Day 6: A day well spent

As I was eating lunch with my colleagues, my boss was around for a change. There were slight awkward moments because we're not really used to... you know... chill around her.. at least when at work.

So we were talking for a bit and the obvious topic of Navratras came up. And you know what comes after Navratras. I was pleasantly surprised to know that my boss was aware of this concept. Maybe not in its entirety, but she had a vague idea that i was off booze for a while. I was a little shocked wonder how she came to know. It does not mean I did not want her to know, but it's just that I hadn't really told her about it till then. I was anyway going to tell her then only. Anyway, I corrected her, told her about the whole deal, she didn't seem to impressed, but it doesn't really matter as I am not doing this to please anyone other than me.

That was the highlight of the day. Lunch was good. So was the bhel puri in the evening. And t he dal roti sabzi at night. Day at work was fine. Went out a couple of times with friends at work for they wanted to smoke. No craving whatsoever. But I keep getting the feeling that not drinking is going to be a tough task.

But I'll do it.

Yes.

You'll see.

Good night.

Day 5 - Of Unforeseeable Circumcision

A successful day 5. Sauratra going on fine. Had a strong urge to drink and/or smoke tonight, due to unforeseeable circumstances, and not circumcision. Curbed it. Feel proud. And a short blog post for tonight. Had a long and busy day at work. Hectic is the word. Had a long night as well. So this'll be it for today. Sauratra still going strong. Better days ahead. Cheers to all. Love to all. Peace. 

Day 4 – A Motorcycle and a Red Light

Today I received a message from an unknown number about Sauratra. I could faintly recognise the number, but I was still quite amused. I usually don’t delete contacts from my phone without any reason. So it was bound to be someone who had not shared his/her number. But he/she automatically did (share) by sending me that message about Sauratra.

So I enquired as to who this mysterious identity was, who, apparently, was quite excited about Sauratra. I did find out in the next message SHE sent and the mystery ended there. But for you, the reader, it shall forever remain a mystery. Tough luck, yes. But what I’ll do is, I’ll tell you the content of the message, and if you can correctly guess who the person is, I will buy you 3 bottles of beer. Miller beer. After the 1^st of July though. How ironic though, talking about gifting free beers during Sauratra! Wow!

Let us refer to the mysterious messenger as She. So She had a pretty interesting proposition. It basically translated to SauSuhagRaatra. 100 Nights, 100 different guys. I was so impressed with the idea that I actually thought that it could be turned into reality TV show or something. I called my contact at Balaji Telefilms, but they were not too keen on it. She wasn’t disappointed, as she didn’t want fame, which is also the reason behind her anonymity here.

But just think of the idea. 100 days and 100 different sex partners. Or maybe 100 days and sex everyday with the same partner. Either way, sex for 100 days in a row. Now that’ll be some accomplishment. At least for me. And hopefully for other normal guys as well. So yeah. Pretty interesting episode with She today.

Other than that, I had a chilled out day for a change. Not too hectic at work. Left from work on time. 

Reached home to find my parents awake. Had dinner with them after ages. And now I am writing the blog at 11. Even planning to sleep on time and wake up all fresh and on time tomorrow. Been ages since I reached work at a proper accepted time.

The positivity, the freshness, sab jhalak rahi hai. It feels great without smoking. Even 4 days are enough to make me feel better. But I will reiterate this fact again, I am scared as to what is going to happen in the coming few days. I know I will crave for booze. I drink 3-4 times during a normal week. And 14-18 times during a Goa week. But come Saturday, a week off booze, I come home, and do what? I’ll find something. But what if I have a bad urge? How the heck do I control that? That’s the challenge I am most excited about actually. It might not be as bad as I am assuming it’ll be. But I want to prepare for the worst.

And at 0400 hours tomorrow, i.e., 28^th of March, I’ll complete 100 successful hours of Sauratra. I say ‘successful’ prematurely because I am a premature ejaculator. Famous for that. Naaahh!! Just kidding. Or maybe not? Who cares.... Hope YOU don’t..... But I say it because I am at home now, all comfortable and chilling in my room, without any smokes or booze, except for the beers in the fridge, but I am not interested in it as such, and trust me, I wouldn’t cheat. So I can quite confidently celebrate my 100 hours of Sauratra right now. It’s been nice so far. And I hope these 100 hours go on to become a 100 days. Not saying soon, because a 100 days will take a 100 days to come. Just like I take a 100 seconds. Ok not. Shouldn’t talk about how cool I am in bed.

To quote Lonely Island “You say I am premature, I say I am sensitive. Jizz in my pants.” Or something on the lines of that. Whatever. More to come. Stay tuned. 

Day 3: First day at work

I was a little worried about my first day at work during Sauratra. Since most of my colleagues smoke, it is kind of difficult to not smoke even when you don’t feel like smoking. Then the kind of work I do at times, actually the amount of work I do at times, makes you crave for a smoke when you get a little frustrated. You know, that pissed off moment when you wake up from your station and yell “Banjo chalo yaar koi sigart peene dimaag ki dahi ho rahi hai!!!” I was wondering if I’d even survive a single day at work without smoking.

Day came, they saw, I conquered. Again, it was quite an easy task to survive the day without smoking. Although prior to this, I’d promise myself every night that I’d quit smoking the next day. But every day, the moment somebody asked me if I wanted to smoke, I just couldn’t say no. But times have changed. They asked, I said no. They went out for a smoke, I even gave them company, but didn’t even feel like taking a drag. And I am hoping it continues like this.

It looks like not smoking would be easier than not drinking. I wonder if I can deal with it when the craving for drinking kicks in. Haven’t stayed sober in quite some time. The last break I took was when I was doing Vipassana. That was 10 days of no drinking, besides a LOT of other things/restrictions. I couldn’t even masturbate. A guy hasn’t had sex in over 2 years, and you ask that guy to not masturbate? That’s just not cool man, hey Buddha, it’s just not cool yo.

But I am happy with my progress. I feel better already. More energetic, fresher, more cheerful and active and not lethargic at all. It’s working fine, let’s just hope it continues.  

I was even considering not shaving or cutting my hair for these 100 days. But that’ll be pushing it a little na? Do let me know what you think about it. 

Sauratra – Day: 2 – Of meeting relatives and cooking Fish & Prawns

After a successful Day 1 of Sauratra, I am proud to announce that I have had an equally successful Day 2. It wasn’t much of a task; it wasn’t expected to be either. Two days without smoking and drinking I’ve done before and can do it again. So no big deal. And the fact that it was a Sunday, which simply means I did not have to go to work, where I smoke a lot, smoking was out of the question. Meeting my relatives in the morning and staying there till evening, which was not that good an experience, but that is beside the point, helped me in keeping off the booze and smokes.

Came home to a boring Sunday evening in prospect, decided I should cook. Gave seafood a shot and it turned out to be pretty decent, if not great. Fish and prawns it was.

There were 3 bottles of my all time favourite Kingfisher Premium Lagers just staring at me every time I opened the fridge. My arms brushed the bottles as I looked at them but I controlled the urge and took the ginger garlic paste out. The cooking continued, and I could hear the bottles inside sob a little. I had to be strong.

I ate a lot eventually, had I had beer before dinner, would’ve eaten even more. Thankfully that didn’t happen.

A good day. Smoke and booze free. Hoping for many more to cum. But please use a condom. Cheers!

Sauratra - Day: 1 - Easy Peasy

The Day 1 of the Sauratra has just ended. It was a pretty easy day first day actually. Slept through the night, woke up and immediately went to this work related event. Came back in the evening, dozed off for a while and just to get a feel of ‘Saturday Night’, went out for ice cream.

No booze. No cigarettes. 24 hours. Good progress I’d say. And today being a Saturday. I’m happy.

But it is just going to get tougher each day. Summers approaching fast, beer will be a necessity throughout the months of May and June. A couple of long lost friends are coming, a couple of birthdays here and there; how will I stay off the booze then? And worst of all, EURO 2012!!! A whole football tournament without beer! How is that even possible!? And perfect timing. The final match of EURO Cup is on the final day of the Sauratra. 1^st of June. Perfect timing I’d say. Well played God of luck.

But that’s just a small cost I’d be paying for the world of benefits I’d be getting if I successfully go through with Sauratra.

Stay tuned for daily updates. And for hourly updates, follow me on Twitter @rachitmaya.

Join the movement if you want. Anytime. Everybody is welcome. Need all the support. Together we can achieve a lot of things. Be it quitting smoking/drinking or maybe you want to go to the gym or even finish a long due project, it’s all happening here at Sauratra.

And all the detractors, please continue laughing at this attempt, as it will only make me stronger and more motivated. As Peter Griffin once said “Whatever kills me makes me stronger”. Amen to that.

Cheers!

What is Sauratra?

People across the world are celebrating Navratras these days. Religious nuts I say.

But taking inspiration from these believers and from Kevin Roberts, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi, who I had the pleasure of listening to while at a random ass conference recently, I have decided to celebrate my own version of Navratras.

Why just 9 days? Why not a 100? Kevin Roberts said that 3-5 year plans don’t work in today’s time. We need small 100 day plans for quick actions and instant results. Logical enough.

Hence I thought of Sauratra. Just like your Navratras which happen twice a year, I shall be celebrating Sauratras, just once this year.

Starting today, i.e., 24th of March, 2012, I shall abstain from smoking and drinking for 100 days. It perfectly coincides with my birthday on the 2nd of July as the last day of the Sauratras would be the 1st of July.

Sauratra

And why am I doing this? For starters, I will save truck loads of cash. If I go smoke free for 3 months, I’ll stop smoking altogether. I will regain my health and stamina. Major body detox. My body can do without some booze for some time. It’ll be good for it actually. I’ll get time to do other productive things after work. No more distractions. I can write more, for me, on a personal level. I can read more. It’s all I, me and myself here. It’ll get a sense of discipline. A sense of achievement. It’ll clear the tag of a sharaabi which I carry with myself wherever I go. And lots of other things.

But. A very big BUTT! All this will happen ONLY if I successfully pull this thing off. Now this is a very big assumption. And considering the sharaabi I am, it’s highly unlikely that I even last a week. I was not smoking for 10 months recently, it was fine. But I haven’t had more than a 10 day gap in the last few years when it comes to drinking. Now that will be a task.

Can I do it? I don’t think I can. Do you?

No Smoking. No drinking. For 100 fucking days. Impossible. I say I last 3 days and then I give up. Or maybe 10 or even if I last for a month, uske baad to gaand lagegi hi. I could just start smoking and drinking again on Sunday. You never know. Even I don’t know. But if I do it’ll be one of the greatest achievements of my life.

So I give it to you right now. I might stop in a couple of days. Or I might just be able to pull this feat off.

Let’s see who has the last say.

Cheers!

P.S. – This was written while sipping on my 3rd bottle of Miller beer.

Butt wish my butt some luck! I want to do it. I have the inclination. Just need some motivation and support. So are you with me? And everyone and anyone is welcome to join the movement!