Few people
are now found standing at Sunil Singh's paan and cigarette shop on
the eastern corner of the Albert Ekka roundabout at 9 pm. Sheonath
Singh's "bhooja" and snack shop nearby also bears a deserted
look at this time. These shops used to attract queues of customers
particularly after dusk and did brisk business till 11 pm or so, before
April 1.
But,
they along with other cigarette, paan and snacks outlets, began packing
their wares after 9 pm in the absence of customers since April 1.
Reason:
The liquor shop located between Sunil's paan, cigarette shop and Sheonath's
"bhooja" shop downed its shutter along with city's other
liquor outlets on April 1 in the wake of the tussle between the liquor
barons and the state excise department.
The protracted
spell of "dry days" has severely affected the life and trade
on the Albert Ekka roundabout, which remains the heart of the city.
The condition at Lalput roundabout, too, remains the same. There is
an impressive paan and cigarette outlet across the Rajasthan Hotel,
which caters to revellers enjoying the "nightlife". The
grand liquor shop at the Lalpur roundabout feeds these revellers often
dragging the nightlife beyond 11 pm. But its closure has robbed Lalpur
of life and revellers' thrill in the evening hours.
In fact,
the closure of wine shops for the last five days has changed life
in the city. After 9 pm a virtual gloom descends on Sainik Bazaar
on the Main Road, on Kanke Road, besides Lalpur and Albert Ekka roundabout,
which used to come to life with revelry and merriment. These areas
were full of quality liquor shop, bars and restaurants besides roadside
eateries, snacks outlets and cigarette and "paan" shops.
Who does
not know that liquor stimulates the demand of cigarettes, paan, pakauras,
chops and chilly chicken? It's for the excise department to assess
the loss of revenue to the state exchequer due to protracted "dry
spell". But the absence of liquor and its consumers from the
streets has threatened the survival of the roadside eateries and small-time
shops.
Interestingly,
the "dry spell" has led many in the city to re-assess their
relationships. For instance, one of my office friends rues his naivete
for not befriending the army officers whose help could definitely
have "quenched" his thirst for the "elixir of life"
that liquor is. The armymen get uninterrupted quota of liquor and
can easily oblige their friends in these hours of "crisis".
I also found many ruing their failure in befriending Jharkhand Armed
Police (JAP) officers, who too, get their quota of subsidised liquor.
But there
are some teetotaller cynics deriving a vicarious pleasure from the
misery that the tipplers are undergoing of late. "Is liquor so
important to life? I can't fathom why people have turned so restive
in the absence of it. After all, drinking damages one's health,"
remarked J.P. Shrivastav, my teetotaller friend, also a vet by profession.
I simply told Shrivastav that he was not a part of the "mainstream"
of the society and that's why he was unable to appreciate the problem
that the "mainstream" was suffering. The teetotallers, who
are insensitive to the "sufferings" of their drink-loving
friends should know that when the gods and goddesses did "samudra
manthan" (churning of sea) in the hoary past, that great churning
threw "som ras" (drinks) besides other valuable things.
So, drinking has been a part of human life (even some gods have a
weakness for addictions) ever since its inception in the mortal world.
Thus,
the high court, which is seized with the matter, the government and
the liquor barons must find a solution to the impasse and enable the
mainstream to get the much-needed "elixir of life" as early
as possible. The smile on the faces of teetotaller cynics must end
now.
