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Buy me a bottle…

More typically, don’t force me to drink in my father’s car, or cross city borders to get my quota of tipple. I can vote, I can drive, I can sire children, but I can’t drink till my whiskers turn half-white? The non-rationalization of the Minimum Drinking Age norms is a burning issue in many of India’s states. It’s time for radical change

Buy me a bottle…
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There's something weird happening in some parts of my country, something that is not the common norm nationally or around the world. Today, I am 18 years old (don't you guffaw or snigger; I was 18 years old, 33 years back). Anyway, in my fantasized 18 years of age today, I can vote to decide who my country's Government should be. I can get a driving license and go rampaging and careening down my city's already crazy streets. A troika of years later, I can marry the woman of my choice (or that of my parents, if no worthy woman will have me) and produce or adopt a duo or troika or more; all my very own beautiful, babbling little ones.

I can adopt a cat and a dog or be a soldier who faces off evil-doers on our catatonic borders. I can be a non-soldier but still buy a gun, go berserk and be a menace to society when I am drunk. That did happen in Qutab Colonnade many moons back, leading to the numbing and needless murder of an aspiring model and the arrest of a Corporate citizen. I can be a pilot and fly you to Antarctica, Greenland or Timbuktu. Or be a heartless bus driver and drive you off a cliff in the Himalayas if the impulse takes my nuts or fancy.

'Oye ruk ja, thehar ja tu' ('wait on').

Wait. I cannot go berserk... That's because I cannot be drunk. And that, in turn, is because I have to be 25 years old before liquor vends in many states, including Delhi and Punjab and Haryana (and some more) will let me buy alcohol, or any of the city's pubs or bars will serve me. Why? Well, it's all down to a concept called MDA (Minimum Drinking Age), which is as sobering as it is confusing, for me and for legal and regulatory authorities.

Minimum drinking age?

The legal age for drinking in most countries is 18 years to 21 years. In the United States, it is 21 years. In most European countries, it is 18 years. In many parts of India too, it is 18 years. But in the Union Capital City of Delhi, the age restriction

for liquor consumption is capped at 25 years. The rules are similar in Punjab, Haryana, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman, Diu and Maharashtra (except for beer, 21 years). Why? I don't know. I don't understand this.

Common sense and over five decades of living in a metropolis tells me that people below 25 years of age in all the above-mentioned states do drink. Why are we forcing them to drink differently and dangerously—in their father's cars, in parks, or driving across state borders, clandestinely? Many of them then have to drive back to their home states, in a less than an optimal state of mind and body. Today, the non-rationalization of MDA norms is a very real and burning issue.

A quick Internet check informs me that Delhi and Haryana follow the Punjab Excise Act, which states that 25 years is the legal age for consuming alcohol. Some other states have obviously fallen prey to this diktat, and we thus have a browning syndrome at play, where wisdom comes first and alcohol next—perhaps as a balm to soothe the arrogance of new-found intelligence.

Some green shoots

Thankfully, there are some green shoots that are sprouting on the policy firmament. But it is still a classic case of too little, too late. In a proposal for changes in the Excise Policy, there is a recommendation for a reduction in MDA provisions. The legal drinking age in the aforesaid states might be lowered from the present 25 years to 21 years, soft liquor like beer and wine might be more easily available at departmental stores, and dry days could be reduced to just three in a year if the recommendations of various state Governments are accepted.

Why green shoots? Well, because it is time for a radical change in norms and mindsets. States that still have the scratch-my-head 25-year-old norm are losing out on crores of tax money, even as the consumer is inconvenienced. Let's face it—those that want to drink will do so, with our without these archaic laws. Hell, at my real age of 51 years, I already know enough friends who are now graying as ageing fathers and offer and enjoy an evening drink with their children, boys and girls, well before the latter turn 25. Why then are we living this anachronism?

High Courts across the country have ruled on this front. For instance, one court stated that nearly 67 per cent of the population in the 18-25 years age group purchase alcohol from the city's liquor vends, but are almost never asked for proof of their age.

Brands are a problem too

Other than 'illegally' serving under-age consumers, Government-owned liquor vends also throw up their own issues of mismanagement and corruption. A recent LocalCircles survey indicates that a majority of consumers are forcefully being sold something other than the brand of their choice. The survey reports indicate a potential nexus between vend staff and some brands, as around 22 per cent of the respondents saying they have issues

finding their desired brand of liquor. And an astonishing 80 per cent say receipts are not given for sale and waiting times are long.

There's more. There are also notations about alcohol consumption trends and habits in India, which I was totally unaware of. The consumption of alcohol in India has doubled over the last decade and it is estimated that around 2 crore people reach the legal drinking age in India every year. Whiskey is the

favorite alcoholic drink in India, while Vodka is an upcoming alternate, especially for the ladies. Get a load of this—in India, 60 per cent of drinkers prefer whiskey, 20 per cent vodka, 9 per cent wine, 4 per cent gin, 4 per cent rum and 3 per cent gulp down the remaining gifts from Bacchus.

If you are one of those who like gender ratios, here goes—the use of alcohol is higher among men. Around 27.3 per cent of males consume alcohol, while just 1.6 per cent of our ladies like to have a daily dose of tipple, according to a study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

What's the message?

A rather simple one—after 73-plus years of independence, we have to understand and accept the fact that people's life choices are personal. Let's allow them to remain so. We already have enough policing in our society, moral and otherwise. We suddenly have instances of love jihad and laws around inter-community marriages and couplings. We have cases of lynching around cattle-related issues. We have agitations around biases of caste, creed and religion. We have media sections going apoplectic, yet unapologetic. Saints are getting beaten and gored to death over the color of their attire. Other supposed saints are raping and murdering ageing women who come to our temples to pray.

What are we turning into?

India's temporal and secular fabric is what has kept us together as a Union for decades. If we can have a common Constitution and Parliament, a singular and unified legal system, a clearly- and oft-stated pride in our armed forces, even a 'One Nation, One Number' policy in telecom, we can surely figure out a way to have country-wide laws and regulations around the sale and monitoring of alcohol consumption. For instance, Kerala says 23 years is the age you can buy and consume alcoholic beverages—what on Earth led to that inference, and who was the wizard who reached that mathematical conclusion and turned it into law?!

To end the tirade, here's something I found on the Internet on why some Indian states still have 25 years of age as the yardstick for alcohol consumption:

In India...

You are first allowed to vote and elect a Government when you are 18 years old;

You are then allowed to marry when you are 21 years old if you are a guy, or 18 years old if you are a gal; &

Then you can drink at the age of 25 years, when you realize that you have thoroughly screwed up both of the above.

The writer is a communications consultant and a clinical analyst. narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com Views expressed are personal

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