Alcohol - the ultimate solvent

Mrs. Geeta Ramachandran, my chemistry teacher, taught me that alcohol is one of the best existing solvents. For people like me who did not pay much attention in school, it is a liquid substance capable of dissolving other substances. Due to its acidic or basic (could be either like water) properties, it reacts with almost everything resulting in the dissolution of the item in contact. The element that comes in contact is most tangible, with the exception of gases. This, I thought, was the ultimate truth until I discovered the wonderful properties of ethanol - the most commonly used form of alcohol and not surprisingly, an industrial solvent.

Well, here is one thing they don’t teach in chemistry classes. Reactions you don’t find amidst racks of chemicals and test tubes in well-equipped laboratories. Apart from all things tangible and intangible, there is one more thing that dissolves in alcohol and disappears without a trace. It is called sorrow. And this is one dissolution that produces a pleasant reaction. Not because of the production of nitrous oxide a.k.a. laughing gas. Not simply because it eradicates sorrow. But because you know there is a way around. Even if it’s an eventual killer. Even if just for a while. There is a way around.