A call from the wife of a young man, whom we know very well for a long time, has disturbed me a little. He has come up in his life with financial help from some elders in the society and most importantly through his sincerity and hardwork. But he has not yet reached any great heights. He is just in the steps to success. He still has the small struggles of life and I have always thought he has been gracefully handling it. Now this lady calls us one night and complains that her husband drinks alcohol with his friends often and she is scared! Her panicky complaint stopped suddenly and then the phone was switched off for the rest of the night! We could easily guess what must have happened there. We were shocked because this person was from a very poor background a decade ago, who would not even take tea / coffee unnecessarily. Even if we offered he would refuse. We have always seen him as a teetotaller! But this call shook me! Why does he not realize that this could ruin his life. His children are small, they are yet to complete their education and live their life. How can he be so irresponsible!
As a neuroscience graduate, I know the neurobiology behind alcoholism. It would start ruling a person. Its difficult to control (although not impossible). Now if he is going to lose all the money at the TASMAC, how is he going to run his family...and his business itself depends on being alert and sane! How will he do that carefully??!
Tamilnadu is a state that has a history of a very long term alcohol prohibition. It is said to have had prohibition from 1937-1971! Whoever had been key to legalising alcohol again is solely responsible for ruining so many families!!!Once indiscipline creeps in, we all know how difficult it is to set it right again.And now that there is TASMAC, a government company that has monopoly over alcohol sales, the government is fetching lot of revenue from it.
If a nation is going to depend on its running on the revenue collected by ruining so many lives, what kind of nation is it!! I don't see it as anything different from a mother selling her daughter off for lot of money, to run her family in a better way?Will this ever change? Will there be a prohibition again?
This is just a useless outburst that is an outcome of seeing a well-disciplined boy's family in the ladder of success, destroying themselves knowingly! Although I know it is a futile rambling, I also do not know what to do!!
But I am an insignificant person, who can still say, "I do not know what to do?" But how can some famous writers be so dumb.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/The-underage-optimist/entry/saying-cheers-in-gujarat
When I read this article, I could not disagree more. When he says, there is no point in a law which everybody breaks, I am startled! There are people who break the law and do prostitution, there are people who break the law and indulge in drug abuse. So are you saying that all these should be legalised to prevent people from breaking law. Don't you think a simple man who earns his daily wages, will go for it only when there is availability readily and he is someone who will not fight through to fetch it at any cost. Law breakers are generally those wealthy lot, who can spend money to fetch it and enjoy! If you can't do some good to the society with your writing, its acceptable. But please do not create waves that will negatively impact the society. There are lots of people who respect your writing and so kindly try to use this huge responsibility properly!
I know for sure that this young man am talking about would not have become an alcoholic, if it was not readily available! And, I am sure, every Indian would have witnessed a story like this....a family like this!
I vote for complete prohibition of alcohol!
NB: This is not any kind of campaigning. It is just about my views!
