Curiosity drank the Wine.

I was cleaning up my room and had subconsciously put wine bottles in my cupboard. Ideally, they should have been kept in the fridge but it was only later I realized that they were there, standing tall with my deodorants and creams. Wine and wine bottles take me back to a memory of 2015 when I had had wine for the first time.

In October 2015, I was still in college. Our department was taken for a trip to Delhi for the Delhi Photo Festival. It was fascinating to see so many artists, artworks, attend lectures and events for the first time. This was also the first time I was not under the supervision of my parents or somebody I knew in this city, so the feeling of being free was a different experience altogether. The photo festival lasted for a couple days but I ruined it for myself on day 1 itself. 

The British Embassy had held an opening night party on day 1 of the festival. We were all a group of students, budding 'artists' and this was the kind of opportunity we did not want to give up. Going to this party meant getting to informally interact with artists from the country and abroad. This was a rare opportunity but I especially did not know what to really do. I had major confidence issues and I did not know how to approach people, let alone interact with them. So I simply tagged along with people in my group, watched bands perform and observed the elite crowd that had gathered at this fancy place. Everyone in my group took the first round of wine and so did I. I loved it. It tasted better than any hard liquor and was smooth. What I did not realize was that wine hits your brain smoothly, which is why it has to be consumed slowly. With every glass of wine, I was gaining more confidence in talking to people. I was enjoying it without realizing that I was already down with 5-6 glasses. At one point in time, when I went to refill my glass, the bartender told me they were out of red wine, so I opted for white. He even asked me "are you sure?" to which I had replied, "don't worry I am fine". I knew I wasn't because I had informed a friend after my 8th glass that "do not let me drink anymore, I am really high". 

It was almost 12.30am when the crowd started dissolving. Most people were now heading towards another place which had also hosted a party. Enough of talking, now people could dance. Me, on the other hand, was having a little difficulty moving because of all the wine inside me. I wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep and considering the city of Delhi, I was not willing to go back alone. Fortunately, a friend also wanted to sleep so he was willing to accompany me. I have a habit of taking photographs when I am a little high and this is what I should not have done that night. I was taking photographs in my camera but at the same time also decided to take photographs from my Ipad which was so new that it wasn't even a week old. It all happened in moments and I can remember it in flashes. I was puking so badly, I couldn't move any longer; some of my friends were calling me to come to that another party place; my friend was trying to book a cab; a poor dog was licking away all that I had puked (gross!); I was sitting in cab and I was back to hotel and upon reaching, I had crashed on my bed. The next thing I remember was searching for the Ipad early in the morning and not finding it anywhere. It was gone. I had dropped it somewhere on the way or somebody had flicked it - I had no clue. I was crying frantically. All I wanted to do was go back to the hostel and not talk to anyone. I was not only embarrassed but ashamed with myself because I had never in my life lost anything. I had always been so careful about everything and it was hard for me to believe that I could have committed such a blunder. Although I wanted to leave the city, I could not. So with every passing difficult day, I just went with everyone, attended lectures and watched them enjoying themselves. We even went back and looked for the Ipad at various places to make me feel better, but it all turned out to be disappointing.

The lost Ipad was a birthday gift from my parents. I did manage to get a new one but they still dont know about it. Never mix your drinks, stick to one.