Amidst all the brouhaha about pub culture, isn't it ironical that a road in Bangalore, named after Mahatma Gandhi, is also the guzzler haven of India?
Adding insult to injury, Renuka Chowdhury attempted to remedy the pub incident by twisting Gandhiji's call of 'jail bharo' to her own 'pub bharo'. Pubs, you see, are the fundamental right of the urban upper-middle class. So much so, that the subsequent furore eclipsed the relatively muted demonstrations after 26/11 attacks. People were more enthusiastic in sending undergarments to Mutalik than they ever were in sending relief to flood victims. Anyways, lets go back to Gandhiji.
Considering that Bapu was a strong proponent of nationwide prohibition, it is disconcerting to note that a road named after him probably has the highest density of pubs in India. In our usual manner of tokenism, the Govt has ensured that we pay the bare minimum respect to the Mahatma, and still keep revenues from liquor flowing by enforcing prohibition in Gandhiji's janamabhoomi, Gujarat.
But Bapu had made his wish very clear. He stated that if was made dictator for a few hours, his first act would be to close all liquor shops, without offering any compensation. Very strong words from a generally mild man. I wonder if the India of today is as far from Bapu's dreams as current Pakistan is from Qaid-e-Azam's (Jinnah).
And I wonder how Bapu would have felt taking a stroll on the MG road of our times. As a friend of mine used to say 'Agar Mahatma Gandhi aaj zinda hote, to phir mar jaate'.
Note: If you are wondering whether I am against alcohol, the answer is yes. You can read it here. Although I do agree that prohibition rarely works, the point is that do we want it to work? If we consider closure of pubs as an assault on our fundamental rights, I don't think so.
