Drinking and Alcoholism

Yesterday, NDTV carried a debate about youngsters coming under the influence of alcohol on its "Big Fight" programme. The participants were Vijay Mallya of UB, Jaya Jaitley of the Samata Party and some other 'social activist'.

Needless to say, Vijay Mallya was pilloried by everyone, including the audience, the other debators and the compere. And to add to it, my Mom. Somehow the words "alcohol" raises the temperature of any room it is uttered in, particularly when women are around. Some assumptions are immediately made:

• Only men drink
• Only men drink irresponsibly
• Men drink and they come back and beat their wives/mothers/sisters/daughters
• One drink is enough to convert a man from a normal human being into a raving psychopath/rapist/criminal.
• Anyone who drinks once instantly becomes a slave to the drink and can't live without it
• Every man who drinks is depriving his family of essentials to pay for his habit
• And importantly, any one who tries to introduce some sanity into the debate (poor souls like me) are either drunkards themselves, or they want to become one.

The best part is that all these comments come from those who have *never* had the misfortune of actually consuming alcohol. And you know where they get these ideas from? Depending on your preference, B(T)(K)ollywood. Every villian, particularly in the old Hindi movies would conduct his 'business' over a peg of whiskey. Every vamp would tempt the unsuspecting hero by giving him alcohol. Every heroine or hero's sister would be led astray by first filling her up with alcohol. And mind you, everytime, after one peg, there is no stopping these victims! After one peg of whiskey, the normally sedate hero would starting uttering gibberish, attempt to molest the heroine, drive like a man possessed, and simply make a fool of himself, until the heroine or the mother intervened with a bucket of ice-cold water after which he immediately returns to sanity. Geez!

I know I am going to get spammed like hell, particularly if some people read this. But seriously, grow up, folks!