Could a woman in Tamil Nadu enjoy a drink in a TASMAC bar in peace?

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The News Minute| September 9, 2014| 5.20 pm IST Live in Tamil Nadu and there is no escaping that little, shady shop on every other street with tens of bedraggled men standing outside it at any time of the day ; their hands outstretched through the grilled windows while trying to buy a bottle of alcohol. The doors of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation or the famous TASMAC is like a stairway to heaven for any person to sit down and enjoy a drink right from the hardworking laborers after a hard day’s work to a stressed out IT professional looking for some respite from his boss. However, this open invitation doesn’t seem to include women wanting to drown their sorrows with a peg of whiskey. In a TASMAC bar in Ulundurpet in the Villipuram district recently, a woman was sat down and advised against drinking in the government-owned bar. Sadly, the story does not end with just advice. Using the lady as example, a man has put a Facebook post asking the Tamil Nadu Government to take notice and shut down the TASMAC bar because even women have begun drinking alcohol. The post has got over 1,000 shares. The FB post included pictures of the woman which have not been displayed here. The story goes that the woman entered a TASMAC bar in Ulundurpet at 1 p.m. one day recently and started drinking, according to a Facebook post put up by one Suresh Kumar. Another man, a Brother came to know of the woman drinking in the bar and approached her to advise her against continuing the habit. The woman however said that since she was 22 years old, she could as she pleased. She allowed the man to take a picture of her with a bottle of alcohol. The post however ends on a sadistic note saying that since even women have begun drinking alcohol, it is time the Tamil Nadu Government takes notice and closes the TASMAC bar. Some of the comments on this post hint at how women drinkers will have an advantageous impact on the ruling government. One says, “If women also start drinking, it wll become easier to get votes (Pengal kudika aarambithuvittal tamilnaatil ilavasamaga maduvaiye koduthu vote ketkalam)” . Another asks the much needed question, what the big deal about women drinking in TASMACs was all about. To finish off with a bang, another user has complimented “Amma” for her efforts, “Ellam Amma Seyal”, it says. There is no point in explaining the absurdities of such posts. In a day of equality, where men and women do equal work, get equal kinds of jobs and pays, it is quite base to discriminate a woman because, she’s well a woman.

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