Yeah, we need a roads solution, but looking to Kamal D Nutt alone won’t help. We also need local roads. These can only be built by those with local knowledge. So centralization cannot work.
That said, the news of 107 people dying from consuming spurious alcohol in Gandhi’s Gujarat, where booze is banned, came as no surprise. My friend Sarina used to tell of her cousin, a student in Ahmedabad 20 years ago, who died consuming spurious liquor there. I am sure that if the press investigates, they will be able to list the history of such tragedies.
I spent some time in Gujarat – and hated it. Cris Lingle and I even took his US passport to the authorities and bought 10 bottles of beer (they took 2 bottles out of the case!) after filling many forms and also having to go out on the streets to obtain photocopies of documents the authorities needed. In the room inside, I spied a young lad pasting labels on bottles.
Gujarat has to decide its own course – to be high, or not to be high, that is the question. I prefer places like Goa, where there is a bar every 10 yards, with names like Frankie’s Bar, Relax Bar, and so on. My favourite is Mr. Booze. On my way to the airport I had a quick Adam Smith lunch at Lounghino’s. The Adam Smith lunch requires meat, bread and beer. In Goa, I got all three. In Gujarat…
The Adam Smith lunch is based on these immortal words:
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the baker, or the brewer, that we expect our lunch, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.
That’s it. It is either the Adam Smith Lunch or the Gujarati thali.
News has it that the purveyor of the poisonous hooch has been charged with homicide. Yet, the first law that should apply is Tort: he must pay restitution for the damages he has inflicted upon others. This should be under civil, not criminal law, so judgement should be delivered “on the preponderance of evidence,” not the “beyond reasonable doubt” required for criminal cases. Thus, restitution can be delivered to the victims through quick legal action; and that too, without calling for the police.
That’s right: Justice Without The Police.
I wonder how much the Gujarat police rakes in from bootleggers? One doctor I met said that the highest incidence of liver cirrhosis in Gujarat is among police inspectors.
Anyway, I don’t live there. Nor do I plan to, ever. The Gujaratis must fix their own State.
Recommended reading: My old article entitled “Gandhian Violence.”
Isn't it ironical that in spite of all this, Gujarat is one of the friendliest states in India for doing business.
ReplyDeleteBull! I recall that the French tyre MNC Michelin backed out of a Gujarat project because French expats cannot live with alcohol prohibition.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't take up any assignment in Gujarat for all the money in the world.
Cheers!
Attitude is Everything!
While our The State is squarely responsible for most issues, I believe we have a deep rooted phobia/misunderstanding as a society when it comes to booze. While our scriptures are laden with mentions of “madira paan”, somewhere down the line we started associating booze with evil. Now, having heard multiple maids in our household talk about their useless husbands perpetually drunk (after beating the maids to snatch their hard earned money for the hooch), I wondered if prohibition would help. Thankfully, the most basic economic theories on supply/demand convince me that prohibition is never the solution (US’s brief tryst with prohibition is a great example to look at here). The solution has to come out of people accepting alcohol consumption as behavior that’s not deviant, and children are taught how to enjoy drinking responsibly (an area the so called conservative US society fails miserably in- leading to God knows how many binge drinking episodes in freshman year).
ReplyDeleteNow, I have heard from several Punjabi women who moved to Gujarat how much they liked the fact that they could venture out in the evening without drunks harassing them at every ten steps. Again, while someone derives a certain benefit from limited alcohol consumption, the root cause of the problem stays intact. The usual Delhi attitude “munda to kudiyon nu chedega hee” is the f’ing problem, not booze (which probably does exacerbate the issue).
Our scriptures are also laden with examples of prostitution and how it plays an important role in society. Alas, we have chucked away any wisdom found in these books and only retained the “ghanti bajao, ganga nahao or paap dhulao” piece. Many countries (including the beacon of liberty USA) don’t allow legalized prostitution, the worst crime against all those women who lead their lives in fear and in the clutches of nefarious elements. Some day we will see the sun rise, and I hope I am alive to see it.