have not taken a vacation for ages and regard your official trips as "I love travelling to new places".
But most importantly you have a huge complex with your name. Is it because your name is feminine and you are not? Please try and understand many Indian names are unisex. For example Krishna is a name for men and women. Then again there is Pushpa... it can be named to either sexes. When your parents kept your name they had done it with good intention I am sure.
Mr. Stranger.... I am not a pretender.... I do not have complexes .... I am in love with myself and hence I am usually happy.
Please try and get a life and maybe after that I will decide if I still want to communicate with you...
So long... you are blocked... restricted...rejected...
Thank God for small mercies and smart phones!

A Brand New Year!

Happy 2014 world!

I have been just plain lazy to sit and write. There were thoughts - thousands of them and I knew I had to get them out into words and make sentences but then it just did not happen.

So on the last day of the year I put a "public" update on Facebook and sent all my best wishes and also added ..."And tonight party like nobody's business... shake a leg... sing a song... eat without worrying (all the ones who goes veggie on Tuesdays)... drink a good scotch... and find someone responsible to drive you back home!!! "

A friend who knows me to be a party animal of sorts joked as asked me, "So tell me Nan... who is dropping you hometonight?"

Dropping me home!? Hello! Listen... I've been home on New Year's Eve for the last six years. I think I overdid that "party"bit and now I enjoy my aloneness more than music blaring from huge sound systems... people spilling their drinks in their expensive dresses and talking insanely.

Yes... I still love my Teachers 50. I like to have a decent and interesting conversation one on one as Floyd or The Doors plays on. At times I also enjoy Dualist Inquiry or maybe Ministry of Sound. Eating some coleslaw and grilled chicken too. But going out and partying is not me anymore.

While browsing my Facebook homepage yesterday evening and today morning as I was sipping tea I saw all and sundry (sundry is the category where I add a friend's wife I am very formal with... or maybe an ex-colleague's hot and happening sister etc all... basically the wannabes and the ones who try too hard to prove something which I have not been able to figure out so far!).

Oh man! Of all the things long and short - the LBD (Little Black Dress) sure takes the cake. Women of all sizes can wear it and can not go wrong but then again you must understand and realize the cut which suits your body type. There where the error is.

Then I see this girl call Al... She wore a LRD (Little Red Dress)... full of glitters with a plunging neck line and a pair of matching calf length red boots.
But dear Al... why wear a high neck navy blue inner under that LRD? When you were posing for the pictures where you so desperately wanted to look a stunner why were you looking so nervous? And if you want me to be fake a put a "like" on those three photographs you posted, you are wrong. You do not know me. I'd appreciate the woman standing next to you who looked very graceful and elegant in a silk saree holding a glass of unfinished scotch. Well who??? Oh! You did not notice her. I know she was not with you neither was your companion. She just happened to get photographed along with you and sad that you did not crop the photograph... see this mysterious woman just stole all the attention you were so badly craving for!

And then there is this Miss Socialite. Let her call S. She flew some thousand air miles to party. And today morning Miss S posted her photographs. Miss S looks all the same. Whether she is wearing a LBD or a bikini. She never smilesbecause she confesses that her set of teeth is very ugly! She has one shade of lip colour she wears it everywhere. No Miss S. I am not putting a "like" or commenting anything on your pictures. Please! Show me something new and then maybe I will too comment something which I genuinely feel for you!

Wasn't that a whole lot of bitching I did?

On a personal note 2013 has been not too bad for me. Met some good people and met some equally bad people - the bastards.

The bastards - I can write about them later... but the ones with whom I bonded are the ones I know I still long to see and I know they will be with me for years to come.

I also realized that keeping my head firmly above my heart is the best way to deal with relationships.

I achieved my fitness goal - I could fit in to my old pair of denims effortlessly. That was my "agenda" when 2013 had begun. I had put on a lot of weight and I looked ugly. I knew I had to do something about it at the earliest. And one fine day I started Yoga. And it was no looking back from there on.
I am now two size smaller, weighing fifteen kilos lesser and more confident!

And that Arnab Goswami on Times Now is not that bad after all.

And yes now that I have graduated from rum to whiskey I can say for sure... if you enjoy your whiskey and drink slowly you won't get a hangover next morning.