Absolut Snob Value

No, the title is not a typo. It is about Absolut, the vodka. Chennai is a bad city for Vodka drinkers, all you get is local Romanov that burn your throat while you drink. Smirnoff is available, but at Rs. 900 per bottle (USD 20.00) it is expensive. UB Group's White Mischief is available in a few TASMAC stores, but mostly Chennai is only Romanov city.

So, my solution is to ask friends who travel abroad to get me Absolut Vodka from the duty free shops. It is amazing vodka, as my friend puts it "as smooth as driving a Rolls Royce". It is another matter that he has never driven a Rolls Royce. It doesn't hit you hard, starts very smooth and as you proceed you get an exalted sense of exuberance (No, I am not drunk while writing this, just reliving my experience). After the second round there is a slight wobble while you go to the loo. The third round leads to profound discussions like whether Demi Moore was hot in Ghost or Disclosure. After the fourth round (that is my limit), you will zoom through the deserted Chennai Streets, feeling as if you are Michael Schumacher. The best part about Vodka is it doesn't smell and you can go home safely.

I went with the Absolut bottle once to the Madras Race Club. It is a prestigious club in the city, ranking third or fourth amongst the clubs. The members are the who's who of Chennai, (no, I am not a member of the club, just got invited by a friend) and in this plush surrounding as I kept the bottle of Absolut on the table a hush descended. It has a real snob value, people kept just staring at us, unable to reconcile to the fact that these jokers can have a bottle of premium vodka. To be frank the snob value adds a little more zing to the high.

Why this ode to Absolut now? I had left a bottle at a friend's place and another friend happened to visit and so they finished it off without me. So all I can do now is to look back fondly on the previous experiences.