My domestic help, who is a storehouse of surprises, did it again at the dawn of the year by proving that every New Year need not necessarily be a new start on the old habits! This high-spirited woman has adopted a novel resolution—not the one destined to be swept away by the tides of time but one that would immerse her in the pool of intoxication and help her get even with her perpetually tipsy better half. Dismiss it, you may, as a suicidal idea of a quirky mind. But can one deny the fact that the addiction of Bacchus devotees has entrenched itself supremely all across the state?
Tamil Nadu was once made fertile by perennial rivers like the Cauvery, Thenpennai and Palar. Today, as water trickles across these dry riverbeds, it is the ubiquitous TASMAC brew that is draining the spirits and snuffing out lives in many homes.
Even as women in several households eke out a living by working as domestic maids, selling flowers and doing other sundry jobs, their menfolk have all the fun at the bars that are kept open till late in the night. The TASMAC bars are strewn all over—in residential areas, on highways, near hospitals, near educational institutions and even in the popular swanky malls of Chennai, catering eminently to their elite customers.
While the bars rake in revenue for the government, the extent of damage it causes to the social fabric is an issue that remains unaddressed. The paltry earnings of the women are conned away by their partners giving rise to an appalling scenario of breadwinners turning looters of their own hearths.
With several families losing their dignity and honour, alcohol addiction has generously contributed to the bitter statistics in respect of women suicides and widowhood, teenage alcoholism, increased crime rate, fatal accidents due to drunken driving, loss of productivity due to absenteeism from work and mounting health care issues.
Alcohol being the cause of all these and more evils at the micro and macro levels, it is no matter for debate whether the revenue that the trade brings to the government is of any solace considering the toll it takes on society. Funding welfare schemes in the state with the revenue earned through alcohol trade is a classic contradiction that subverts the very purpose of establishing a benevolent and healthy state.
Easy availability and intense marketing of the deadly brew are out to ensure that the tipsy ones are likely to outnumber the sober ones in society in the near future. Sadly, on the other hand, the campaign against liquor is not loud enough to wean the weak minded compulsive drunkards. Should we say cheers for Tamil Nadu for ranking first among the states of India in alcohol sales by volume?