So, I was sitting at home with an old college friend the other day. We were meeting after ages. In the middle of an interesting debate, I excused myself to quickly pull out another Heineken from the freezer. I opened the door, only to see that we were out of beer. Dude! Theres no beer! Its 9.45. Weve got 15 minutes before the theka shuts! We sped to the nearest shop, reaching just in time. Soon, we were back with a jiggling bag, relieved and happy, and the debate continued from where it left off. The next morning, while I was dumping the empty bottles in the trash, I realised something. Something I had known all along but I never really gave much thought to.

We just can’t do without booze in our day-to-day lives anymore.
I asked myself: Why did we rush to that theka as if our lives depended on it? Why was there such desperation? So what if the shutter had gone down before we arrived? Wasn’t each other’s company enough? We could’ve had tea, maybe?
This random revelation led to a much longer stream of thoughts... Alcohol has become an inevitable part of every plan in modern culture.

Be it drinking cheap wine out of a box alone at home or sippin’ on the best at an elite bar, pre-drinking in a parking lot or celebratory champagne, it all boils down to our dire need for those frequent doses of intoxication. Any excuse will do. A promotion or a farewell, a birthday or a breakup.
Had a long day at work? No problem. You know you’re cooling off over your regular with the colleagues later at the local pub. In all probability, the bartenders there know your name. They even give you free drinks. Soon enough, one drink turns to two. This way, the debauchery carries on.
Let’s be real here. Can you remember the last time you refused a drink? Or successfully completed a 10-day detox? No, because you didn’t. Even if we do decide to abstain from alcohol for a while, getting carried away seems to be the easiest thing. We cheat and break the resolutions made while nursing bad hangovers. 'Screw this, I’m not going out till next week!' never really happens.