Wonder how many of us remember the bottle in the picture below. Well that's the mighty"Thunderbolt Rum"bottled by Mohan Meakins in 1982 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the IAF. Brar sir, the architect, curator n conductor of the magnificent harmony of nine ac in close formation,"Thunderbolts", that painted the Indian n foreign skies in various hues would certainly remember cos the Rum was named to celebrate the exploits of his team of magnificent men in their flying machines, Hunter ac.  I was in AFA then and all Offrs were allowed to purchase 12 bottles packed in two cartons of six each. Having extinguished all my desire n capacity to imbibe the elixir of joy n goodness over three and half years in Chabua, be it  Skipper, Bhutan, Golden Bell,Sea Pirate n of course the venerable Hercules I was least inclined to take  another plunge in the pool of Roger Uncle Mike coming my way. Whilst I was toiling with the dilemma of "to be or not to be" an uncanny thought xed my mind, why not take it n use it for the daughter's wedding, who was barely an  year old. Command decision was immediate "to be" n without informing the Homemaker, much to her chagrin, that multiplied with every posting, 12 bottles were procured to be aged and used may be 25 years later. Packing for postings, those years, especially collectors items, would inevitably result in debates(duels), far more charged up than what you see in Arnab shows. So one  carton (six bottles)became a casuality in 15th year of it's life at  a party n was walloped by all including the Barman. The second one lived another 26 years and was opened in 2008, to keep up the promise,at my daughter's wedding. One bottle survived the onslaught as by then many Scotch brands invaded our Canteens n were preferred over the rustic Rum.That one bottle  survived till yesterday when my brother in law, a hard core Rum aficionado visited us with two of his friends n relished the 36 years vintage"Thunderbolt Rum". The empty bottle was confined to the Trash Can for disposal n that's when my daughter, at whose motivation it was procured 36 years back, advised me to keep the empty, take pics n share with the cronies of yore for that tinge of nostalgia.