Fangs of Alcoholism

It narrates a true story about a young, sensitive, innocent teenage boy who has undergone the pain, cruelty and the destructive impact of alcoholism. The story goes back in memory some thirty years back, when this young boy called "Ramu" and his mother were eagerly awaiting for the father and husband to come from office. This is the time when there was no TV, no movie halls near by and family is to enjoy together in the house. And when the father and the husband comes late in the night from the office after getting drunk, what state of mind the family must have been undergoing, is what this story revolves around.

As any middle class family , day starts with suprabhatam or devotional songs of Lord and the mother and the wife gets early in morning and starts preparing for breakfast and lunch. Ramu and his father get ready to go to school and office respectively. Both the male members of the family after having breakfast together and take packs of lunch in tiffin boxes goes out of house. Ramu's mother a housewife and traditional lady, indulges in house hold chores and gets busy whole day, without rest. When it is evening she waits for Ramu and her husband to arrive home. She prepares favorite food for her husband and helps the young boy in his home work, wears her best saree, puts flowers in her hair eagerly waits for her husband to come from work & as a typical Indian housewife to look pleasant and make her husband happy.

Time tickles from 7 to 9 P.M., still her eyes are on the gate, eagerly waiting for the arrival of her husband. She keeps telling young Ramu to find out from her husband's friends, whether there was any meeting in the office. The young boy goes out one after another house in the neighborhood where his father's friends live. But every where he gets only one reply, no son there was no meeting in the office and they don't know the whereabouts of his father.

Slowly the young and innocent mind is in puzzle, and become worried. He comes back with negative reply. Those were time when there was no mobile, no telephone in any house. Time tickles to 10P.M.; still there is no whereabouts of his father. The traffic becomes thin, most of the shops in their locality have closed or in the process of closing. The owls are on prowl for their pray. There is no noise on the road, only sound to be heard was of tick, ticking of the watch.

Both the son and his mother not had their dinner, waiting for the father to arrive so that all of them can have food together. Mother's anxiety started reaching to its peak; her anxiety turns to worst worries. Now she does not sit in house but goes out to the gate and watches if any passer by to be her husband or not. Seeing her on the roads in that time of the night some of her neighborhood women came to enquire about the reason of her standing on the road. One must understand the mother's mind. She cannot tell her neighbors that her husband has not returned home, nor she could keep mum. Time ticks to 11.30 in night, a distant light of a scooter was visible. She and her young son wait on the road, slowly the scooter comes nearby. And it happens to be his father's & the lady's face glowed to see her husband.

The young boy, who was waiting whole evening to narrate a story about his school, rushes towards his father's scooter. But his father was in an unstable condition , and was not able to park the scooter. Then the boy helps him in putting the stand of the scooter. And they all go inside the house. Then at that moment the watch strikes twelve o'clock.

The lady goes to kitchen to warm up the dinner and arranges the food on the table. Then goes to call her husband, and she realizes that her husband was in drunken state & he is in no mood to eat ,then the lady who kept her cool all the evening, looses her temper and she bursts as an erupted volcano . Her anxiety and worry all the evening looses her patience and her anger comes out as flow of molten lava.

She starts screaming in loud noise and the alteration slowly picks pitch, words flows exchanged and the noise now reaches to pinnacles and pushing and pulling between father and mother of the young son, who from a distance watches the entire scene. The poor boy has no idea which way the family alteration will go. His worry turns to worst nightmare as the father suddenly, shouts at top of his voice on the mother and rushes outside the house and disappears in the dark.

The lady keeps shouting and screaming at top of her voice, suddenly as if an ice burg has come over the volcano, she starts sobbing and her sobbing turns into loud weeping. She pulls her hair and kept on weeping.

Both the boy and his mother have not taken their dinner, and forgot that they are hungry & became hysteric. They don't have any idea where to find the father. The lady rolls on the ground in hysteric, beating her chest with both the hands. Seeing all this young boy tries to comfort his mother and asks her not to get worried. Times ticks 1.00 o'clock. Both of them lost their courage as the father doesn't arrive.

One must imagine what kind of state the young boy has been in that moment. He cannot go to his neighbor to seek help, without putting his family's pride in prejudice & jeopardy, nor he can keep mum and do nothing. Finally the boy takes out his bicycle and starts searching for his father at the dead of night. He goes every where including bus stand, railway station, he searches every odd place the young mind could think about. He even goes to the burial ground. But all his efforts turns invain. With depression and hunger the boy returns home, and does not know how to face his hysteric state mother. The night was a real nightmare as whole night both the mother and her son could not sleep nor could have their dinner. They don't know what to do but in vain wait till next morning. When the effect of alcohol came down the father of the boy returns home in a bad shape.

The state of young adolescent boy who faces this in his life could affect the young mind & heart & it turn to a ugly way by affecting his studies & also the wife who underwent the trauma of this evil fangs of alcohol and the crushing effects on the family. This evil effect the young child must have been passing, dreaming about the dreaded picture , itself brings shivers in the spinal code. So, ultimately the family is your first priority as it is the only one who forgives & forgets the evil anything you do to them. Taking alcohol should be a pleasure but should not turn to a curse.