.... Arjun tilted his glass gently pressing it on his smoke tarned lips to let the last drop of the rum to reach his tongue, flow thru his throat and finally reach his battle hardened liver.alcohol had long stopped numbing him.Infact it inverse numbed him.He remembered things he longed to forget or had already forgotten like his first date,his first dissapointment,his first encounter with sex.so many firsts that made him hate the coveted single number.But he could not control thoughts that too with 8 patiala pegs of Old Monk already inside.
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Did Sundar Appa drink or not?little arjun's mind was repeatedly hit by this question.vignesh had sworn on his choicest of gods to the fact that he had seen his pop , arjun's and others drink whisky at their house.arjun had confronted his father on the issue but appa denied it and said that he had taken Thums Up and not whisky.arjun was convinced that vignesh was a little pest trying to ruin his 'hero' fathers image.He took on vignesh backed by appa's confession but vignesh did not move an inch on his stand.This created greater doubts in little boy's mind and finally he decided to seek the fountainhead of all known truths(atleast with respect to him) 'amma'.
amma never lied.vignesh knew that for a fact.when he asked her she initially avoided the issue.finally the truth had to be out.amma being amma tried to comfort arjun by telling him that hsi pop was'nt a drunkard like the ones he saw in the old tamizh movies but was a 'social' drinker.she said that he drank to give company to big guests and that too once in a while.but she also told him like all the bill boards on the road that drinking was a really bad habit and not to indulge in such things at any point in his life.but his questions were not over.day after day he frequently pestered his mom regarding the virtues she had taught him and how father appa was not falling in line.she was at one point convinced that the little lad would start to hate his father.so she had to tell him that drinking once in a while wasnt that bad after all.that was it.that made him so happy.she had restored his hero.strange are the minds of young ones,it takes a word to manipulate them.but this was just a starter of other things that would change his life for ever.for starter he argued with his history teacher on the merits of gandhiji's strong opposition to alcohol.this shocked the teacher since she did not expect a fourth grade kid to challenge her views leave alone gandhi's.most kids were taught to worship gandhi.worship they did.the teacher sent for his mother and she updated her on arjun's strange behaviour.it was decided at home that appa would talk to arjun.appa told him eferything and also convinced arjun that drinking was a bad habit and he had quit long ago.convinced ....... hahaha
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"Bearer unnoru peg old monk fashhht" arjun stuttered at the bar table.he smiled.A smile filled with guilt..........
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Little Sundar stood at the gate waiting for his father.this had become a ritual everyday.He would stand by the door.Amma would be asleep or crying.she never spoke much.But he knew why.Appa in the night was hard to handle.Amma said he went outside at the night and nobody was safe in the night outside.Appa must be very tired,the night was at fault not his beloved Appa.........
