So, officially its been one week that I haven’t had a Diet Coke. Why am I subjecting myself to such a torture? Because I want to see if I can stay away from something that I love.
Enough of vanity. Coming back, its been 7 days without a Diet Coke and I have serious withdrawal syndromes! I miss holding onto an icy cold can. I miss seeing that drop of water run down the shiny surface of the slippery can. I miss that pop when I opened the can. I miss the tingling sensation on my tongue. I miss how it hurt my bad teeth. That reminds me that I need to see a dentist. I also want to see see a supermodel but that’s a thing for another post, on another day.
More than these carnal pleasures, I miss the breaks that I took to go and buy the coke. Diet coke had become my escape. If I was in a longish meeting and I needed to get out, I would blame my coke addiction and step out. If I was mindfucked about something, I would go for a walk, to go buy a coke and shake those cobwebs away. I could stretch my legs. I could gather my thoughts. I could see the sidewalks. I could observe a lot by merely watching. I could chit chat with the shopkeepers. I could watch people.
A can of Diet Coke has been a companion to me through thick and thin. Through good and bad. Through pretty and ugly. At places as fancy as five-stars and as “downmarket” as a roadside chai tapri. Through my travels across the world. Through my hideouts in college. Through my escapes in parties. Through my long drives with Vivek. Through my short meetings with sgMS.
Diet Coke allowed me to find something to hold onto while the world around me was engaged into drunken revelries. Diet Coke allowed me the company of something predictable at unknown places. It was a reassuring sign in a lot of foreign lands. It was a way to open conversations with people. conversations at bars, at restaurants, at parties, at airport lounges, in the flights with the air-hostesses and co-travelers. In fact in most long flights most air-hostesses start knowing that I want a lot of coke and that breaks ice, literally!
Damn I miss it. All of it. Everything that my addiction to Coke stood for, I miss all of it!
There are very few people, things that I have allowed to come close. Coke is one such thing. I will probably lapse back to the use. But I shall stay away till end of 2016 for sure. Let’s see I have what it takes to control my emotions. And while I am at it, I will probably take up the NOBNOM one of these days. Lets see!
Oh, if you spot me having any form of cola in 2016, you may claim Rs. 1000 from me. And I promise I will honour it. On the spot. But after I have had my coke.
