Society

Corroding Lives

The Malayali is still spirited—in a self-destructive way

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Corroding Lives
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Full Of Foreboding
  • This fiscal liquor sales to hit a record Rs 2,700 crore
  • 72% of road accidents related to drunken driving
  • Alcoholism blamed for 50% suicides-directly or indirectly
  • Age of those who begin consuming liquor had come down to 14 in '94 itself
  • Most drinkers are in the 21-40 age group

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According to state excise minister P.K. Gurudasan, the high duties have been levied to dissuade people from drinking. Says he: "It isn't as if we are fleecing the people. Perhaps this is the only way we can check alcohol abuse. We are committed to awareness-building as opposed to total prohibition. And that, needless to say, is unworkable."

Social scientists discern more pertinent economic and social factors with the Malayali's fatal obsession with the bottle. Though unemployment levels are high, even those who are not working have access to disposable income. Remittances from abroad are often squandered back home. Typically, a family with four members working in the Middle East may receive anything upwards of Rs 1 lakh a month. A younger brother or a father can use this to fund his habit. If one asks those who hit the cheap bars as soon as they open why exactly they drink, they will typically say that they have nothing else to do.

But it's not the unemployed alone who hit the bottle with a vengeance. It is a problem that is more widespread and it is also fed by Malayalam cinema which frequently shows the good guys having a good time with food, friends and booze. Health activists say drinking, for many, has become a way of life.

Every time the problem of alcoholism is raised, it is countered with dismissive sarcasm and black humour. Adinad Sasi, theatreperson and a founder-member of the Kerala Alcohol Consumers Welfare Forum, says the government must take care of the welfare of those who drink. "What is wrong with asking for a welfare fund? The death of an alcoholic means the death of a major taxpayer. The state benefited from his alcoholism. He even forgot his family to serve the state! It should be the duty of the state to look after his family," he argues. The reference is to the 200 per cent tax on liquor. The alcohol forum's 17-point charter of demands includes a welfare fund for families of those who die of alcohol consumption, availability of liquor through ration shops, pension for aged consumers and abolition of dry days.

Very clearly, a major awareness campaign is in order advocating moderation and restraint. If that does not happen, soon Kerala could well become god's own dead drunk country.

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