Why drinking in India is still an outdoor sport

Palash Krishna Mehrotra has often written about the cultural nuances of drinking in India. His view is often seen as a confessional celebration of drinking alcohol without a moralistic approach towards the doing. Following is the low down of a conversation titled ‘Cheers! Drinking in India’ between Indrajit Hazra, an Indian journalist and novelist, and Palash during Times LitFest Delhi 2016.
Why drinking is an outdoor sport
Indrajit asked a poignant question as to why when we don’t like losing control, we still like to drink liquor. The country offers nothing better than a controlled environment in which we drink to lose control. The irony is palpable and this has lead to the idea of ‘drinking outdoors’ in the country.
Palash seemed to be no less boggled by the situation and said, “We are the world’s largest whisky consumers and yet it is a taboo to drink at home. It could be your parents, your wife or some form of check or another. This leads to people drinking in all kinds of places – behind a dingy, poky theka, or on a Bajaj pulsar scooty.” He further added, “We live in a post-truth society."
He added that we often associate drinking at home with moral corruption and sarcastically remarked that having kids early is only meant to keep a check on things. He remarked that we only have kids so that people don’t indulge in drinking too much.
Class divide in drinking habits
Indrajit asked Palash if there exists a certain kind of class divide in drinking preferences of people. Like single malt is often considered a snobbish indulgence, to which Palash said that it is a lot about packaging rather than taste. It is not an improvement in whisky but copyrighting.
When Palash was asked to comment on binge drinking as one of the worst evils, he confessed that he himself was a binge drinker and was often thrown off parties.
‘House Spirit: Drinking in India’
Palash has also authored the book ‘House Spirit: Drinking in India’, a collection of stories, essays, and poems which is a not so moralistic anthology about drinking in the country. Be that in a dimly-lit cheap theka or a sophisticated highway bar, it is all served chill. Indrajit also asked him how the idea of the book came about? And if he has had any books/artists as inspiration for writing about alcohol?
Palash answered that the book came about with the help of all those who have written for it and majorly due to Renuka Chatterjee, Speaking Tiger’s consulting editor, who brought up the idea. As for his muses, he named Edmund Wilson and Shane MacGowan of the Pogues.
Thoughts on prohibition
Banning anything doesn’t really work for Palash. One can get legal heroin in Zurich and the move brought down deaths from the drug to a very low number. Rather than criminalizing the user, efforts should be made to try him to give it up or help him introduce some moderation. He said that banning leads to mafias and cartels, while Indrajit said that prohibition is a moral business and is far more dangerous.
Their interaction touched upon various other aspects of drinking in India too; such as how far do we draw from the culture of drinking in Bollywood, being a totalitarian teetotaller, and writing and drinking. Palash said, “To write and drink requires tremendous control. What you’ll do after you stop writing?” Not a follower of the adage ‘Write drunk, edit sober’, he believes in writing sober as well as drinking sober.