Dear Editor
The start of the Vasant Navratri 2022 period is good to reflect on the recent exchanges around Hindus and the alcohol culture in Guyana – exchanges which just reinforced the personal lessons from trying to get Hindu inclusion in dealing with the alcohol problem. One Hindu did explain that Navratra is not a profitable season for many alcohol sellers as many Hindus do ‘fast’ from alcohol then, but then the profit making will resume afterwards. The Hindu supported PPP administrations do not have any serious programmes to address alcohol. The revelation by the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and others that even they, who are so aligned with the PPP cannot influence any change, brings up images of Arjuna’s dilemma on the battlefield facing relatives in a war against injustice.
And while the Hindu supported PPP administration sees things like ‘Stink and Dutty’, and the alcohol marketed carnival cricket CPL, as Universal for Guyana, there is no hope, apparently, in marketing Guyana as a place to challenge the colonial view of the alcohol and fun Caribbean as a place where sobriety and fun can go together and that we can Unite without Alcohol. Alcohol consumption is seen as a Guyanese and Caribbean character with no inquiry as to how we got that, while something is wrong with those who might wish for sobriety and wellness. So lessons learned.
Many Hindus suffer from the use of alcohol while others ‘enjoy their drink’ without apparently causing harm to others or themselves (except maybe now and then abusing others or so but ‘one one time’’. Some Hindus who advocate against no alcohol also have to compromise about ‘personal choice’ moderation, etc. Some Hindus use alcohol in their worship and offerings to their deities, other Hindus do not.
Many devout Hindus are part of the alcohol industry. The handful of Hindus who ‘say no to alcohol’ have to also do so silently as it could mean exclusion from their family and community and Tagore’s ‘Ekla Chôlo Re ‘ is not appealing. Many non-Hindus who enjoy the alcohol Hindu events, like the wedding houses and Phagwah celebrations, are often surprised by the conversation. One Christian who could not eat Seven Curry from pujas said that wedding houses were okay because ‘Hindu weddings were not religious’. One Muslim leader said his organisation would like to deal with the alcohol issue but did not want to offend Hindus who own the shops (some Muslims who drink apparently drink with Hindus). In India, while we read of the Hindu affiliated organisations taking offence at films, writers, Christmas, Valentine and Christians and Muslims and inter-Caste relationships, we don’t hear anything of alcohol producers going up in flames in the same way and there is no energy against alcohol as there is against meat and eggs.
There is denial that Guyana has an alcohol problem. We can’t fix the problem unless we accept there is a problem and the solutions to alcohol culture will have to come from transforming the cultures in which alcohol exist. Two Indigenous women leaders in Guyana have tried to ban alcohol from their villages. There are religious denominations which prohibit alcohol and there are weddings and other celebrations without alcohol – though some have noticed the ‘creeping in’ of alcohol at some of these events. So while alcohol is a problem for Guyana which Guyana denies, there are specific Hindu dimensions to this problem which require Hindu solutions. The quarrel by Hindus that ‘is not we problem alone’ and ‘do not blame all of us’ etc. prevents any serious discussion about how Hindus can contribute Hindu solutions to dealing with the alcohol problem. Hopefully this Navratra can inspire and generate some communal discussions to working on these solutions.
Sincerely,
Vidyaratha Kissoon
