LEGAL...AND CAN'T DRINK!

As per this archaic new law we have, an Indian citizen can vote, is grown up enough (chronologically, if nothing else) to marry and generally has the right to say and do more or less as s/he pleases, as an adult well before the age of 25. ...All, that is, but consume alcohol. Yup, that's right - you need to be a grand old 25 before that booze bottle can touch your lips, 25 before you can blame everything on the alcohol.

What I'm seriously wondering is this: how will this new legal limit curb alcoholism, or the fallouts of loving the bottle more than one should? Will it really result in less road accidents, marital violence, substance abuse? For those vigorously nodding in the affirmative, all I can ask is how?! It's not going to happen 'for real', because the tipple's going to be available anyway: at home, at parties and other places I leave to your collective imaginations. Just because one needs to flash a 25-and-over ID while actually, physically buying booze, there's nothing that ensures it's not consumed before that age bar. Worse, this could result in kids hiding the fact that they drink from their folks, which has its own possibly grievous consequences. It simply means that what was legal up until now and generally done in the open, will now become a closeted activity, with repercussions all around.

So go on, vote, get married... but hey, you can't toast with champagne, remember!