Indulge in temptations but with moderation

“Everything I like is either fattening or immoral”, is a well-known saying attributed to Alexander Woollcott, American drama critic for the New York Times in the New York Herald.

Most of us have the experience that the most enjoyable things in life are considered bad, because of their health or moral implications. Woollcott, as witty critics always do, was exaggerating. There are, as a matter of fact, many enjoyable and positive things, such as music and hobbies, and loving relationships that are neither unhealthy nor immoral.

Even the so-called vices, such as smoking, drinking and gambling, can have a moderating and balancing impact on the body, mind, and emotional apparatus of a person, when practised in moderation.

Take for instance, the habit of smoking. I recall, with nostalgia, my childhood days dating back to the 1960s, when one dreamt of becoming an adult with a cigarette dangling from the lips. Awareness about the evils of excessive smoking was not widely prevalent, and the ban on the habit was still a thing in the distant future. Smoking was, as a matter of fact, a fashion those days and added to the ‘macho’ image of young men. Elderly people, however, preferred a cigar. That is, if they were not using snuff or opium, both of which were quite common at that time.

I remember how my father, otherwise a man of very spartan habits, was a regular, but moderate, smoker of cigars, often used the well-known saying, “a woman is a woman, but a cigar smoke!”, in defence of the habit, out of the earshot of my mother, of course!

Vividh Bharati was still very much in the future and Radio Ceylon was the preferred channel for the youth. It was a commercial channel, and advertisements were quite common for various products. Cigarette advertisements were common, known for their clever jingles and sophisticated approach, designed to appeal to both Sri Lankan and broader South Asian audiences. One distinctly recollects the famous crooner C.H. Atma, as the ambassador for a particular brand of cigarettes, commending the product through the lyrics of a song which went:

“Aaj Zamana Hai Deewana …….”, followed by the name of that brand.

This columnist smoked for over 55 years and thoroughly enjoyed it. It, however, never really became an addiction. So much so that when it was given up, there was neither any symptom of withdrawal effects nor any significant lasting impact on the body.

Some people, regrettably, lack the ability to have a shot at different practices without becoming addicted to them. Instead of being pleasant diversions, or a pastime, habits become crutches in the long run. That, however, is not the case with most sensible people. My father, for instance, was a keen punter and regularly went to the races whenever he was in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bombay or Delhi. He, however, made sure that it remained a pastime for him, a form of relaxation and a diversion from his daily routine, and something which kept him engrossed in preparing for the weekly fixtures, enjoying the ambience of the racecourse and the race itself, as a postmortem after the event. He would ask me to get him a copy of Original Vel, a publication that contained details of the entries for the coming Sunday, together with the credentials of the horses, their handicaps and the jockeys, among other things. I remember how, week after week, he went with precisely ₹150 in his wallet and, invariably, returned with it empty!

I have never been regarded as much of a chip of the old block as, compared to my father or my elder siblings, I am made of much more inferior intellectual equipment. There is, however, that Telugu saying, that while wealth may not be bequeathed, shortcomings often are! Thus, one quality, which I have certainly inherited from my father, is a weakness for gambling, although of a very moderate and restricted variety.

I was never much of a race goer. Once, however, when Governor Sharda Mukherjee went to the Hyderabad Race Club to give the Governor’s Cup to the winner of the annual customary race, I accompanied her as the Secretary to the Governor. As Oscar Wilde said, I have always been able to resist anything except temptation. I, therefore, duly wagered a modest ₹25, and was handsomely rewarded with a return of ₹28!

The gambling instinct, apparently, runs in the Kanda blood. I remember how a nephew of mine, also named after my father, was once shown a huge advertisement in a newspaper by his father, my elder brother. Barely two years old, the little one ignored the whole ad, and pointed to the four corners, where playing cards were part of the design!

I have described, earlier in this column, a very interesting experience I had. In 1981, I accompanied Vice-President Mohammad Hidayatullah, on an official visit to Canada. We had halted at Las Vegas, while returning home via Japan and Singapore. Quite naturally, both of us had a go at the slot machines, to the extent of even indulging in a last-minute fling with a machine available at the VIP departure lounge at the airport!

I had once referred to an incident when K.K. Das, the Director of the National Academy of Administration (as it was then known), responded to an incident relating to a loud session of drinking on the occasion of the IAS Officer Trainees building farewell to their IPS counterparts. “Drinking is not discouraged here,” he told us, in a meeting the next morning, “but it needs to be practised in moderation. And moderation,” he continued, “is precisely two half pegs of whiskey or a bottle of beer!”

As we noted at the beginning of this article, it is perfectly human to feel the urge, occasionally, to indulge oneself in the many temptations that the ambient environment offers. The mantra, however, is moderation.

And, while on the subject of weaknesses, and to end this piece on a humorous note, I heard a wise guy once quip that horse sense is the wisdom that prevents horses from betting on men!

(The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)