“I am drowning my sorrows in drink because my boss fired me; I am celebrating with a drink because I got a promotion; I am getting sloshed because I am getting married; I am drinking to get over the death in the family’ Excuses galore to gulp down those two pegs.

Alcohol, the much sought after mood elevator is fast growing entry into lifestyles as more and more Keralites are discovering the heady brew under different brands. Intoxicated on consumerism and fed on a diet of TV soaps, in which the cell phone, booze, infidelity and polygamy are the symbol of modern Malayali, a large number of Keralites are embracing alcohol as never.
 

With fading taboos, social stigmas and spurting nuclear families, alcohol is simply opening up the floodgates of socializing. Today Kerala is fast witnessing a sea of change as traditional and social inhibition is fast vanishing. Drinking is gaining a never before acceptance in social circles and the latest film trends and television soaps promote drinking as a way of living and socializing.

Silently and unknowingly the brew is binding people, contributing to greater social intercourse. Cutting across social strata, class lines, the teenagers, youth, the aged, and now the upwardly mobile women too, are catching up with the headiest brew, fueling the highly regulated but fast growing liquor industry. At clubs, hotels, bars, homes, automobiles, trains, business meetings, the bottle never fails to keep an appointment.

Just a few years ago, drinking and stocking liquor was a taboo in Kerala. Nobody with orthodoxy dared to serve spirits to guests. Youngsters never drank in front of their parents. More importantly, women never drank either in the closet or openly. A drinker was depicted as a pathetic drunkard in films, but all these are tales of a bygone tradition that existed in God's Own Country.

Today the new generation youngsters with liberal parents and an understanding spouse find it a fad to keep stuff at home to entertain relatives and guests. An evening visit to any bar in Kerala would reveal how much alcohol has dominated society. For many drink is a lifestyle option and stress reliever. While the inhibited middle class with disposable income finds alcohol a great leveler, the underprivileged class with a hand to mouth existence, finds it an easy escape from depressing their situation. Many a modern Kerala woman is opting for liquor as a tranquillizer, after an exhaustive day at work. Bar managers in Kerala report a three-fold increase in booze drinkers among youngsters. The teenagers and youth are fuelling the demand for beer.

No wonder that alcohol-induced disease is on the rise in Kerala. It has more alcohol related cases than any other state in India. While the number of alcohol consumers in Kerala is mushrooming, someone proudly says,
“ Drinking has become a part of our life. It is the best bet for socializing.”