The Hindu Business Line : One more New Year party amidst persistent poverty

The stark reality is the existence of many poor and homeless, making do with what is left of the pavements, what with the feisty youths milling around

Story so far: On behalf of my team that had worked in the tsunami-hit places two years ago, I visit Cuddalore, in response to an invitation from Federer's foundation. The tennis icon visits the city as Unicef's Goodwill Ambassador, to see the status of relief operations. I find that Selvam, who used to run errands during our operations in the city, is a drunk now, spoilt perhaps by too much relief money.

Episode 155

To the poor, alcoholism can be more dangerous than the killer waves. And, maybe we need as much awareness about and attention given to battling alcoholism too. It was with these thoughts that I had wrapped up last week's episode.

"Dear Swati, the topic reminds me of the life stories that I have witnessed in rural areas," writes R. Thesinghrajan, Senior Development Officer, LIC, Ooty. "Men drink too much with money borrowed at exorbitant interest. The first casualty is their health and then their womenfolk. In a country where quality health-care is the privilege of the affluent, health-related problems of alcoholics are a cause of concern to the community. Alcoholism denies children the opportunity to be educated, and creates conditions for child labour. Alcoholism definitely makes the men poorer and is worse than the tsunami."

He also speaks of how micro-credit can come to the rescue of women in such cases. I wonder, Thesinghrajan, if life insurance policies incorporate a clause saying that money will not be paid if death is due to alcoholism.

"Hi Swati, kudos to the West Bengal Chief Minister for his efforts to set up industrial units. But certainly not at the cost of hundreds and thousands of farmers and acres of fertile agricultural land. The Chief Minister should consider using barren lands for the setting up of industrial units," writes Sunder Hegde K, chartered accountant from Bangalore. On the theme of last week, he insists on non-monetary rehabilitation package to the victims in terms of employment, co-operative movements in the villages, NGO help-centres, etc. Useful suggestion, Sunder.

"Dear Swati, alcoholism is a curse not only to the person but to the entire family," says Roopa. R. Shenoy, Udupi. "It is no doubt a health hazard, but one more important effect of it is that it leads to the wasting of income on this evil. A poor family struggles to find the daily necessities of food and clothing. Imagine the plight of the family when one of its members falls prey to this vice. Even in the incident you describe, the amount that could be successfully used for the rebuilding purpose is being wasted on alcohol. This is one issue that will not get the immediate attention of the government. The solution probably lies in the hands of the victim himself." Good analysis, Roopa.

"Alcoholism, unfortunately, has become the bane of our society," rues Krithivasan. "The discussion should extend beyond simple alcoholism. It is just not the illiterate who are addicted. It may be that they use cheap stuff and sometimes many die, due to adulterated/spurious stock. We have seen many families and their lives being ruined by various forms of addiction. A majority of such addicted persons, when in a normal state, admit/accept that they should kick the habit. But they are often unable to." Quite true. "Peer pressure also plays an important role. The society and immediate community has a greater role to play. In many cases, the families are not in a position to handle these issues. And, as the issue concerns the male members, the women and children in the family are not in a position to handle them. This situation finally ends in domestic violence, which the new Act may possibly help to stem. The police and allied agencies handle them mostly as `law and order' matters rather than handling them as psychological and physiological issues. There needs to be greater focus and emphasis on de-addiction and post de-addiction programmes handholding. Counselling of the relatives also plays a very active part. Despite all noises made at various forums, the advertisements continue to lure even the uninitiated." Forceful mail. And Krithivasan adds a poignant postscript: "I do understand that this has become too long. But as one who lost one of his close relatives to alcoholism and other vices, and another suffered very seriously, I took the liberty."

It is not poverty alone that forces a person to drink, says Anil Kumar Pillai, of SCMS, Kochi. "Even the rich and the famous drink and cross the limit. When a person is sad he gets drunk to forget his sorrow and when a person is excited and very happy he gets drunk. But in either case he is a menace to society. Smoking has been banned in public places. This is a step in the right direction. Why don't we think about curbing the habit of drinking in a similar way?"

Anil reasons that the poor fall prey to alcoholism to forget their woes.

"Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been rendering yeoman services to make the downtrodden aware of the ill effects of alcohol consumption. But is awareness alone enough? Their economic conditions need improvement. Something needs to be done to improve their standard of living. When the head of the family in a village finds that there is no way to feed his family there are two alternatives: Either he commits suicide or he consumes alcohol to forget everything." Dangerous options, both.

"Does alcoholism have anything do with literacy? Even Kerala, which boasts of the highest literacy rate, has one of the highest number of suicides and cases of alcoholism." If steps are taken to discourage alcoholism on a war footing, the government will lose a source of revenue, points out Anil. "We need to maintain a balance between the well-being of our citizens and the source of revenue. The problem needs to be tackled holistically. Apart from awareness, each person needs to be sensitised to the ill-effects of drinking. I think imparting free yoga training to the poor people in villages could go a long way in tackling these problems. There is no point in talking about a 10 per cent growth rate if we cannot tackle the problem of alcoholism. Don't you think we need to promote healthy and disciplined drinking? Corporates in the business of liquor manufacturing/marketing should earmark a budget to educate the masses on the ill-effects of excessive consumption of liquor. Regulation and legislation could be a major step in this direction." Thanks Anil.

Ram, of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has sent in a touching article titled, `Serenity in me through AA.' He speaks of the time when alcohol filled the space between what he wanted to be and what he really was. Not so now.

"I have an elated feeling of belonging to a privileged band of people in AA. This sense of belonging is very much important to me, since I didn't seem to belong anywhere or to anything during the period of life when I was an alcoholic. I always lived in a world surrounded by empty bottles, glasses and ash trays filled to the brim and with full of despair and fear in me in a hungry, angry, lonely and tired, hostile world of my own making." Congrats on beating the problem, Ram.

"Dear Swati, consumption of alcohol using hard-earned money is certainly a menace that should be totally eradicated from the face of Indian society," declares Sriram Kannan.

"Natural calamities such as tsunami and earthquake warn mankind that they are not immortal, but a menace like alcoholism warns mankind that if self-control and self-discipline are not developed by the breadwinner of the family then the entire family suffers. This can also lead to psychological issues such as low morale among the children, increase in domestic violence, lack of self-discipline and respect for elders. Though the incident narrated by you is set in rural India, there are many Selvams present in the urban areas too. As they are educated and work in white-collar professions, the mistakes committed by them are considered `small'. Whether it is in a rural or urban area, once people realise that alcohol consumption is bad, I feel the end of the menace has started." Thanks Sriram.

Doug Richardson of the International Desk of General Service Office of AA, US and Canada, mails in to suggest seeking the views of the International Council on Alcohol and Addictions, Switzerland (www.icaa.de).

"It provides a programme of public and professional education, community services, and is an advocate for treatment of alcoholism," says Doug.

Happy New Year

The evening has grown cold and the revellers are already on the streets. As I drive by, I notice big posters announcing midnight bashes to welcome the New Year `in style' along with cine stars and dancers. Celebration is not free; it comes with hefty price tags, such as an entry ticket of Rs 500, which is not even going to fund the eats and drinks during the gala. But the stark reality that tugs at my heartstrings is the existence of many poor and homeless, making do with what is left of the pavements, what with the feisty youths milling around. What can the New Year mean to the homeless and the poor, I wonder, avoiding big bikes that zip by apparently cheerily but frighteningly perilously. Send in your thoughts by Friday.

SWATI_CA@HOTMAIL.COM

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