Yoga guru Baba Ramdev (in picture, left), speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of a yoga centre to be built in place of Deepa bar and restaurant in Vile Parle (West) in Bombay:
“I’m very happy that a place which was being used for destroying people’s lives will now be used for making lives of people happier and healthier. All bars in Bombay should be converted into yoga centres in order to have a better society and healthy living.”
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churumuri 
Good riddance of the Bar.
American consumerism has spread Bar’s and night club across the country. Youth of today is consumed by this short sighted luxury and ape the west.
Health of Indian’s need to be of utmost importance.
Ramdev is on the right track here.
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Dhongi Baba Ramdev says: “Convert all bars into Yoga Centers”.. Ha ha ha.
Tarlemaga, I want my ‘short-sighted luxury’, as you put it. It is medically well known that having drinks occasionally, in moderation, is in fact good for health. I’m no chronic alcoholic, and I want to be able to have my drink when I want to.
By the way, I am in Munich today. The ‘beer culture’ here is rather high, as you might be aware. The ‘health of an average German’, if I may put it that way, is a thousand times better than ‘the health of an average Indian’. Munich is also one of the safest cities on the planet, in spite of being the ‘Oktoberfest’ center, with a population that enjoys their alcohol.
Tarlemaga, please do have Yoga centers, but this talk of “Replacing all bars with Yoga centers” is ‘Dhongi-baba crap’.
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@Vinay,
I’m not a gr8 fan of Ramdev. Call him Dhongi or Monkey, I dont care.
Health of German is just not determined by the number of Drinks they have.
Have you ever wondered why hot n spicy food is taken in tropical countries, whilst Cold meat and cold milk is taken in scandinavian
countries.
Check your Body Mass Index and determine your health. An average German is about 6 foot plus and is a war horse.
Their tummies go for a Six the minute they devour our food. Not neccessarily ours. Immunity is built in based on assimilation carried out.
They have much control on their drinking habits and they dont get drunk. Might stop with one or two. Except a few exceptional ones.
Enjoy your Drinks for now.
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Tarlemaga:
The differences in dietary habits of Scandinavians and Indians, etc. etc. is besides the point.
“They might stop with one or two”.. You are wrong. If you get a chance to visit a Biergarten (Beer Garden) in Germany, you’ll see that the vast majority of guys and gals here do not stop at one or two. You’re far off the mark.
But, they ensure that they don’t get into a vehicle after they drink, they are basically terrified of the consequences of doing so. (All of them are not necessarily ‘responsible citizens’ who don’t drink and drive because they know it is wrong – they are essentially terrified of the law).
Arguments against drinking invariably lead to discussions about the ‘impact on society’, ‘influence on youth’, ‘degradation of rich Indian culture’, etc. I do think all those arguments are stupid. Let people enjoy their alcohol, but ensure enforcement to the degree that people get psyched at the thought of the consequences of, say, drunken driving.
It is also very obtuse to claim that ‘health of Indians is of paramount importance, so Dhongi Ramdev is right’. I say, having a Jack Daniels (example) peg, say, twice, or even thrice a week, is certainly not bad for health. But having sarai/arrack/tharra etc. certainly is. Make a distinction between the two, and also realize that chronic alcoholism is harmful whereas the amount that a majority of our urban folk drink, is not.
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Vinay
Seriously…. your comments are arguments for arguments sake…
And why do you call Ramdev as Dhongi or whatever? Are you certifying people of their genuineness?
Ramdev said,
“All bars in Bombay should be converted into yoga centres in order to have a better society and healthy living.”
What part of his statement do you criticize?
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Vinay,
Agree with your views regarding chronic alcoholism. Moderate quantities are fine.
Jyoti Basu is about 94 years old. He has atleast two pegs of scotch to this day.
I dont intend to impose this idea on anyone unless it is self regulated. Culturally Indian’s are not unless their religious gurus tell them to. Our Country religion sells like hot cakes.
All kinds of Yagnas and Yagas…Look at our backyard and you get to see Chiranjeevi going to Madurai temples to pray for elections.. Funny crap…
Mind you that Beer increases your BMI.
I’m a Tee-totallar. I have gone through your path already as well.
Name it chivas regal,jack daniels, dewars, old monk and what not.. but then I had bulged so much that i did a research to get back to myself. Lost about 30 pounds and back in good shape. My BMI is absolutely perfect and I dont intend to be drink again.
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“I say, having a Jack Daniels (example) peg, say, twice, or even thrice a week, is certainly not bad for health. But having sarai/arrack/tharra etc. certainly is.”
Why?
How is what you do not bad and what someone else does bad?
:)
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That is to say, you seem to know more about the drinking habits of Germans than Indians…
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Try sarai with some lemon and little salt. You will forget your jack daniels nonsense.
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Anonymous Guy:
You ask me ‘why’ drinking Sarai/Arrack is worse than drinking scotch. Is that what you intended to ask, or did I misunderstand your question?
If that is what you were asking, probably you haven’t come across headlines like ‘Hooch Tragedy’ in the newspapers. And remember, newspapers report stuff only when there is a major tragedy. They do not report the fact that several labourers lose their eyesight over a period of a few years drinking that kind of poison.
Have you been to a ‘Sarai Angadi’ in Bangalore? I have, 5 years back, just coz’ I wanted to see one. I even tasted a bit of the vile fluid… Oh forget it, I could go on and on, but your comparison of bottled whisky and Sarai does not merit an answer.
I know enough about the drinking habits of ‘Indians’ (if you can generalize like that). I don’t think I’m going to post statistics and brands here to ‘prove my knowledge’ to you, anyway this post is about Dhongi baba Ramdev’s statement about converting all bars to Yoga centers, and my point is, as usual he is speaking a lot of *bull*..
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‘Sarai connoisseur’, huh?
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And no one died of cirrhosis from drinking scotch and bourbon?
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naan maadodhu stylu, berevaru maadodhu hailu
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Let the man say what he wants – he is entitled to his own opinions. After all what he said does make some sense given your hooch statistics.
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Oh yes, that has certainly happened too.
Now AG, its really simple. I stick to Scotch and Beer, you can go ahead and have Sarai.
Its all fine to type on blogs, but I don’t believe for one moment that you will drink Sarai when given two choices on a Table: One glass of Jack Daniels (just sticking to the brand I started off with.. I am in no way associated with JD), and a pack of Sarai.
You are anonymous here, and so am I, neither can prove anything, but I can bet my ass that you’re just making the Sarai statement for the sake of it, and that you yourself wouldn’t touch the damn thing with a bargepole.
Not that you’d be easily able to anyway, Sarai shops have been banned a couple of years back in KA…
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Anna, idhu Style vishaya alla.. ‘Raja Whisky’ athava ‘RC-Rum’ kudiyodhu bere vishaya – aa Sarai enu antha ninage gothilla raaya..
Boss, even today when I come to Bang, I go to the village bar in Bellahalli where I used to go with my friends when I was in college and drink Raja Whisky, just for old time’s sake.
Nothing to do with style, everything to do with ‘super fast poison’ vs. ‘very very slow poison’
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Vinay Saaru,
“Nothing to do with style, everything to do with ’super fast poison’ vs. ‘very very slow poison’”
Yella Ok….Kingfisher Yaake…Upi diagaloguena…
Slow poison or Fast poison…. You need to reform yourself. It’s in your hands.
I went through it the hard way.. Drink it …it’s easy mate… Once those pounds add to your belly, u had it.
I feel a lot more energetic without my Ole Monk,Red Label,Chivas Regal or Jack Daniels.
You will only increase Mallya’s tribe….
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tarlemaga saaru:
Every poison is poison is what you’re saying. Probably its better off if I ‘reform myself’, but the above comments were with regard to the ‘Sarai Vs. Scotch’ debate.. :-)
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Ok if you want to know – I had sarai a few times – I had access to it from the shop in my ooru where they sold the government packets in a shop. And yes most people who drank it openly were labourers, among others only the shameless drunks who didnt care for what others say drank it openly. And I realized that fresh sarai with lemon juice tastes better than scotch (to my tongue at least). Maybe I hadnt had much scotch then. So dont beat the sarai, it can be as good as scotch. Alas now I am not in place where I have any access to sarai.
And about habits etc. – I would also like marijuana to be made legal for sure. It is very easy to procure now, and as such I dont see it being a big problem if it is legalized. If the more harmful cigaratte is available to a child in a shop, marijuana is a coffee shop be good. I did smoke much of it when I should have :), now that I know its majas, is a big regret.
I have a feeling the baba will support marijuana usage…
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Typo- i didnt smoke enough of it when I should have…
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And yes, on salary day many of the farm labour drank sarai till they were full tight and went home and beat their wives. Some of the womenfolk also drank sarai to their hearts content.
What does this have to do with anything – I dont know :)
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*AG*
You entertaining fellow. The last lines in both your previous posts tell me you’re still on lemon saarai or mari or whatever the heck you take.
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Father of Nation was for total prohibition. Worse, he even said (when massive earth quake hit Bihar): Its God’s curse for pursuing casteism. So, what’s new in what Ramdeb Baba said?
Social conservatism is growing not only in India, but in almost all parts of the world.
Few decades back it was thought (particularly in Europe), because of secularization of societies, religion will loose its place. However, it has backfired in a big way.
Baba Ramdeb is the most powerful cultural icon today who derives devotees/followers from every political/social/cultural spectrum in India. And people follow him because what he says WORKS. Almost single handedly he destroyed the Cola business in India which is no mean achievement.
If anything, its the existance of (psuedo) secular, (psuedo) modern in India is AT STAKE. And lets enjoy it with a full peg of Desi Whisky :)-
Imagine the power he holds when he accepts casues like Ganga-cleaning, or Amarnathji.
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Vinay,
Also, from what I have seen on TV, Ramdev is a yoga expert and is doing a very good job of bringing yoga to the masses.
What statement he has passed, it is his view and a sensible point of view too.
If a yoga center is built where a bar was, what is the problem?
Please tell us why you call him a dhongi?
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Anonymous Guy:
Yoga is fine. No problems at all with Yoga, popularization of Yoga, etc.
Now, the reasons I call him a Dhongi are; he has claimed that he can cure people of AIDS through his teachings/practices. He has also claimed (reportedly) that AIDS cannot be prevented by using condoms. These are dangerous and misleading statements. If I make such a statement today, no one will give a rat’s ass, but a person with that kind of following making such statements is not acceptable. I need not elaborate on this, you know how dangerous such statements are. Baba Ramdev has also come out with statements against sex education amongst youngsters. Don’t know what your views on this topic are, but I think sex education is a necessary thing. He has also made claims of curing cancer.
There was a controversy about a ‘Putravati’ “medicine” reportedly made by Ramdev and co. for getting male children instead of female. However, this is not proved, and might be false.. might be true, might not be. There’s more, but this is the gist of it..
SO, I called him a Dhongi, not because of this current statement he made, but for a variety of other reasons. Now, coming to this current statement: No problem that a yoga center has been built where there was a bar earlier. I guess it just happened so that the bar was closed down due to business reasons, and the new owners will be the Yoga center guys. Just a normal kind of thing that happens in a market economy.
But, I disagree with his statement that all bars need to be replaced by Yoga Centers. In this forum, all I said about Ramdev was, “Ha Ha Ha”, and I also said that his statement is crap. And I called him Dhongi, for the reasons mentioned above. All the rest of the discussion on this page has been on other topics anyway..
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wtf is a yoga centre? what next yoga mats and spandex nike yoga suits?
you need centres to do and learn yoga? what sort of snake oil is that? i guess reliance of spirituality is catching up with the haliburtons of spirituality. but then i guess in the ‘open market’ you need to compete to survive.
in anycase, AG and Vinay why dont you guys take your respective poisons and then come up with truly spiritual and healthy stuff like guDuguDiya… I truly hope in the land of yagnavalkya all that a couple of soma connoisseurs can up with is NOT this bile. banglore’s best from saratoga tells me neti. neti.neti. it cant be just this. cant be just this. cant be just this.
you guys are bickering like you have withdrawal symptoms.
peace. om shanti. shanti. shantihi. :)
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ok i am not cooking this up.
there used to be a sufi called as bulleh shah. now i will reserve my opinions about him, especially after that the chisti at ajmer and sundry kashmir wals all turned to be charlatons… bt basically he wrote this
this is a punjabi version of bulleh shah’s original composition. the singer is a young doode from dilli rabbi shergill, who studied filosofy in dilli university and is inspired by bruce springstein. he used to be my fav, until naaTi boy Dixit happened.
point being more than atleast a couple of millenia ago, this is exactly what ajaatashtru told the pompous gargya balki. neti. neti. neti. not just this. not just this. not just this. nirguna brahman. advaita 101 as it were.
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tarlesubba:
Well, Baba Ramdev’s institution is really an ‘open-market’ institute and they need to compete, advertise, market themselves, etc. just like any other capitalist organization. ‘Yoga centers’ sprout because of the same ‘market economy need-to-compete’ philosophy. Check the membership rates at Ramdev’s ashram:
1. Ordinary membership- Rs.11000
2. Honored membership- Rs.21000
3. Special membership Rs.51000
4. Life membership Rs.100,000
5. Reserved membership Rs.251,000
6. Founder membership Rs.500,000
“Swami Ramdev expects a revenue of 40 million dollars this year. Yoga is good business. His 500 hospitals in the country are said to register 30,000 patients per day. His new headquarters in Haridwar may soon be world’s largest center for yoga and ayurveda.”
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hmm.. dates would get entangled. ajaatashatru and balki predate shankara and even gauDapaada, but hey! lack of historical and theoretical rigidity – eclecticism is what we are known for.
i am more than willing to take gauDapaada and ashTavakra for their word.
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Vinay>>Now, the reasons I call him a Dhongi are; he has claimed that he can cure people of AIDS through his teachings/practices.
Yoga is now used as a part of medical treatment, healing in many major hospitals worldwde, and its number is growing. That Yoga cures many ailments, helps reduce them are proven by scientific studies. More are on its way.
As far as his position on AIDS is concerned, he already clarified:
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1071141
So, where is the problem?
Ultimately, its the 10s of millions who practise his methods on a daily basis are best to judge whether it works or not. They are not fool to follow something which does not work.
Just because some vested interest wants to create some controversy does not do justice to this immensely popular cultural icon, or the service he rendered so far.
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Kudiyode nanna businessu …
adanna tadiyore villiansu !
A drink a day keeps villians away !
A drink a week keeps johnny happy !
A drink a month keeps johnny healthy !
No Drink makes johnny very nasty !
Finally if you are an Addict ? dont feel bad … do you know …. Chatave chatuvatikeya moola :D
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easily a couple of a millenia ago some guys high on some thing very potent asked some very fundamental questions. the original in samskrutha is frowned upon, i have copy of of university of mysore translation with me, but i will quote vasanth deo from bharath ek khoj, ‘coz that is my fav translation… which ofcourse was cinematographed by a mysorean VK Murthy of Kollegal . (can you imagine the namm haLLi Mysore-Najangud jana ell elli minchilla antha?)
shrushti se pehale sat nahi tha. asat bhi nahi. antarix bhi nahi. aakash bhi nahi tha. chipa ta kya? kaha? kisne dhaka tha? uss pal to adam atal jal bhi kaha tha?
followed by the the most awesomest questions of all….
shrisThi ka kaun hein karta? karta hein ya akarta?
and the greatest conclusions of them all…
he kisi ko nahi pata. nahi pata. nahi hein pata.
ooche aakash mein rehata. sada adrushya bana rehata.
vahi sach much mein janata. ya nahi bhi janata,
hein kisiko nahi pata. nahi pata.
yaargoo gotilla. yenee aaTa anta yaargoo gotilla. yaarige yaen gottu antha noo yaargoo gotilla.
That sir is the beauty of Indic thought. That is its genius. remember this is all about > 2500 years ago by the most conservative accounts.
Ordinary folks high on some sort of soma, dissenting on fundamental questions. Yet secularists cant think beyond ashoka and akbar.
as i am guessing nida fazli said, dair-o haram mein basne waalo mehakhaano mein phooT na daaLo, toofan sein ham tak raaenge, tum apni kashti ko sambhaalo.
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naasadiya sookta from rg. veda.
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before the dawn of creation, the true did not exist, heck! even the un-true did not exist. what was hidden? where? who has hiding it? it was when even the seminal and bottomless water was not there.
does the creation, then have a creator? or is it creator less?
nobody knows! its not known to anyboody.
the one who lives in the heavens, and is unrealizable, perhaps only he knows, (come to think of it) maybe even he does not know.
nobody knows. nobody can know.
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tarlesubba:
Sarai or scotch? :-)
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Tarle,
Give your mind a rest. And smoke up. Vedanta will come to automatically. In much less wordiness. As poli huduga said:
Chatave chatuvatikeya moola
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Scotcho saraiyo
Yogavo bhogavo
Yella ondhe … deva
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Ramdev claims to be celibate from Birth and has never had sex in his life. He is either impotent or just making it up. Either way he is a pervert. I never take anyone seriously who says he is a celibate as it is unnatural. They should be treated as clinical cases and not as guides and teachers. Same with double Sri Ravishankar, he claimed in an interview that he has never had sex in his fifty years of existence. I felt like laughing at ‘double sri’ and his foolish followers who go to learn the ‘art of living’ from a person who has never understood and tried the art of the source of life. All hypocritical bogus people who are selling some shoddy pieces of goods in the spiritual marketplace. They need to play this game to the gallery as the indian spiritual consumer will not take them seriously if they dont put on the act of celibacy. Osho Rajneesh was atleast better. He was honest and taught and had fun.
For a country which worships Krishna and home of tantra these people are just not representative of Indian culture. Their version of Indian culture is a kind of Victorian puritanism. Ramdev has no clue whatsover about indian culture. He is just one of those brainwashed yogi who in turn is brainwashing a lot of gulliable people. The problem of alcohol is more in the rural areas of India, where they drink very rough and hard drinks like ‘Arrack’ and ‘Baby’ with lime and pickle. They do not commensurate this with adequate food.
Eat well, drink in moderation, party, dance, exercise and live hundred years. Thats what the seers of the rig veda did eulogizing the soma. They prayed for good progeny had sex and lived their life as life should be lived. They gambled and then they had great insights like the Nasadiya Sutha. They pondered on whence this creation came, questioned the source of creation and asked impossible questions. THey had the humility to accept that they do not know the answers to impossible questions.
And people go to these bearded buffoons talking in their yoga shibirs and their circis tents to learn art of living and Indian culture. Get a life.
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I would prefer it in a different way. Turn all the yoga centres, temples and plush five star ashrams into hospitals, schools and home for the homeless. Note: for the Hinduvawadis – Also include all the churches and mosques.
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Marxist>>I would prefer it in a different way. Turn all the yoga centres, temples and plush five star ashrams into hospitals, schools and home for the homeless. Note: for the Hinduvawadis – Also include all the churches and mosques.
hehe…actually, Marx and Marxism have become fossilized and there is urgent need to put them into museum.
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Vinay,
Prove your allegations. I too read those articles in Frontline and Outlook and I viewed his demonstrations in TV and through his CDs, I also scoured the magazines published by his organisation. Nowhere did I find him claiming that he/Yoga can cure Diabetes, AIDS etc.
About that membership, is that about donating to his trust or an exclusive club membership? Kindly clarify.
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What’s wrong in his statement?
With yoga centres becoming very lucrative these days, no wonder if it can replace bars in cities.
Hail Free Enterprise!
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Excuse me I thought the Guru was feeling up ole Shilpa Shetty! Any way, the Guru is promoting yoga however harmful it is to the Sekkular types who seem to jump into all inane conclusions about the man! Why can’t the Guru try something? This is a free country, guys!
‘X’ Guy nice of you to narrate your Saarayi experience. Was it our simple MySugar arrack maal you drank, Sir? Vinay IMHO seems to be very much a not-so-much-a-hands-on guy with the drink. His writing tells me so:)
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Thanks TS for bringing up that simple translation of some rather awesome poetry. Wasnt ‘Bharat – ek Khoj’ a cinemantic representation by Shyam Benegal of Nehru’s ‘ Discovery of India’?
My only simper about the translation is that the Sukta ends on a note of inceulity- does He know or does even He not know, whereas Vasant Deo’s lines end on a nihilistic NO. One of the greatest aspect of the Vedic Seers was that they had the ballz to accept what they did not understand and debate it. Civilizational impotence already had begun when Yagnavalkya aksed Gargi to stop asking questions or her head would blow into a thousand peices!!!!
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NAWN:
These are for membership to his Haridwar Ashram (not the yoga center), and not for donations. Why would anyone have fixed amounts for donation anyway???
Please search Google, or go to Wikipedia and look at the links (references) at the bottom, you’ll find your ‘proof’.
Doddi Buddi:
YES, I am not ‘very much a not-so-much-a-hands-on guy with the drink‘. You must be having telepathic powers though, to make such a brilliant guess.
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Vinay,
Denial is useless! You could have closer to a saraaiyi batli from the comforts of your living room while watching video of a drunken man running thru the saraaiyi contents:)
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Doddi Buddi:
Ha ha, funny. ‘Denial is useless’ indeed. Tell me, what am I denying, and what are you trying to say?
By the way, what do you drink? Cow’s liquid a la Moraji Desai?? :)
Even if you do, it would still be healthier than Sarai (or Saraaiyi as you put it)
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Vinay,
You are a ‘batli virgin’ and you have never tasted saarayi…
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Doddi Buddi:
Thats what I mentioned above, about the amazing powers of telepathy that you possess. But, I am endowed with a few such powers too, though they might pale in comparison to yours.
And my telepathic powers tell me that you are a cow-uric-acid drinker, following a strict every-morning regimen w.r.t. extraction and storage of the above-mentioned liquid.
Best Regards,
Vinay
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Vinay.. denial is useless. Give up.
( :| no.. i will not LOL.. i will NOT LOL… no LOL.. no.. trying hard not to ROFLOL :| LOL :D )
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Sisya:
Enappa, Sarai naa? You sound drunk! Stop rolling on the floor with laughter, you’ll hurt yourself.
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Vinay,
Why everything should be verified in the light of Europe and America? Do you think what those people do are the right things? Heard about ‘Robin Sharma?’ He is also revolutionizing the world and he also has supported the ‘Sattvik Foods’ which Indian traditions are telling from past. And night clubs and bars are not for drinking only. If you need ‘Beer as a medicine take at home why in bars? Dancing with girls, striping them and enjoying , sleeping with any one u come across, are healthy ? I am sure u get some rotten idea. This is globalised age yaar try to globalize the good thing of your country if this is not possible for you then leave supporting everything being a blind.
By the way have u heard about Noetic Science ? if not then Google it and get what our philosopher has told long days ago is going to be proved by Science. Try to be enlightened person rather than a blind, See, Judge and then take.
Vinay ! By the way have u heard about Noetic Science ? if not then Google it and get what our philosopher has told long days ago is going to be proved by Science. Try to be enlightened person rather than a blind, See, Judge and then take.
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