What happened to that family? The head of the family died two years ago after a long period of mental instability and liver disease as the result of his alcoholism.

The permanent tragedy that struck that family was the mental illness of the eldest daughter. How did it happen? She was a student of engineering. A beautiful girl born in a respectable family. A favourite of her companions. The beauty queen in the college. She was travelling one day by bus. At the bus stop her eyes fell on a sad sight. An alcoholic was lying on his back on the road. His vomit was all over his blood-smeared body ! His reckless movements at times caused him to be half naked; at other times fully so. People stood ridiculing and laughing. Others condemned his weakness!"Is not that your father?" jeered the girl's companions. She could not stand it and fell unconscious. Kind arms carried her home. From that day onwards she did not utter a word. The sight of her father lying naked on the street must have been constantly in her mind. She would cry or shriek at intervals. Her world shrank into her little room. There it was darkness always! No one would open the door. Her future as bleak and dark as that room! No one let her out even to see the body of her dead father.

Liquor and drugs promise man one thing; give him quite another.

In spite of seeing so many fall into this trap, several proceed along the same path; that is the peculiarity of alcoholics.

Knowing that liquor is poison, people drink. Knowingly, therefore, they commit suicide, and at times, even murder. Either they are deceiving themselves or are deceived by others. Take care that you do not fall into that trap. Come forward to save those who have fallen into that trap.
 
 

These are terrible phenomena whose meaning becomes clear only when it is a little too late. Alcohol is poison. Alcohol is sickness. Alcohol is despair. Alcohol is death. Alcohol is fire that destroys the family.

Unfortunately no one realises this in the beginning. No one admits it, perhaps. You too may not acknowledge it or believe it.

The power of alcohol has seduced many; intoxicated them ; made several crazy and mad. It has led numerous people to immorality, suicide, crime.

It gives momentary satisfaction, momentary oblivion, promises temporary consolation and plunges you into everlasting grief; causes relentless tears; casts you into mental anguish and unbearable guilt feelings... But the alcoholic does not at first realise all this; or admit it; that is the specialty of the demon of alcoholism, the secret of its success.
 
 

Annually lakhs of people die of alcoholism. Unfortunately, of late, they include women. About two and a half times of the usual, untimely and unhappy deaths are caused by alcoholism. About 60-70% social evils are related to alcoholism.

Go to quarrelling families. Go to civil courts trying cases. Go to streets where there is commotion. Go to prisons. Go to centres where immorality is rampant. Go to places where murders take place. Go to the terrorist - infested underworld. Go to secret hideouts that abound in sex rackets. Go to hotels, the refuge for suicide cases. Go to night clubs frequented by young boys and girls. Go to halls that screen blue films. In all these places we can see alcohol and drugs are responsible for the evils, in one way or another. Do you also want to go the same way?

Promise of paradise. Bestowal of hell. Some are addicted to alcohol and drugs in order to be cured of diseases! To alleviate pain! To forget grief! To acquire energy! To put aside family problems! To counteract financial loss! To be immersed in worldly pleasures without guilt feelings! To be counted as honourable in society! To boost their business concerns! To pose as a hero among friends ! To attract the attention of the other sex! To be considered as progressive! To have one's way by threatening others! To set aside the troubles of wife and children! The number of husbands who take to drinking is not small. The number of college girls and house wives who frequent clubs and follow suit, in the name of equality and status, is on the increase. It is pitiful to see that college girls who, unknown to the parents or hostel wardens, travel far in order to enjoy a drinking spree with men, are swelling in number. Like flies that are attracted to the fire but are eventually quenched by it, so many lives are destroyed through the mirage of happiness promised by drinking and drugs. They seek paradise but end up in hell!
 
 

Unbelievable are the reasons for drinking. The bad example of parents and elder brothers is a strong temptation.Their secret bouts of drinking are emulated secretly by the children- sip by sip though it be in the beginning. At times it is the influence of companions given to drinking, drug addiction and smoking. Exploitation by wicked people can also lead others to these evils. There are hosts of other reasons too.
 
 

Those who drink lose everything today or tomorrow. Forever. Wealth, self-respect, happiness, satisfaction, peace, family felicity, purity of life, reputation, a bright future-they fall into all kinds of troubles and pitfalls unawares. The secret ridicule of companions; the rough treatment by family members; frequent prick of conscience; mental anguish of all the family members; complaints from relatives; aversion, fear of progeny; pain and suffering everywhere, indifference and incurable diseases of the alcoholic.
 
 

Were not some alcoholics good writers? Good artists? Good athletes? Wealthy men? Successful business men? Accomplished artistes? But that was only one aspect of their character. Does anyone publicise the other ? Those who see only the rosy side of the life of such people, who begin with sleeping pills, grow in alcoholism, plunge into drug addiction and become a prey to an untimely death, are being deceived.

Shocking suicides, gruesome murders, shameful incidents of rapes , tragic financial losses , unbelievable treachery, desperate cases of divorce, collapsing marital relationship, deserted children, snapping social links-are not alcohol and drugs behind all these disasters?
 
 

In a few moments after a drink one fifth of it is dissolved in the stomach. The intoxicant spreads from the abdomen and small intestines into the liver and then to the heart. The heart pumps it quickly through the blood vessels into every cell of the body. Sexual organs become active. Man becomes blind with lust. The activities of the brain become unbalanced.
 
 

The alcohol that goes directly into the stomach easily spreads throughout the body-mostly into the brain, liver, pancreas and the mind. When it cannot dissolve in the stomach, when there has been an overdose, it is vomited out. 20% of the alcohol intake in given out through urine, exhalation, saliva and sweat. The rest has to be oxidized, digested by the liver. When the liver has to do extra work it becomes weakened. When this activity is repeated, the liver is damaged; becomes clotted and inactive. The next stage is cirrhosis. The blood vessels of the stomach burst and there is bleeding. Diseases likes billiousness and damage of the spleen are the result . The eyes, lips and cheeks lose their rosy tint and become pale. Weakness, a pitiful look are signs of this stage.
 
 

In the country side spurious liquor is distilled by adding ammonium sulphate, copper sulphate, copper coins, battery cells, decayed fruits, stale meat and, besides, rats, frogs, lizards, cockroaches, millipedes and fowl dirt in order to sell cheap and produce a "kick" easily. Such poisonous stuff, when consumed produce illness very soon and instant death.
 
 

Alcoholic drinks and drugs first attack the brain which is the nerve centre of the nervous system. The chief section of the brain that controls the movements of the cerebellum, the spine,the head, medulla oblongata, heart, lungs and the walls of the veins becomes diseased.

As soon as the nervous system of the alcoholic becomes unbalanced, his sexual appetite is activated, his lustful desires go beyond control. It becomes impossible for him to think, analyze, observe, control, concentrate, remember or discern properly.As a result he looks at his wife and daughter in the same manner and attempts sex play and even assaults. It is tragic to think of the blow in the dark that a daughter or maid - servant or sister may receive!

What is before his eyes becomes invisible and he is easily subjected to hallucination which, when it becomes frequent,makes the alcoholic to live in a world of make -believe. What is hidden in the subconscious is spoken out loudly. Varied mannerisms like smiling, bursts of laughter, shouting, depression, despair and anger take control of him. He repeats senseless and imprudent acts. Just think of the pitiable state of the parents, wife and children who are obliged to witness these antics. It is impossible to describe the sorrowful stories about those who create a scene lying naked on the streets, wallowing in their own vomit.

Alcoholics often fall into the trap of their exploiters. Their wealth and property is misappropriated. They are enslaved by prostitutes. Women who drink easily, become inmates of brothels. Very soon all is lost and destroyed.
 
 

It begins with the desire to experience the thrill that drinks and drugs give but becomes gradually an uncontrollable passion. For students and young people, who become victims of this evil, the consequences are many-regular headaches (specially in the morning), stomach trouble, anxiety and depression, lack of concentration and responsibility, guilt feeling, disassociated speech, eagerness to avoid others' company, excessive interest in ex-curricular activities, unnecessary argumentation, illicit relationships, loss of energy because of evil action; ennui, weariness, fluctuation in blood pressure, excessive swelling, fluctuation in the heart beat, diarrhoea, constipation, uncontrollable thirst, vomiting, anger, loss of eyesight, trembling, purposeless walking, dazed look-these symptoms make life unbearable for them and those connected with them. So many students who might have had a bright future are destroyed . How many are the pitfalls they fall into! The number of parents who see the deterioration of their children in regard to family ties is on the increase.
 
 

The evils of alcohol do not stop here. Theft, violence, forgery, treachery, gambling, flouting of rules, lack of responsibility towards wife,children, students, subordinates, culpable indifference, sexual aberrations, use of weapons, murder, suicide - these are the avenues towards which he hastens. Unhealthy, illicit sexual relations, lustful desires! At the same time sexual impotence (because of the decrease of sexual hormones in the blood), weakening of the sexual and reproductive organs, the unbalanced activity of the hypothalamus and pituitary glands of the brain that direct the activity of the sexual glands and organs and decrease in sexual secretions ,are the result of alcoholism.

Destruction of one's capacity for official responsibilities is another of the disastrous consequences of alcoholism. Lack of interest in one's duty, favouring the sycophants and bribery, cause the employer to take punitive measures. Those who lose their jobs in this manner are numerous. They spend their time cursing their circumstances and employers.
 
 

The one who drinks habitually begins to suspect his wife. He strongly suspects that she is like other women who indulge in drunken revelries with him and are game for men. He takes for granted that she does not express any warm feelings of love for him because she has secret liaisons. However much he may be advised and given clear proof of her innocence, he cannot truly love his wife or have faith in her or treat her in a human way. The children are punished cruelly.

The alcoholic tries to exaggerate the slightest fault and lack of respect of the wife and children and justifies himself. The marital relationship is thus tampered with. She is discontented. The distance between them grows. The man tries to establish his dominion over his wife while she and the children become estranged from him and hate and fear him. On his arrival, all talk and laughter and play cease. The children run away and hide themselves. Family felicity is no more there. The husband's revengeful suspicion and cruelty may even result in the murder of his wife and children. Several wives leave home seeking peace. Some become mentally deranged and quite a few turn to other men and may even become prostitutes. Children become revengeful, social miscreants. Instances of such children turning out to be juvenile delinquents are not rare. Generations are destroyed.