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This article comprises general content about the campus life and culture. It is not an investigative report.
Bhandi – The art of drinking.
Have you been in that senior’s room, listening about how ‘liquid luck’ is the best way to make connections, and how social drinking is the way to go? Fast forwarding many nostalgic semesters, did we really socially drink, or did it simply lead to many nights in which we’re not quite sure what really happened?
Well, what exactly does it mean to be bhand? And what do we mean by social drinking? How can we quantify it? What amount of the ‘liquid luck’ do us muggles need to drink to be addressed as a bhand someone? Well, the urban dictionary doesn’t really say anything about that, and sorry to disappoint you, but if we’re being real here, there isn’t a good answer to that. It’s very subjective- a person can have a couple of shots and go flying and another might have an entire bottle and still see the world standing still. Everyone has their own capacities. So, how do you know what you can take and what works for you? It’s like you’re thrown into the sea, blissfully unaware of even how to swim.
There are many different ways you can do it – what, when, why, how, and with whom gives rise to infinite possibilities. Broadly however, we can look at drinking in two major categories – Social drinking, and Binge drinking. Social drinking refers to moderate alcohol consumption in a social setting. Binge drinking, on the other hand, involves consuming excessive amounts of alcohol in a short period, often leading to impaired judgment, memory loss, and increased risk of harm.
Let the Numbers talk
We, at Vox Populi, conducted a survey to understand the trends and culture of drinking, with 700+ responses from the campus community. Surprisingly more than half of the respondents have open conversations about alcohol in their household. On the other hand, a majority of people stated that despite having open conversations about it, consuming alcohol isn’t acceptable in their family. Among all the respondents, 50.6% (358) have already tried alcohol, 46.8% (331) have not, and 2.7% (19) are not comfortable sharing this information.
Amongst the respondents who have tried alcohol, most of them (90%+) started off in a social setting, either with close friends, at a social event like a club party/event, or with their family members. The amount consumed in a session varies from person to person, and among the respondents who have tried, the frequency is Monthly or less for 65% (230), 2-4 times a month for 13% (46), Never for 12% (42) and More often that 4 times a month for the rest. 60% of the UGs have tried alcohol either before or after coming to campus or aren’t totally opposed to trying it in the future. The number is the same for PGs. It is also worthwhile to note that only 7% of the UGs had tried it before coming to campus, while for PGs it was around 30%.
Out of the 330 respondents who haven’t tried alcohol yet, 55.5% (183) of them cited the reason to be their Morals, 16.1% (53) cited Health, 10% (33) preferred to avoid risky situations, and 7.9% (26) attributed it to their family. The rest, 10.5% (35), cited various reasons including money, high chances of getting addicted, and not having any incentive to try. Most of them (84.6%) do not plan on trying it in the future as well.
What does our campus community have to say about drinking?
“Alcohol is only harmful in two ways.
- When it becomes an addiction like any other addiction.
- When the person who gets drunk is irresponsible towards themselves and the society around them.
This only reflects the lack of maturity which can be overcome by getting out of your shell, learning more about the world around you and simply learning to be a responsible person towards everyone. Also learn to enjoy the company of people without alcohol; it’s just a fun thing to consume sometimes. Seek professional help if you’re in deep sorrow, alcohol does nothing.”
“Just love the talks after getting a bit drunk and I think it brought me closer to my true friends too. A thought I wrote down while drunk reads-“You are your filters- I think I want to say that the idea or the existence of a person constitutes and is constituted by the information which he values. The world is noise, and what you filter out of that noise is your reality. Basically, you are what you see, and you see what you choose.”
I think I went quite deep with that shit.”
“There should be awareness on drinking. People should know that drinking is harmful, whatever be the quantity. And one should only drink (responsibly) if they feel like; not because of peer pressure or to look ‘cool’.”
“In this world nothing is a bad habit, the rules what we made will decide the things. Remember, everyone has their own set of rules and ethics.
May be ur ethics book is large that doesn’t mean everyone’s has to be large, someone’s has just one line.”
“Jab tak jeevan sahi chal rha ho, jo mann me aaye krro.
By jeevan I mean, tumhare academic goals, career goals, relationship goals, economic stability and health ofc.Inside of campus, the stigma of “drinkers” is a well reduced thing which has its pros and cons, but as long as the person is self-aware, jo karta hai krne do:)”
Some Myths and Facts:
Myth:- Small amounts of alcohol are good for you.
Fact:- According to WHO, ‘No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health’.
Myth:- You are allowed to drink inside your hostel rooms.
Fact:- This is False. You are not allowed to consume/possess alcohol anywhere on campus.
Myth:- Women are less likely to consume alcohol than men on campus
Fact:- According to the survey, the percentage of men and women who have consumed alcohol is almost the same.
Myth:- It’s acceptable to drink over the age of 18 all over India.
Fact:- The legal drinking age is actually 21 in most Indian states, including U.P., 25 in some and are actually variable.
Written by: Aaliyah Ahmed, Ashutosh Sharma, Dhriti Barnwal, Ishaan Jain, Joel Bansal, Manya Dixit, Pragya Puri
Design by: Pankhuri Sachan
Edited by: Mayur Agrawal, Sruthi Subramanian
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