She missed her brother and the carefree days of their childhood.  But, things were not the same anymore. Right before her eyes, her family seemed to be disintegrating. Her brother Sameer had taken to the bottle and had fallen out with his father who had asked him to leave the house. Sameer did and ever since, no one knew where he had disappeared to. 

The story of Sameer and his sister is part of the series Meri Pyaari Zindagi, a collaboration between Gaon Connection and the World Health Organization Regional Office for South East Asia (WHO SEARO) to promote awareness about the ill effects of alcohol.

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From occasional drinks to daily drinking

Sameer’s sister who was now married had come home to her parents for a while as she was five months pregnant. She missed her brother. He would drink now and then on social gatherings at home, but never in excess.  Things changed when a liquor shop opened up near their home. Her brother began drinking more and more as the days went by. 

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The changes in her family began then.  Within a year, her father, who enjoyed chatting with people in the neighbourhood shop, avoided going out. Because, people would invariably ask him about his son. He was afraid someone would complain to him about his son begging them for money so that he could buy liquor…Her once happy childhood home was hollow and sad now. 

The jolt

She always felt her brother was not too far away from home. One day, she headed straight towards the dimly-lit bar and entered it.  The sight and smells were overpowering, but she was determined to stay long enough to find her brother.

She sat down to wait and as she scanned the space, she finally spotted him. Her brother. 

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Her once handsome brother was now a shell of his former self, worn down by heavy drinking. His blood-shot eyes gazed into nothingness. 

She approached him, sat down at his table and demanded he return home immediately. Seeing his sister, the alcoholic fog that enveloped Sameer began to clear.  

“You… here,” he asked her in disbelief. He followed her home. The next morning he confronted her.  

“Don’t you know what kind of people visit such places,” he asked his sister angrily. 

“You know what kind of a place it is and yet you go there every day,” she countered. 

She convinced him to seek therapy and, with his family’s support, he began a de-addiction treatment.

One day, Sameer locked himself into his room and wouldn’t come out. There was anxiety in the family, but they knew there was no alcohol at home and they were certain Sameer was not drinking.  

Hours later, Sameer opened the door. When his sister went into the room, she couldn’t stop smiling. 

The walls of the room had cartoons on them and there was a toy-fort made of cardboard. “This room is now yours and for your baby,” Sameer said.

Alcohol’s impact on health

As per a report published by the World Health Organization titled Global status report on alcohol and health 2018, alcohol per capita consumption has increased in the WHO Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions including the highly populated countries of China and India. In China, the per capita consumption of alcohol has risen from 4.1 litres in 2005 to 7.2 litres in 2016. In India, the per capita consumption of liquor has gone from 2.4 litres in 2005 to 5.7 litres in 2016. 

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Also, WHO India has predicted that by 2030, the country would have suffered an economic loss of USD 1.03 trillion due to mental health conditions and a host of these mental health issues are linked to alcohol abuse.