No friend, no beer

My friend Dilip had dropped in from B'lore on work. And, as is the norm whenever he is in
town, I dropped in at his hotel room on my way back from work for a few drinks. Being the
extrovert, friendly guy that he is, there are others in town who look forward to his frequent business visits. This time it was a couple of girls who worked with him at his previous job.
Since their joining us at the hotel would not be very appropriate for conservative Chennai,
we decided to meet at a bar.

We ordered our usual vodka and I was expecting the girls to opt for coke (or atmost a beer). However, they preferred to go along with us in the choice of drink.
Hmmm. Traditional/conservative Chennai sure has come a long way.

I had always wondered how women in Chennai source their liquor (retail). Though tagged
a conservative city in general, I am sure quite a few of the current generation drink. But
since I didn't know one who did, the answer had always eluded me.

Now was my chance to get my doubt cleared. In all of Tamilnadu, the retail liquor business
is done by the state-run TASMAC shops. The way these shops are, the kind of crowd that
comes there, etc make it almost impossible for a woman to get her liquor from there.

Ofcourse you could drink in the many bars available at hotels, but what if you were in the
mood for a beer at home or wanna party with a few of your girlfriends at home ?

I voiced my doubt to the ladies and their answer stumped me. They have a male friend who
gets it for them. What if he is not available or gone out of town ?
"No beer", was the reply in unison.

I imagined a role-reversal and wondered about the situation if we men were stuck like this.
It's a Saturday evening and I need to have a few vodkas. But my friend is not around to go
get it for me. It sucks.

For those girls that are not in the know and who do not have a handy male friend to go get
their liquor, one good option is the premium version of TASMAC at the upscale Spencers
Mall. It's not your typical dirty TASMAC shop and you needn't worry about anyone staring.

My bit of public service for women who drink. :-)