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Ponty's Got A Reason: Punjab Culture, Economy, Politics all Awash In Peg Royale

S P Singh

Chandigarh:

If Jim Morrison were a Punjabi, only reason he could have sung 'Take me to the next whiskey bar' would be to remain unnoticed, for that's the kind of thing Punjabis do the maximum in the entire country, except, may be, Kerala. If Patiala peg has made its entry into the most-recognisable national top-recall diction, Punjab very much deserves it. It has drunk its way to this distinction.

The ding-dong's of the auction man's hammer falling Ponty Chadha's favour were in tune with the call of cheers that are raised across Punjab at the happening do's in money-oozing Ludhiana parties, nouveau riche Jalandhar get togethers or drunkards discussing the merits of Tharra and Raspberry in Malwa villages.

Punjab's peg size has attracted liquor barons like Ponty to shift base from UP. Liquor, unlike any other beverage, is a political power-drink. So intricately woven is it with the state's economy and politics that on the smorgasbord of Punjab politics, it is one pawn each regime wants to keep on its right side. Many politicians are themselves into the trade, and trade of course is always linked to the politicians.

Punjabis drink the maximum, and it is trait that is stuffing the state's coffers to an extent no other state can boast of. The nearly Rs 1,500-crore that excise on country liquor and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brings in, comprises a whopping 24 percent of the total tax revenues of Punjab which hover around Rs 6,600 crore. For Haryana, where liquor excise is above Rs 1,000 crore, the percentage is about 16.13.

Though Delhi has a large Punjabi population, the national capital is drinking far too little compared to Makki Di Roti-Sarson Da Saag state. Delhi's under Rs 1,000 crore revenue from liquor is not even 14 per cent of the total tax accruals.

There are no clear answers to why Punjab is gulping down so much of the elixir, but one thing is clear. The Patiala peg is getting king sized. Disposable incomes are rising, the culture, in the words of old-school morality-speak, is becoming more permissive, and both electronic and print media are dishing out a surfeit of page 3 reporting. Clearly, the word 'sharabi' is going out of diction, drinking in style is in. So more is being spent on liquor.

"And then there is a whole new section of society which is now fast becoming liquor consumers -- the women. Earlier, the only woman people ever saw drinking was Helen on the silver screen. Now, Helen is passé. And bottle has not just gone snazzier, it has moved to the family table," said a top liquor baron of Ludhiana.

And we are only talking of organised sector. In Punjab's border areas like Ferozepur and Gurdaspur, home-distilled liquor remains a menace. Hooch tragedies are staple media news. Moga is becoming infamous of entrenched hooch business, and collusion between police and culprits is no more even news.

Nearly 30 per cent of liquor consumption happens in this unregulated sector.

Ban on liquor ads has of course been more of a joke. Punjab's per capita consumption is at 8.0 litres per year is next only to Kerala's 8.3 litres, but then Kerala's Rs 800 cr revenue from liquor is a mere 9.21 per cent of state's nearly Rs 9,000 crore tax revenue. For Punjab, this figure is 23.68 percent.

The irrepressible Punjabi spirit (pun unintended) brings in big money. Industrial hub Ludhiana boasts of Rs 892 per capita per year. In Amritsar, every Punjabi contributes Rs 407.14 to state's coffers through liquor. For Jalandhar, the figure is Rs 265.38. State earns Rs 615 every year from an average Punjabi's poison gulp.  

With six distilleries and several bottling plants, Punjab is witnessing the trade bloating further. And now, with liquor lobbies becoming virtually entwined with politicians, the trade is getting vertically integrated too. Vendors are getting into distilleries, the distillers into bottling plants.

Of course, experts say it will work out against the consumers and will kill competition. State will drink more, trade will earn more, people will spend more, but revenue won't rise in that proportion.

Jacking up the consumption is the party culture, and cities like Ludhiana and Jalandhar now often have parties with the bar being tended to by girls. "We invite a group of 4-5 girls to tend to the bar and they charge Rs 15,000 as a group. A specialist cocktail maker charges Rs 10,000 alone," said a high profile caterer.

With Black Dog no more the underdog, Johnny Walker cruising up trade charts rather than walking and Chivas remaining regal, may be Jim Morrison, about whom Americans are still debating if he really really died, is still lurking somewhere near a Ludhiana theka.■

March 28, 2005

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