Gujarat and Alcohol.
First I should note that I never drink alcohol. Except when I take Nyquil for my cough, or eat an overripe grape, or when I am in an interfaith mood and take communion at a Lutheran church. Yes, I am strictly anti-alcohol and never touch the stuff.
The above article about people becoming sick and dying from bad, illegal alcohol wasn't too surprising, but I was surprised to learn that the state of Gujarat is dry - no legal alcohol sales. If the state had a large percentage of Muslims, I wouldn't be too surprised at this, but the infallible wiki lists Gujarat as being 89.1% Hindu and only 9.1% Muslim. Is Hinduism opposed to alcohol? I guess this mainly just leaves me wondering about how little I know about the values of a very large population group. There seem to be more Indians than Caucasians among the kids in the local schools, so this is a subject that is now more about our neighbors than people on the other side of the world.
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5 comments:
Yea, I'm sure you know that Mormons don't drink alcohol, but even if I wasn't in this church, I still wouldn't. I don't like the thought of not having complete control of my mind and body. My friends tell me that if you don't drink too much you still have control, but they can't convince me. They might be 90% in control, but I don't even want to lose that small percentage.
My conservative Baptist heritage is largely against drinking, but not quite as strict. When I was a kid, I was doing some painting on new houses. A manager came by to inspect things and opened some sliding doors to find a bar behind it. He laughed and called it a "Baptist bar", which I guess reflects too much of Christians wanting to give one impression in public, but doing something else in private!
Gujarat is the land that gave birth to Mahatma Gandhi who was opposed to the drinking habit and wanted prohibition all over India. Till a decade or so ago, almost all India was partially dry with a farce of permit system which eventually gave way to more sensible revenue earning considerations. Gujarat today is the only state in India that has this silly law. It also is the state which can give you the cheapest booze, because it is bootleg and untaxed. The hooch that killed so many people is the local brew that is widely available for the working classes. Criminals, politicians and cops are all involved in keeping the facade of prohibition going in Gujarat. The government there has just announced that they are reviewing the whole situation to come up with a solution to this oft happening problem.
Any idea why Ghandi was anti-alcohol? I presume he wasn't a Mormon!
If you want my personal opinion, he was just being sanctimonious! I am not a great fan of his.
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