My dear Mad-raasas and raasaathis!
Well, I still prefer Madras to Chennai.
Got this huge debate in my workplace after me and a friend wrote about the dark side of the night life in this not so sleepy city, post the Stephanie incident.
Well, some of the women believe that the story indulges in moral policing. That was not the intention of the piece at all. But yes, me and Mani both of us do believe that it is not appropriate for anyone below 18 to drink. The women, however, argue that even at 15 or 16, you do know what you are doing and are well aware of the consequences, be it drinking or sex.
Yes, it is all cool to make such seemingly politically correct and activist statements but can you handle it if a little girl you know very well, is getting drunk in the company of her friends, men or women? Now, how comfortable will you be if she has just her boyfriend for company, privacy of his car or home and the excuse that “We were drunk, we didn’t know what we were doing?”
Is it really okay for boys and girls below 18 to be allowed inside our nightclubs?
The police and the government do not think so.
The clubs were shut down early on Saturday night. The managers are asking just one question: Was it drinking that killed Stephanie or was it drunken driving?
Wild Side of Chennai!
Posted In: Archives
MADRAS INK. 
I prefer Madras too.
Interesting post, I wasn’t aware of the Stephanie Audwo incident. 2 aspects to this incident as I see it –
1. Drunken Driving.
2. Eve-Teasing.
Drunken driving is just that. If you drive when your alcohol level is over the legal limit, you’re stupid. If you kill someone because you were driving over the legal limit, you’re guilty of manslaughter. If the stiff penalties that goes with such crimes in the United States were handed out in TN too, these acts would not be so common.
A person caught driving drunk will be jailed straight away (a sober person will have to bail you out) and loses his/her license for at least 3 – 5 years.
If you’re convicted of manslaughter because of drunk driving, its 15 years in the prison.
Unfortunately, in India, its all too easy to get away with these kind of accidents. Witness Salman Khan, who everyone knows is guilty of said manslaughter. How did it affect him? He lost possession of his beloved SUV for a few years and had to deal with police, courts. A person responsible for killing someone does not deserve to come back and lead a normal life unaffected!
Think about this – what if Salman had killed the child of a prominent Shiv Sena politician in Maharashtra? Do you think he would have gotten away with it?
Or how about this – What if a top Tamil cine actor was involved in a drunken driving accident? I’m sure that has happened before and been swept under the carpet too. However democratic we might be, who you are and the power you wield still matters a lot when justice is handed out. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.
I’ll talk briefly about eve-teasing. I read on a linked blog posting that a girl/woman’s death gets far more press than a man’s. That statement is so chauvinistic and insensitive! There is no denying that Indian society is dominated by men – sure there a few women who stand their own ground but I’ll say this – the day that a young man is chased by drunk girls in a car and people are no more surprised or shocked than seeing boys chase a girl, that’ll be a sign that girls are on the same terms. I just can’t see that happening for the next many years. The articles talk about the fact that Stephanie had ‘probably had some beer’ in more out-of-ordinary fashion than the boys who were ‘obviously drunk’! I mean, can a girl not meet with her friends, share a drink and get back home? This is supposed to be Chennai, the biggest urban centre of southern India.
It is unfortunate that a girl had to die before there is discussion on these issues. I hope this opens many eyes. With a woman CM, you’d think the city would be somewhat more safer for women!
erm .. too many words too little space in a comment …