Kerala Tipples

Much rage about some recent Mohanlal adverts that purport to encourage whisky drinking even if they are supposedly for banana chips: alcohol advertising being banned in Kerala.

Kerala has an alcohol problem compared to the rest of India: the average Kerala resident accounts for 8.3 litres of liquor every year - the highest in India, and nearly three times the national average. This from a state with 1/3 muslim who "presumably" don't drink.

Like all things in Kerala, verybody is taking sides and nobody is laughing. When it comes to social and political issues, Keralites tend to suffer from a sense of humour bypass.

The BBC website has some coverage.

Our advice: buy your spirits in duty free because what the ads don't tell you is that Keralite spirits tend to be pretty yucky!