Bacchus is a strange deity who doesn’t seem to have enough of his devotees. The more he is worshiped the more he wants to possess his inebriated worshippers. Drunkenness seems to be the only normal state as they get trapped in what is called alcoholism. Not all drunkards suffer from alcoholism, which is a state of uncontrollable craving for liquor that finally consumes the drinker, mentally and physically. While psychiatrists treat this condition with anti-depressants, a vast majority of alcoholics opt for a lifelong fellowship with other alcoholics, helping each other out till the end. These members of the informal network of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) reach out to one another through daily evening meetings at secret locations across the world.
Dileep had been drinking a lot, using all his earnings as a researcher on drinking. His wife and daughter suffered helplessly till a friend put him in a rehabilitation centre in Delhi. It was about learning about himself and sharing the experiences of inmates. This sharing continued after he left the rehab six months later. At seven in the evening, he would be at a neighbouring school where an AA group met regularly. The classroom would fill up with some familiar faces and some new ones. “Hi Dileep,” the angels in the room would say collectively as he would begin to narrate some anecdote from his life to help another member, who complains of estrangement with his parents.
They were all alcoholics, some struggling to come out, while some like Dileep had recovered. Eighteen years later, Dileep is still there, one of the senior members in the team. He has never gone back to liquor though thoughts of liquor do float in, now and then. “Who can control thoughts? I sometimes think of removing Kapil Sibal from his ministry. So, it is like that. But the feeling has never returned,” says the man who is now a role model for other recovering alcoholics in his group.
AA was started by a New York Stock broker and an Ohio surgeon, both of whom realised they were hopeless drunkards. AA today has two million members in 180 countries.
AA believes, as do the American and British Medical Association, that alcoholism is a disease. There is no medical explanation of why some drunks become alcoholic. Naresh K, a recovered alcoholic of 20 years, says the disease has genetic reasons. While the alcoholics cannot control their craving for a drink, others can.
Alcoholics at Dileep’s centre pass a little cover among members who vary from a merchant to a woman social worker to a doctor. They put whatever money they want to give and it keeps the group’s expenses for tea and occasional pamphlets and reading material going.
We resolve to not drink today, living one day at a time rather than giving up liquor for ever, says Naresh who adds that alcoholics never consider themselves cured.
He advocates AA as the best and the only route to normalcy for alcoholics and staunchly opposes medicines as a solution. However, some who find the going tough are put in rehabilitation centres. There are hundreds of such small centres across Delhi alone but neither do they come under the purview of any government department nor do they get any assistance.
The Kerala government last week decided to stop bar licences, except for four-star and five-star hotels.
Kerala’s earnings from liquor doubled last year from Rs 3,143 crore (2006-07) to Rs 6,730 crore, according to statistics tabled in the Kerala Assembly last week. It has also decided to raise the drinking age to 21 years.
In Maharashtra, a move to raise the age bar to 25 years had popular film stars opposing it as an unnecessary interference. But they seldom talk about what the government should do for alcoholics.
The ministry of social justice and empowerment in Delhi offers funds to NGOs to start rehab centres, but there is no pro-active mechanism, not even a helpline to identify victims and to guide them to either AA or to rehabilitation centres.
The penniless self-help groups of AA achieve much more in comparison. Perhaps it is a model for how people can help themselves in all matters.
