There is justifiable outrage about the Pune Porsche incident where two lives were lost because of an underage boy drinking and driving without a licence or a valid ID. In the early hours of May 19, a drunk-driving accident by a 17-year-old driving a Porsche killed Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, young engineers working for a better life in the city. Two bars were sealed soon after the incident for violating the Bombay Prohibition Act (1949). The owners and managers were charged under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015 for allegedly serving alcohol to a minor, and rightly so. There has to be a proper investigation with due process followed to ensure justice for the young lives lost.
While there is much to be said about the illegalities of this case, it also throws up larger questions about the culture of drinking itself. However uncomfortable it may be, in a country where more than 50 per cent of the population is under 25, we cannot ignore the reality of underage drinking. It is rampant, with either young people using fake or false IDs or establishments foregoing ID checks altogether.
Violation of law, like that of the two restaurants in this case, is not uncommon in a country where rules and regulations don’t hold much weight. Profit-making entities will prioritise revenue above all else — the degree of their ethics may vary. But can such businesses be solely held accountable for the consequences of alcohol consumption? Probably not. What we can do to increase accountability and reduce vulnerability is put in place different kinds of guardrails.
In other parts of the world, for example, over and above the laws that govern alcohol licence and use, pubs, bars and restaurants have internal measures in place to ensure a safe drinking environment, especially for women. One that I came across while working as a bartender in London was the Ask for Angela campaign, which started in 2016 to help customers who felt unsafe. Behind bathroom doors at pubs, there is a poster that explains it to not draw the attention of too many people to the “scheme” and yet ensure that women, especially, are aware of the service. The idea is that if you are on a first date or if someone is making you feel uncomfortable, you can approach the bar staff and say you are looking for Angela, a codeword for “I’m in danger”, and they will discreetly ensure a safe exit and call a taxi for you.
Versions of this have been adopted in other countries as well. In the US, it’s called the Angel Shot, which can be asked for in three different ways, depending on the severity of the situation: Neat or straight up means “I need to be escorted to my car”; on ice means the server should get you an Uber; and with lime or a twist means the bar staff should call the police.
Drinking culture is not going anywhere, nor is there much chance of greater regulation than there already is. A 2019 Lancet study found that global alcohol consumption has increased by 70 per cent from 1990 until 2017 — with soaring individual consumption rates. Apart from the West, where the legal age for hard liquor varies from between 18 to 21, even closer home, Sri Lanka’s drinking age is 18 while Nepal’s is 21.
In India, however, the legal drinking age varies from state to state and can be as high as in Maharashtra, where it is 25 years. Enforcement of these limits, however, remains uniformly lax. This is different from, for example, the US: As an undergraduate student at an American university, until I turned 21, I was turned away from any bar I ventured into. In India, on the other hand, I have watched friends being served everything from beer to hard liquor even at the age of 18.
But countries like the US and the UK are also more open and encourage conversations about alcohol consumption, which allows informal measures to be effective and urges people to seek help in dangerous situations. At my college, though anyone under 21 was not supposed to be drinking, the administration acknowledged the reality that college kids — of all ages — will drink. Hence, in case of mishaps related to alcohol consumption, there was a good samaritan policy in place under which even if you were drinking at 18 or 19, if you were in danger and needed to seek medical assistance, you would not be legally penalised.
But in India, equating morals to alcohol consumption discourages people from seeking help, for the simple reason that their family may not even know. We are so afraid to admit to our parents that we drink that we would rather take extreme measures to hide the fact or lie in the event of an emergency. For women especially, if they are sexually assaulted after drinking, the burden of having to justify the alcohol often becomes a bigger concern than the assault by the perpetrator.
Instead of treating alcohol as taboo, it may be more useful to acknowledge that young people will drink — with or without permission. The first step, then, is recognising the need for an open dialogue. Allowing the youth to discuss accountability, making them aware of the potential behavioural and health-related effects, and showing them how to stay safe are some ways the community — adults, caregivers, friends — can assume charge.
adya.goyal@expressindia.com
