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`Stay sober'

Why is everyone indifferent to alcoholism, asks R. Thilagavathi

R. Thilagavathi

I simply don't understand how we can be so callous about the problem of alcoholism. Smoking in public places is outlawed, but our attitude to alcohol consumption is very different. Friends do not warn friends, films do not think prohibiting alcohol consumption is worth mentioning, politicians rant about everything but drinking, and governments are blinded by the revenue from alcohol sales. In my childhood, there was widespread anger about alcohol addiction. In movies, the songs and the theatre, everyone spoke out against it. But today, I see wine shops open everywhere and not a squeak in protest. We have learnt to live with it. Why is everyone so irresponsible?

The menace flourishes due to easy availability, increasing income, male chauvinism, the pressure to conform and lack of guilt due to government patronage. "If the government is selling it, it can't be that bad" is how we reason it out. If the justification for consumption is "to escape from reality", why not try the movies instead?

Drinking sneaks into your life innocuously. Everyone starts with an occasional drink. You might be indulging in social drinking, drinking to celebrate, drinking when sad or happy, drinking to shed inhibitions, drinking for medical reasons or drinking to "just know how it feels". Before you know it, alcohol is part of your lifestyle.

Drinking is bad for health — physical and emotional. It traumatises the addict and his or her family.

Deny easy accessibility to alcohol. Perhaps prohibition is too much to ask for. Can we at least restrict zones and timing? If drinking is to forget troubles, then let us have counsellors in government and private hospitals to help deal with their problems. Let us get to the root. Movies should preach prohibition. The notion that a man is no man if he does not drink is senseless. Discard it. Perhaps we should encourage sports clubs for healthy entertainment. Let the younger generation live longer, healthier and sober.

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AS TOLD TO ASHA MENON

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