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Notes -
I will add to this: Drink water. Constantly, throughout the night. There is virtually no downside to being hydrated as long as you have somewhere to piss.
Before you go out, place a bottle of water by the bed you plan to sleep in. ((I normally use a hydroflask with a pouch of LiquidIV/Gatorade powder mixed in at half strength)) Drink it when you get back.
Start slow, don't assume that you know how alcohol will affect you based on heuristics other people use. A whole pile of factors impact how drunk you get, don't make assumptions.
Slow and steady wins the race. Your goal is to maintain the scientifically, psychiatrically, and historically proven Ideal BAC of .05% for as long as possible. You will have more fun getting and staying tipsy all night than you will getting really drunk and having to bow out early, or not remembering how you wound up in bed with this woman.
I have no idea where you'll be or what you'll be drinking in India, but for Americans at an event with a bar, you can always go to the bar by yourself and order a Ginger Ale in a rocks glass, it'll look like a Whiskey and Soda or a Seven and Seven. Sip it for half an hour and you've skipped a drink while blending in to the crowd. If you're really sheisty, you show up early to the event and tip the bartender well and tell him that when you order a Whiskey and Soda to give you a Ginger Ale in a Rocks Glass. I've done this at a good number of professional networking events/conferences/weddings/etc. where drunks want to bond, I'm not a strong/regular drinker so I need to cheat to "keep up" without ending up with my head in the toilet, and being less drunk is an advantage.
Good advice. I'll keep the bac levels and being slow to drink plus Gatorade thing in mind.
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This is good advice.
For an estimation of how slow is slow, you can find the equilibrium estimated BAC rate by inverting the formula here. Which gives (beta * Wt * weight in kg) / (.014 kg/std drink * 100%) as the approximate standard alcohol units per hour you can clear without getting progressively more drunk. For an average 70 kg male it's about 1/2 a unit per hour.
For me this equates to a drink or two start the night, then switching to soda trying to average a bit under that rate for the night. I like to leave a bit of buffer as depending on drinking culture of the event there may be rounds of shots, games, or toasts at various points, which is usually enough to keep near the tipsy/buzzed but not drunk sweet spot. You can always add another alcoholic drink in if your buzz is wearing off, but if there is any chance of a round you would feel socially obligated to partake in coming up, I would delay a bit.
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Pulled this stunt at a wedding that I knew was going to get a little out of hand a couple weekends ago, but with Diet Coke to add a bit of caffeine while I was at it. The bride didn't want to see anyone without a drink, but a Coke looks the same as a Jack and Coke.
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