Hydroxychloroquine vaccine or Old Monk quarter, what would you choose today?

Just when you thought the country was beginning to show uncommon wisdom in how it tackled Covid-19, somebody went and opened the wine shops yesterday. I don’t know whose decision it was, but it made every tippler’s day.

Rishi Kapoor, who relied on Scotch whisky (Johnnie Black) to keep his spirits high, had been a strong advocate of this. And Raj Thackeray, yes – the same had urged his cousin, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, to throw open the wine shops not to satiate the locked down thirst of drinkers, oh no, but to revive the shrinking economy of the state.

Well, you saw what happened. People’s gluttony came to the fore. Alcoholics overcame their withdrawal stupor and leaped ebulliently to life. If any good had been achieved by the lockdowns and social distancing, it was knocked back like a Vodka Shot as soon as the shutters went up. Narendra Modi, a teetotaler, must not have been amused. But the liquor merchants jovially watched their stocks flying off the shelves.

The people and there were women too in large numbers, braving the ignominy of standing in long, unruly queues in the heat and inviting a police lathi-charge, were not those discerning drinkers who ask you what you’ll have when you call on them in time for a sundowner. Their bars are Duty-Free and stocked from their frequent trips abroad and they never stand in lines. Those that made a rush for the wine shops were the Quarter Drinkers – the lower middle-class that buys affordable Indian liquor in quarter plastic bottles. And also the unfortunates caught on the hop by the lockdown’s prohibition.

I don’t know how you read the situation, but this is the way I think the majority looks at it. There are worse ways of dying than by alcoholism – and Coronavirus right now is No. 1. So if you open wine shops, you’re inspiring people to damn social distancing and risk picking up the virus. But the bright side is that you’ll be so flushed with alcohol, that you’ll probably say, “Who needs Hydroxychloroquine or Remdesvir vaccines, give me a quarter of Old Monk or Royal Stag instead.

About Mark Manuel

The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.

With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.

Further

His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.

Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.

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