Last Sunday, my first Commanding Officer (CO) after much coaxing joined me for dinner. The couple well into their 80s braved the cold on my request, with a proviso - one drink at home and then dinner at a club. After we had sipped a drink, I readied to pour the second, on the plea that you give one drink only to the enemy. My CO accepted the second drink but asked me if I knew the basis of this "one drink for the enemy and more for a friend". He, then, went on to give me the logic.
When swords and lances were the weapons of war, the battlefields were littered with the dead and wounded. At sunset when the sides retreated the medical detachment went out. They would carry a potent brew and pour one into the mouth of any one who was moaning in pain.
The pain killer was a shot of the brew. The mashaal (torch) bearing team that followed would identify the wounded to be either own or enemy. If it was own, the second shot of the brew was poured to further lessen the pain till first aid could be administered or the wounded evacuated. However, if it was an enemy wounded then that second shot was denied.
That is how this custom of 'One drink only for the enemy' seems to have taken root.
In the services, it's still followed by many.
Tailpiece.
Got up at a trifle before 6, the chores.
Sajish, the barber, fetched up at a half past 7 to give me my monthly haircut.
The maid had come in, soon after.
A quiet evening.
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