C'mon in. Insult us.

A bar in Spain is serving up free beer and tapas to recession-hit customers who insult its owner and bartenders as a way to let off steam.

Casa Pocho in the beach resort town of Cullera near Valencia opened last week and says its promotional gimmick is working like magic.

Owner of the bar said the free alcohol and snacks go only to those who come up with truly original insults.

"They can't call me S.O.B., but they can call me jerk, idiot, clown, that kind of thing," the owner of the bar said. "This works, because even people in their 70s come to insult me."

One of the most memorable insults came from a woman who told the owner that his ears were so big they reminded her of a car with its doors wide open.

"Nobody overdoes it. Nobody," he said.

The best insults earn their creators a small glass of beer and a plate of finger food, which normally cost 1.50 Euros.

Newcomers tend to be shy, but eventually get into it, with the proprietor's help.

"I prod them a bit, say things like, 'Sir, where are you going with a face like that?"'

My money is on Murray.

It’s been 73 excruciatingly painful long years Britain has waited to see one of its sons win the Wimbledon. Last time that happened was when Fred Perry won it in 1936.

I guess it’s time for Britain to go insane. On Monday, when Wimbledon commences, Brits will be standing behind this young Scot named Andy Murray to cheer their hero who just proved that he can by winning the warm-up grass event at Queen's. Andy Murray made his intentions clear by conquering the Queens and ended up as the first British player to win it after 71 years.

To me, the havoc is inevitable. In two weeks time, Murray will be plastered on every tabloid front page, be discussed by TV pundits, be written by tennis writers, figure on the primetime news and get discussed and analyzed in pubs and bars. Hopefully, he won't let his countrymen down.

Some think Andy Murray drives people mad. So what? I like his rage and I want him to win. Britain needs a player who can spit fire on fire and none other than Andy Murray fits that bill. He’ll pose Djokovic a big challenge, make The Fed desperate to win his 15th, and with Rafael Nadal the No.1 withdrawing from the fray because of his knee injury, stars are aligning themselves nicely for the young Scot.

If anyone who can put an end to Britain’s long wait, it is Andy Murray. 73-year wait for a local tennis hero to win their own tournament? It’s an agonizing wait.

The British deserve a champion because they are such wonderful spectators. Wimbledon's crowd is by far the best tennis has ever seen, their behavior undoubtedly shows a fine appreciation of the game. Murray should win because he's interesting, a somewhat angry young man with a game of delightful calmness. When he won at Queen's last weekend, British press stated he did not smile for the photographers as if he wanted to have his last laugh here.

Andy Murray has unveiled his retro look with his new monogrammed Fred Perry outfit for this year's Wimbledon. In celebration of the centenary year of Fred Perry's birth, Murray has had a hand in the design of the outfit. It combines elements of the classic Fred Perry look from the 1950s and 1960s. May be this furthers inspires The Scot to do what no British tennis player has done in the last 73 years.

May be the time has come for the Brits to praise their hero and even the statue of Fred Perry may put down its racket to join in the applause.

Attacks on Indian Students Down Under.

The Indian Media has paid intolerable attention to the debate on racial attacks on Indian students in Australia.

While my sympathies are with the affected students, racial attacks are something not new in Australia or new to Indians. As the controversy rages within India, some of the most important questions that we should ask ourselves are - Why is Indian Media making a big deal out of this? Why are they bloating up the issue and instigating students down under? Why are we behaving as if racial attacks are new to us? Haven't we experienced racism before?

We have. We are probably the most racist people on the earth. Racism within India among Indians is far worse than racial attacks on anyone anywhere in the world or at the least to what is happening to students down under.

And this is where the utter hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness of us, Indians lie exposed. As should be well-known to most of Indians, social discrimination and oppression were never new or unique to us.

All Indians including yours truly have grown up hating people from other states by calling them names. Aren’t we? Kannadigas call Tamilians “Kaats”, Tamilians and most others address people from Andhra Pradesh as “Gultis”, Rest of India gang up against southern states and address everyone from South India as “Madrasis”. South Indians and people from other regions address everyone from NE regions as “Chinkies”. Aren’t these racial attacks? So when such bad blood of racism runs in our veins, why do we have to bother about a one-off issue such as what is happening in down under?

We should remember, that it was students who chose to go to Australia to study. Australian Government didn’t invite them. So when they have decided to go there, they should be ready to face any hardship that comes with their decision of relocation. If the students cannot face the issues, they should simply pack their bags and come back to India to face bigger racial attacks. If the students are from UP or Bihar, take my word, they are better off in Australia than in any part of India especially Mumbai. They should thank their stars as they are getting just beaten up. In Mumbai, they get burnt alive.

Media instead of bloating up an issue such as this; they should take responsibility to eradicate racism within India. Not indulge in sensationalizing the news as if they are oblivious to racial attacks by Indians on fellow Indians within India or elsewhere.

Getting beaten up overseas is anyday far less painful and treatable than to get frustrated watching Indian news anchors broadcast news on TV.

Happy Hour Fine, What about morning after?

"C’mon you're just a social drinker,” friends scream when I tell them I am planning to give up alcohol. Oh yes, I'm social all right. Cordial, more flirtatious, after the first few glasses. But then it tips. I blurt out dangerous home truths (secrets I've kept for years). I bump into furniture. I sometimes don’t remember what time I got home. The next day, in my moment of clarity, I awake, with full of self-dislike. Is it worth?

The trouble is I do like drinking. I don’t drink at all on weekdays and rarely drink at home but when I go out with friends on weekends, I binge-drink. I'm having such a good time; I don't want the evening to stop. The bell doesn't ring.

The bad news is that the occasional binge-drinking, does more harm to the liver than the steady habitual drinking (because the liver goes into shock). I am not saying I will start drinking daily. There is a way to deal with this situation. More over, I have only one wife and only one liver; certainly don’t want to lose either of the two.

Often we find ourselves drinking when we don't really want to. Our subconscious mind can trigger the desire without us being aware of it.

The way to deal with emotional over-drinking is to take a look at how we handle our lives. Very often we reach for a drink because we are battling what is known as “inner demons” — the prattle of negative thoughts.

Our “inner demons” knows everything about us from our secrets to our dreams. Mine spends all day saying bossily: “You're hopeless. You could be better.” The irony is our inner demons were created originally to help us protect ourselves, to ward off anything bad or painful — and yet it can seem as if it has turned us against us.

So the next time you go drinking, follow these steps as it may come handy.

• Setting yourself up to not drink for a week may cause more anxiety and a binge. Instead, plan a few alcohol-free days when you are not going out.

• Avoid friends who like a drinking partner for a few weeks. People who encourage heavy drinking will want you to drink with them to avoid dealing with their own issues. You don't have to say YES when you want to say NO.

• Put down your glass between sips. This will train you to drink more slowly.

• A lot of people drink alcohol when they are actually thirsty. Before you start drinking, have one big glass of water to quench your thirst and keep a glass of water with your alcohol.

• Alcohol has a high sugar intake, so when you cut back you may feel the need for sugar. Try to get that sugar other ways and not from alcohol.

• Write down the emotions that are driving you to feel the need to have a drink. Is it stress, anger, office politics, boredom, loneliness? All these are valid but drinking will only suppress them until the morning.

Then you will wake with a sense of low self-worth because you are not dealing with the feelings. Is it really worth it?

Rafa is OUT...Who's next?

If Eiffel Tower had fallen down, or if the Leaning tower of Pisa had leaned further, I would not have been so shocked than what shocked me yesterday.

The unbeatable Rafael Nadal was shown the door at Philippe Chatrier Centre Court of Roland Garros by an unheralded 23rd seed Robin Soderling of Sweden yesterday in the 4th round of French Open.

The rectangle piece of clay which had become Rafa’s property where he owned every inch of the surface was finally bought over. No trespassing was allowed on it for the last 4 years and offenders were severely punished by the man the tennis world thought will never be able to defeat on this surface. But that equation changed yesterday and the result proved that Rafa is after all a human on the Roland Garros centre court.

Enter Robin Soderling. The 23rd seed walked in to the court, took his 4th round match as just another one, played the best match of his life and beat Rafa to hand over the biggest ever gift to Federer. We will know in the next seven days, whether the Swiss ace will make the most of this precious gift or in turn hands it over to Andy Murray.

The Roland Garros centre court yesterday had everything except Rafael Nadal!

A touch of magic, a speck of inevitability, a glimmer of hope, the joy of victory, a veneer of sadness…a plethora of class from the victor and the vanquished.

Life, often is karmic, comes a full circle. As opposed to the popular prediction of a three setter victory for Nadal, little did one contemplate a four-set blowout for the world No.1. The problem with blowout is, it is either excruciatingly painful or a connoisseur’s delight, depending on which side of the net you are on.

Quite a masterpiece it was, breathtaking clay court tennis showcased by Robin Soderling on the grandest of stages. May be Soderling didn’t want to let go his fellow country man and his idol Bjorn Borg’s record to be erased by Rafael Nadal this year—if that’s not motivation enough, what else could be? It was one of those rare instances, where the result of the match did not pivot on what the opponent did.

As Soderling muscled, intimidated, exasperated, and chased Rafa to submission, he reduced Mr. Invincible to an entity we have not seen in a long time.

He reduced Rafa to a little, lost, edgy, desperate, and indecisive tennis player, who actually did not know what to do on court. Rafa tried everything in his arsenal, but he had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide; and he was…beaten. Beaten in 4 sets with the score that read 6–2, 6–7 (2), 6–4, 7–6 (2).

As painful as it is, one has to wonder—did Rafa’s dream of conquering Bjorn Borg’s record faded forever? The answer is Yes.

Rafael Nadal now possibly cannot wait to board the flight to Heathrow, London.