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High and dry on dry day?

Jan 26, 30, 31, Feb 1, 2 are dry days. Some call it a necessary evil and others question the logic. Speak Up opens the ‘can’ for discussion.

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January 26, 30, 31, February 1 and 2 — each is a dry day. With some calling it a necessary evil and others questioning the logic, Speak Up opens the ‘can’ for discussion.
 
Janta speaks
 
Dry day, family day
 
Dry days ensure that people stay away from alcohol at least on that day. While I wish for more dry days,  my husband is always fretting on these days. The best thing about dry days is that the kids and I get to spend some time with him. On other days, he is always with friends.
 
Sulabha Chauhan. Ghatkopar
 
Why shouldn’t people be allowed to choose when they want to drink? The concept doesn’t make sense. Am I going to respect my country any lesser if I drink on Republic Day?
 
Anumita Ghosh
 
Hubby is sober on dry days
 
Dry days should be observed at least twice a week. I support the concept because on these days my husband returns sober; on most other days, he is inebriated. People swig double the usual quantity after a dry day. This is much like fasting. If you fast for a day, you're ravenous the next day.
 
Gauri Gupta. Bandra
 
It’s not too difficult to beat dry days. People stock up in advance or manage to find booze somehow. The idea is good, no doubt, but implementation should be better.
 
Amresh Mondkar
 
Have surprise dry days
 
The gesture of observing dry days on Independence Day,
 
Republic Day, etc. is good, but do drinkers follow it? Come dry day and my husband stocks up liquor, defeating the purpose of a dry day. It will be better to have surprise dry days so that people can’t stock booze.  — Madhuri Bhandari. Kandivali
 
Counter points
 
We must enforce this necessary evil
 
There should be a dry day on Ganesh Chaturthi and festivals where people spill onto roads. Also, elections are sensitive periods and dry days help maintain law and order. Dry days imposed during Gandhi Jayanti, Republic Day and Independence Day are for emotional reasons and boozing on these days doesn't necessarily pose a law and order problem.
 
Most road accidents are reported on December 31, which is not a dry day and people are on streets to welcome the new year. It is to avoid such incidents that dry days are needed. It is not enough to declare a dry day, it has to be enforced. People often stock up for dry days and get drunk on the day they are not supposed to. Restrictions always make people edgy and it is not advisable to impose dry days unless it is a must.
 
NG Wagle. President, Consumer Guidance Society of India
 
In the name of aunties, here’s to dry days
 
There is a small community of people who saw us through our worst days of prohibition — bootleggers and ‘aunties’. Do you know there was an institution called ‘The Aunties’ in Bombay. There were ‘Aunty Joints' that all of us went to in our better days, and ate boiled eggs (sliced into four, sprinkled with salt and pepper). We ordered booze by the quarter because you didn’t get it by the peg.
 
Now, all these people have reached a level of penury, so if you don't have dry days, how are they going to survive? The fact is that consumption of alcohol is never curtailed by something as technically stupid as a dry day. It's just that dry days ensure that the money spent on alcohol is divided equally among bootleggers and aunties. So, I believe we should have at least 10 dry days every month so that the aunties survive. All old, 'hardcore' people who loved their boiled eggs and their cholas still go there.
 
During the days of prohibition in Mumbai, the entire advertising fraternity used to visit the aunty's joint in Colaba. The place had a picture of Morarji Desai on the front wall. Once, I asked aunty, "Why do you think so much of Morarji Desai? After all, he only drinks his own urine and not your booze”.  She said, “Beta, if it wasn't for him I would be out on the roads. He banned alcohol from Bombay; thanks to that, not only am I surviving, but I've also managed to educate my children, pay the rent and raise a family.” Dry days, therefore, are social necessities. In the name of the aunties, here's to dry day.  
 
Prahlad Kakkar. Adman
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