The manufacture, sale and/or consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the states of Gujarat, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland in the country while amongst the union territories, the same applies for Lakshadweep. In Manipur, prohibition exists merely on paper with alcohol freely available in public spaces; the only difference being that there are no sign-boards or hoardings announcing its sale. Much like the cliché ‘open secret’, everyone and anyone who loves their drink knows just where to get their alcohol. In Imphal West itself, there is an infamous window that everyone is aware about. Canteens inside security personnel based compounds make easy money by selling alcohol to the public at inflated rates and then, even charging a ‘parking fee’ for vehicles that drive inside! For those with lesser money to spare for their drinks, there are the traditional rice brews available at various vendors.
Despite a major social drive taken up against alcohol use by women who were known as Nishabandis in the late 80’s and 90’s in the state, the irony is that even without a proper study or survey, it would be safe to infer that alcohol use and its sale has increased over the years. In Manipur today, there can in fact be no social gatherings without drinks being served. Any occasion remains good enough: weddings or mourning’s, births or deaths, lunch or dinner. Serving alcohols at social events and more so, marriage functions are taken as guarantees that there will be more attendance. Any social gathering without the red is taken as one not worth attending. Leave alone private gatherings at homes, official level events held in evenings almost always end with a round or more of drinks.
The impact of long term alcohol use and abuse on one’s heath and mental equilibrium do not bear repetition but the other side of alcohol use is that for if it is done in moderation, then the same poison can be medicinal. But a careful scrutiny of the culture of alcohol intake in the state will reveal that more often, it tends to be on the scale of a group bingeing together. Often, group drinking tends to lead into a subtle competition for the human ego on how much can one hold it in and how much more one can intake more than the other. The sense of ‘good’ that is built during the first initial drinks within a group drinking together translates into a false veneer of bonding and ‘having a good time’. People dealing with alcoholics seeking medical and psychological often point out that the advent of drinking is marked by persons starting to down a drink following peer pressure, egged on by friends who drink. When such incidences becomes regular over a period of time, the said person will associate his habit as a validation of sharing ‘good times’ and replicate it with other friend circles and then induct other people who do not drink into the habit. And when it gets to a point where drinks are stored in homes and drinking in isolation becomes a norm, it spells trouble. Ironically group drinking’s and drinking at social gatherings also mean that younger people who see adults drinking with freedom and without any self limitations take the cue from them and catch it young. In Manipur, the stigma attached to drinking or owning up to drinking by women means that they drink in moderation and within select gatherings only. This means indirectly that cases of alcoholism amongst women are marginal or not talked about for fear of social stigma. On a serious note, young boys taking to drinking is becoming a norm.
Considering that demand and supply of alcohol has gone up in the state, prohibition today is a farce in Manipur. A proper regularization of demand and supply on one hand, sensitization amongst youth on the various stages leading to alcoholism and its impacts and how to use alcohol in moderation may well be just what is needed.