The lovely tale of Liquor
during Lockdown and before
At every stage, addiction is driven by one of the most powerful, mysterious, and
vital forces of human existence. What drives addiction is longing —
a longing not just of brain, belly, or loins but finally of the heart.
Cornelius Platinga
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The use of alcohol in India for drinking purposes dates back to somewhere between 3000 and 2000 BC. An alcoholic beverage called Sura which was distilled from the rice was popular at that time in India for common men to unwind at the end of a stressful day. . Yet the first mention of Alcohol appears in Rig Veda (1700BC). It mentions intoxicants like soma and prahamana. Although the soma plant might not exist today, it was famous for delivering a euphoric high. It was also recorded in the Samhita, the medical compendium of Sushruta that he who drinks soma will not age and will be impervious to fire, poison, or weapon attack. The sweet juice of Soma was also said to help establish a connection with the gods. Such was the popularity of alcohol. Initially used for medicinal purposes, with time it evolved and became the beverage that brought life to social gatherings, and eventually consuming alcohol has become a habit for many.
With such a rich history of not just humans but also of the gods,
what is a worldwide pandemic to stop anybody from drinking?
. . .
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According to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018, an average Indian drinks approximately 5.7 liters of alcohol every year. In a population of casual and excessive drinkers, with the shutters of liquor stores down, it must have been extremely difficult for “certain” people to survive lockdown. In the first two phases of lockdown, the desperation had quadrupled prices of alcohol in the Grey Market of India. Also, According to Google Trends, online searches for “how to make alcohol at home” peaked in India during the fourth week of March, which was the same when the lockdown was announced. As a consequence, a few people died drinking home-brewed liquor. People committed suicide due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Owing to the worsening situation and to reboot the economy, some states decided to open licensed liquor stores in the third phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown in India. This decision was the worst best decision the state governments could take. The kilometer-long queues in front of liquor stores were evidence that a pandemic can turn your life upside down yet your relationship with alcohol cannot move an inch.
The love in the hearts of those who are addicted was explicit. We might have seen addiction, we might have witnessed desperation but what happened in the month of May was madness, not just in terms of the way people pounced but also in the way the government earned. According to a report by Hindustan Times, on the first day of the third phase of Lockdown, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh recorded a sale of over Rs 100 Crore from liquor. On the second day of the reopening of Liquor stores, Karnataka reported sales of 197 crores in a single day which was the largest ever. Eventually, the prices of Liquor were hiked to 100% to discourage people from drinking.
. . .
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There was a special corona fee that was imposed in Delhi by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. A 70% corona fee was imposed in Delhi, yet the sales did not drop. The entire situation was a disaster for the law enforcement officers, social distancing was easily abandoned and a basic code of conduct was happily violated. Despite the chaos created, the states continued to collect revenues. Home delivery of alcohol was allowed in Maharashtra and e-tokens were sold in Delhi.
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Demand for liquor is inelastic which means that
the sale of alcohol is not much responsive to change in prices.
In general, since alcohol policy is a state subject in India, revenue from Liquor is a cash cow for state governments. In 2018 and 2019, four states collectively collected about 20,000 crores in taxes from the sale of liquor. As much as the state earns from the sale of Liquor it is undoubtedly, a threat to the Economy. Consumption of alcohol has dire health consequences. When a person consumes an alcoholic beverage, there is a rise in BAC because of which there is a gradual and progressive loss of driving ability because of an increase in reaction time, overconfidence, degraded muscle coordination, impaired concentration, and decreased auditory and visual acuity. This is known as drunken driving. (V. M. Anantha Eashwar, 2020) Drunken driving is the third biggest cause of road accidents and over speeding in India. Road accidents are not it; alcoholism causes sleep problems, heart, and liver issues. Also, it is not about an individual’s life, it ruins the lives of all people concerned.
Addiction also causes economic loss. In 2000, Vivek Benegal and his team assessed 113 patients admitted to a special de-addiction service for alcohol dependence. They found that
the average individual earned a mean of ₹1,661 but
spent ₹1,938 per month on alcohol, incurring high debt.
They also found that 95% did not work for about 14 days in a month. They concluded that it led to a loss of ₹13,823 per person per year in terms of foregone productivity. A more recent study, Health Impact and Economic Burden of Alcohol Consumption in India, led by Gaurav Jyani, concluded that alcohol-attributable deaths would lead to a loss of 258 million life-years between 2011 and 2050. The study placed the economic burden on the health system at $48.11 billion, and the societal burden (including health costs, productivity loss, and so on) at $1,867 billion. “This amounts to an average loss of 1.45% of the gross domestic product (GDP) per year to the Indian economy,” the study said. (Mint, 2020)
Setho ka Gaon
With each passing day, the ‘curtain of separation’ weighs down on the women of Afghanistan, paving the way for tyranny to thrive.
Arth
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Japan’s Anime Industry: Authenticity over Popularity
A popular franchise like Haikyuu being condemned is quite a misfortune for the anime community. Over sympathizing with one specific anime movie which happens to be the new culture of anime enthusiasts nowadays is ruining the experience of watching an anime in its entirety. Will the rapid expansion of this community be the downfall of the culture and authenticity of what anime actually is?
Japan’s Rising Anime Industry
The rising popularity and sales of Japanese Anime content in other parts of the world are expected to drive the growth of the anime market over the forecast period. The segment that accounted for the largest anime market share was in 2021 with a share of 43.2% which attributed to an increased sale of the content across the globe.
With major companies like AMC Networks, Sony and also streaming giants such as Netflix and Disney buying into anime streaming services, interest in anime around the world has never been higher. According to the annual market report by the Association of Japanese Animations (the bible for industry-watching nerds), the overseas market for anime surpassed the domestic market for the first time in 2020 with the box office success of "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- the Movie: Mugen Train".
The rising preference for digital media and demand for various streaming services are opening lucrative growth opportunities for anime content creators, necessitating them to focus on creating content with high quality, resolution and improved audio. Anime studios are aggressively using various platforms to distribute their content. This growth can be attributed to the rising popularity of anime across the globe further dividing the interests within the community.
Why Movies?
Demon Slayer is one of the biggest franchises and fans are still grappling with its massive influence. It continues to crush monthly sales, with its movie gaining a major or rather the highest box office sales, which might also have been the reason for other popular animes getting adapted into a movie. This creates a stark conflict between the two otaku communities.
The studio opting to go the movie route for Haikyuu rather than adapting the rest of the anime into a few seasons may be due to budget restrictions or maybe due to the massive success of other popular series such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer with their respective movies.
Another probable reason for the producers taking the movie route is that movies are a lot more cost effective than a complete series. One Anime series consists of several different producers and requires a huge budget. Whereas, a movie usually has one producer. Movies can work for animes with a comparatively shorter arc as was the case of Demon Slayer, or in case of it being a prequel to some series. Haikyuu wouldn’t essentially fit in that frame as it contains a lot of canon and source material.
New Media’s Role In The Industry
The anime community is usually a positive one and there's a lot of solidarity and cohesion in the air when you go to a convention, but we have some things we have strong opinions about. Fans tend to put themselves into groups based on what era in anime they like the most. This often leads to debates where newer enthusiasts bleat about older series having bad animation.
But nowadays, anime is saturated and commercialized and somewhere the authenticity of watching traditional animation or digital animation is being lost. The nostalgia-driven fans insist on all new shows being substandard. Despite the budget costs for the production, the studios have not failed in gaining from other resources such as merchandise sales. The following graph shows the sales revenue from Anime Merchandize from 2011-2020 in Japanese Yen.
Conclusion
The Japanese Anime Industry is a booming one and looms large in the entertainment industry with enthusiasts all over the world. The Industry comes with series, movies, manga and even custom merchandise. But the question is : Would adapting these series into movies conserve the authenticity of what anime actually has to offer? Without compromising the source material too much, would it be wise for the production companies to focus on their expansion more than endorsing their originality? The divided opinions on the recent Haikyuu movie announcement already marks the beginning of a contradictory debate before the industry even reaches its peak. I believe that the debate between movies and series is a forever one. Haikyuu being the most recent example of the same.
Aniksha Das
​St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous) Kolkata
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