Why cant I drink in Gujarat?

OOPS – THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN DO THIS IN GUJARAT!

I am still very puzzled, why I cant I get a drink in Gujarat?

Oops, let me rephrase – why cant I ‘OFFICIALLY’ get a drink in Gujarat?

I mean like in any other city in the world, why cant I go to a nice bar after a hard days work and knock down a couple of vodka tonics with my buddies?

WHY?

– Is it because the underground, black money economy of bootlegger alcohol that thrives in such large numbers in the state is so PROFITABLE that it pays to bribe politicians to keep the ban on official alcohol distribution and make money in the black (unofficial) way?

– Is the reason political? I know that ‘liquor’ bans (from time to time) in the Indian southern states bring lots of women voters to the vote banks of politicians – as a reward to stopping their husbands from wasting all the family income on alcohol (they cant spend on whats not available). Is this a vote ban ploy?

– Does the government really moronically believe that people will be better behaved without alcohol?

I hate to point fingers, but in many international flights that I have boarded, passengers headed to Gujarat as their final destination have been the worst behaved. I specifically refer to the textile trade community with whom I was closely associated with when I worked 9 years in my family business of hosiery. When we used to go to international trade fairs, these passengers were drunk while boarding and then got completely sozzled on board. I remember one flight where 2 passengers whose final destination was Ahmedabad were offloaded before the flight coz they were in no position to fly!!

Depriving people of something as basic as alcohol is really stupid and leads to all kinds of depravity symptoms.

– Is the reason possibly that there are no politicians in the state who dont have the gall and will to break the ‘Gandhian’ halo of a liquor free state and risk losing reputation?

I remain bewildered and in search of the answer, while knowing one thing for sure – having drinks with friends, and like minded people in a warm and buzzing pub is one of the best pleasures of life that no one should be deprived off!