I have recently been quite surprised by the number of uncles (and aunties) that openly consume alcohol. I know that drinking among desis is quite a common phenomenon, but I always thought it was something they did on the down-low if not at all. It is more common among Pakistanis which have recently left Pakistan, more shockingly.
A little while ago, visited some people who arrived here a few months ago. In their living room was a fancy bottle holder displaying all sorts bottles, quite proudly! I was shocked!
And this weekend met some people who are here on holiday and apparantly all the guy wanted to do was go to pubs and drink.
Has it become quite an open, besharami wali habit? I haven’t been to Pakiland in a while so I don’t know what the trends are.
Back home is worse. At least in India it is.
Here in the west hard liquor consumption is down. Wine consumption is up. I was in India in 1995 on business, and I noticed that there was only one brand of wine being manufactured , but dozens of Indian brands of whiskys, rums and Beers were available. The younger generation is really hooked on hard liquor. At least that is what I observed. Even my business friends were a bit surprised to find me after 28 years in the USA, and refusing alcoholic beverages.
The interesting point is that, we desis are giving up the best of our own culture, and adopting the worst of the western culture.
Tanhaa, "The interesting point is that, we desis are giving up the best of our own culture, and adopting the worst of the western culture."
And what is wrong with drinking in moderation considering you're of legal age ?
And I didnt know drinking was part of "western culture." Doing it openly is much better than doing it on the sly which implies that you think its worth hiding.
ufffooo...I'm not talking about India. I'm sure people don't hide it over there since Hinduism does not condemn alcohol! I'm talking about Muslim desis.
What’s wrong with Nyquil???
JK
Yeah I do find it hard to accept Muslims
drinking…but what can we say??
It is certainly a bad habit… strictly
said in the Quran to prohibit it.
But many liberal minded folks around here.
In fact there are desi clubs in the UK
where there is nothing but drinking
and screwing.
Over here in the US… i remember at EID
a NY mix crew called DSNY had an “EID” party
at a club with drinking and had a sexy dress
contest for desis. Astaghfurullah. If
this is common for you folks to do… go ahead
but remember, there will come a day when these
actions will bite you in the ass straight to hell. Thank you.
In Pakistan I knew that it is an Islamic country and only foreigners get alcohol in the hotels. period but later I found that there are 2 brewries (Muree and Quetta) in Pakistan and we export beer. Some of it is slipped to the local market and mostly it is hush hush in Pakistan.
Although, it is looked down upon in majority of desi places yet there are few “ultra modern” desis who think that they want to be like “gora sahib”.
and consume alcohol in parties. Few beaurucrats can’t actually sleep without a peg.
I have heard that in southern africa there are quite a lot of good gujrati community but there are more cases of lost muslim desis who have bars in their houses. I haven’t seen anything in the UK but have sure heard that desis tends to go to pubs.
My early days in the UK and I went to a desi restaurant and was given an adivce “munDay, jaan shaan banaya kar, yeh lay kuch pee-lay”. The guy was a district councillar in Pakistan .
Khan Sahib: I am not sure if drinking alcohol makes some desi a gora sahib. I have many friends from the subcontinent who enjoy a few drinks once in a while and are extremely conscious of their heritage and culture. At the end of the day if god presribes hell to us then so be it.
Bombaykid, Infoman,
friends this is a Pakistani site and alcohol is not accepted in our faith.. u can debate it in any indian site.. same way would debate eating beef is good or not in any Indian site?
..there r so many other topics u can contribute where faith doesnt clash..
With all due respect. There are many muslims on this forum who do enjoy a frosty beverage. I can ofcourse idly sit by and watch the festivities. do enjoy the non-debate
It must have come out in the wrong sense but it's not the drink that make them gora but the mentality that some people have and how they feel proud to have such drinking parties.
Drinking has nothing to do with pride. Drinking is a choice whether or not religion permits it. Many Muslims drink alcohol, many don't but either way it doesn't show any sort of higher status quo for the sake of it - just like smoking. It's not the mentality of people who drink alcohol show any sing on inferiority complex, it's the mentality of poeple like you who label everything according to their formalic perception.
Smoking is much bigger a hazard to health than alcohol consumption or eating pork. I don't see zealot Muslims bashing it that much. Why is that? 'cause it's not explicitly declared haram in Quran?
You might be right but drinking alcohol "in parties" is all about socialising in the gora society and desi (muslim desi) don't have this idea of socializing. If drinking in parites was not a status symbol then why not middle class people drink it in their parties and why relatively poor people have to hide their drinking habits. The more exposed you are to these type of parties the more you try to be like them unless you want to restrict yourself but there are social pressures and you can't deny it.
Why youngsters start smoking is another debate as in my opinion it's more to do with being macho among the friends and this is when more kids start smoking. Still, you can see pressure from the society. You can't relate if someone starts smoking with drinking habits of more mature people in the parties.
I don't understand sometime that why people like you fail to understand that Islam shouldn't be judged because of the practices of muslim zealots or practices in any muslim country but it should be judged purely on it's teachings. You are right that Quran doesn't say "alcohol" is haram but use the word "khamar" meaning intoxicants and aclohol, heroine and smoking comes under that category. Now, don't give me this crap that "why so many muslims smoke in Pakistan" coz I am not responsible for their acts.
Let me clear on one thing which is misunderstood by many desis (including myself a while ago) that eating pork, drinking alcohol is haram coz Allah says so not because these things are hazards to health. If one day science proves that pigs can be reared in such a way that they aren't harmful to health or tobacco & alcohol is very good for your health then we can't make it Halal.
Degas, "friends this is a Pakistani site and alcohol is not accepted in our faith.. u can debate it in any indian site.. same way would debate eating beef is good or not in any Indian site?"
I know that drinking is not permitted in Islam. I was basically responding to Tanhaa's post who I thought implied that drinking is something that is bad. I didn't really see any Indian forum where religion and religious matters are discussed. In any case I am not ridiculing anyones religious beliefs. Its perfectly fine not to drink if your religion doesnt permit it.
Personally I just do what I think is right and dont really worry what my religion says (BTW...I eat beef too -- like lots of other Indians)
Guys,
The 2 brweries in Pakistan are supposed to sell their beer, in theory, only to the non-muslims in the country. If a Christian or a Hindu wishes to buy beer, the idea is that he applies for a licence to purchase alcohol, and that the brewery only sells to people with these licences.
Of course, then the usual corruption means that in reality the brewery will sell to anyone who offers enough cash......
Desi culture both Hindu and Muslim never accepted social drinking. When hindus and muslims visited each other, no one ever offered a beer or wine. Chai, or Lassi has been our social drinks. Alcohol has always been frowned upon in both cultures.
Its the British who brought social drinking of alcohol in India. And of course to suck up to the British, desis went overboard. So much so that now its the Hip thing for the younger generation in Desiland.
Just like the Koran Sharif prohibits intoxication by all means, even Hindus consider drinking alcohol, smoking dope and drinking Bhang as Shudra(the lowest caste) behaviour.
But dosto I am simply stating the social and cultural position of intoxicants in Desiland. Im not promoting or prohibiting the use of Intoxicants. "To each his own"
My position is that its not the intoxicant that should be avoided, its the negative behaviour that results from it that is evil and should be avoided.
Is that possible ? Drink and not get Drunk??
[This message has been edited by Tanhaa (edited July 25, 2001).]