Treat or Treat

It happened on September 17th, 2000.

No it wasn’t something so important that I’d remember the date so clearly; I remember it because it’s my birth date and I was in 9^th standard (so basically it’s just a simple application of math).

Anyway, as I said it was my birthday and for the first time in my life (before this, it was my parents’ headache) I became aware of the term ‘treat’ which, as I now understand, is simply a word that people use to tell you that you’re gonna get robbed on certain occasions when you’re “supposed to” be happy, it doesn’t matter whether you really are or not (I mean c’mon who’d be happy about getting older).

So, I was asked by my friends for a treat and, before I could reply, it was decided (without my consent of course) that we were going to some nearby shop for some cold-drinks and maybe something to eat. I did some mental calculation on the way and reckoned it’d cost me some 120-150 bucks. Now let me make it clear at this point, that up till that point of time in my life I hadn’t ever even had that kinda money in my pocket, let alone spending it. Come to think of it, I don’t understand why I was even doing those mental calculations. With just 10 bucks in my pocket (which by the way were given to me by my parents for that “special occasion” that my birthday was) I should’ve already known that I wouldn’t be able to treat even myself, forget about treating those 10 guys at the same time.

It was too humiliating and I don’t know when I made up my mind. I just took some odd randomly wrong turns and got to my home as fast as I could (yes, I didn’t tell anyone that I was going).

Back home, I lied down and presently, I can’t even recall the things that were going through my head that day. I know for sure that I felt like crying (maybe I did). I mean it was one of the most embarrassing events of my life.

That day, I learned one thing for sure; you can never underestimate the power of money. As I always say:

Money can’t buy you happiness, but it’s easier to drown your sorrows in a costly Champaign then in a Mastana (a highly-adulterated-dirt-cheap-desi-alcohol).