BEER

After a lot of thinking about what my first post should look like I have nailed down on my favourite topic - Beer!


For the non-greatlakers - this is not about my drinking habits or my drinking experiences here in Great Lakes but the pain associated with drinking here.

Although I have had the opportunity (or the lack of it) of drinking only in Mahabbalipuram, most things apply throughout Chennai.

The thing which disturbs everybody here the most is this stupid rule; Alcohol is permitted to be sold only in govt stores [ The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) ] and only liquor which is bottled in the state can be sold! As if the rule of TASMAC wasn’t enough there is another strange rule. All shacks in Mahabs are only allowed to sell beer.
Now what it essentially means is the best beer available is KF (if in stock) and the best whiskey is RC or Signature. It doesn't really bother a beertoddler like me but its definitely a pain in the a$$ for hard liquor regulars to say the least! OK, I am almost as comfortable with KF as I am with fosters.

Going to mahabs is worth an entire post all together so I’m not getting into it at this stage.
Once we reach mahabs (I have never been there alone yet, but would definitely want to do it once!) it is an achievement if we find a place where we get all the three together – Beer (KF), Chicken and Time. Initial visits were worse; in quest of the mentioned goal we have had unbelievable experiences

• Strange brands of beer, unheard or rather un imaginable up north – Marco Polo, Golden Eagle, Vorion 6000, Kalyani, Hunter to name a few beers.
I distinctly remember trying to open up a Kalyani beer with my teeth. More than of the bottle’s ring got uprooted along with the cap.
• Restaurant serving chilli chicken with bones (constituting 80% of the total volume). The guy had the balls to force the mistake onto us, according to him boneless chilli chicken is “made to order”.
• Tandori Chicken which is actually fried. This was a restaurant in which my girlfriend wouldn’t even walk in, the kitchen actually smelled like a graveyard of rats!
• A gora threatening us of dire consequences when we had a verbal fight with a group of goras.
“I am staying here for 6 months, don’t talk to me like that you bloody outsiders”, for a moment everybody wondered if this was Mahabs or Sri Lanka!

There is a typical way Restaurant owners/waiters behave with us, especially now when they know us (Great Lakes students rather). No matter how much they hate us, they can’t deny us access simply because of the fact the revenues we generate for them is very close to that generated by the tourists (if not better). At the same time, seldom we see concepts like “Customer Satisfaction” into action. When the luck goes for a ride, we are treated as if they are paying us to be their guests. No matter how much you enquire about the stock of KF in the fridge, the moment I finish my first bottle KF is out of stock. Even before the first order is placed the waiter reminds us of the kitchen closing time. And that we have to place all our orders before that, as if we have just escaped from a Tsunami relief camp and this is the only chance we have got to drink and dine.

As of now, we manage are managing pretty well with the food and beer! But what it means is we only have two or at max three choices of shacks. To top it up, as the elective terms have started I am hopeful that disaster of having a free day for the entire batch won’t happen again. In case you are still wondering, then its a scene when every shack in mahab would have atleast 20 guests from Great Lakes. And no matter how much you try the three forces (discussed above) would never combine!

Looking back at the last hour I have spent writing this post, I am not sure if I have done a decent job. It can be probably called an OK post, but hey I am learning.

If you are still reading, thanks :)

P.S Pic courtesy Rushabh Shah...
~Aniruddha