Free the Weed!
Published by sauvik January 20th, 2006 in Governance, Culture and Society, LawI have argued for the legalization of cannabis in The Times of India today, based on an “experiment with truth” that I undertook at Devprayag, where the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi meet, and the river thereafter assumes the name Ganga. Enjoy!
Sauvik,
While I must admit that I never had a chance to conduct the same experiment that you did, I did ruminate on the subject as I watched others conducting theirs.
read your piece, nitin. good stuff. i visited amsterdam too. imagine hash cafes all over india just like holland - wouldn’t it be great?
Sauvik,
Great piece.
However, I would like ot point out that Shiva did indeed imbibe alcohol. Thus - Somras.
there is a thesis that says somras was made from herbs found in today’s himachal pradesh. that would make somras bhang ki thandai, and not alcohol. otherwise, why no word for “cheers”?
yazad might remember a night in a bar in germany when we were asked to say cheers in an indian language. this was after rounds and rounds of “prost” “skol” and “mazdrovya”, among others. our pakistani neighbour at the bar, sipping non-alcoholic beer, passed. so i took up the challenge and shouted “piyo behnchod”. the whole bar shouted “piyo behnchod” after me. the paki from lahore almost passed out. yazad stayed up.
what is my favourite salutation to shiva used when lighting a chillum: it’s this: bum bholay shankar, dushman ko tang kar!
u have presented rather interesting points, but yaa vitamin g rocks, cheaper than alcohol, no hangover etc etc…and tht german story was hilarious…
sure weed must be legalized becoz now even if it is iilegal many use and relax themselves , in india every cop from top to low , constables know where weed is being sold then what is the poin of making it ilegal they have made made ilegal only bcoz of liquer lobby jhony
in india, the most conservative non-islamic nation, one must realise the fact that india is also the most hypocritical.
lord shiva is glorified for his “stunts” with weed and his devotees are slapped around in public for theirs.
It should be legal, i’ve been campaigning in the uk for a few years now
I agree. Legalisation of weed is the way to go. But this whole Shiva smoked weed thing- Technically, you are not allowed to smoke weed unless:
a) you are meditating to Lord Shiva and are ready to communicate with him
b) In order to reach the point of safe transcendental meditation, you must gain complete control of your body through physical yoga. Then and ONLY then is it safe to experiment with transcendental meditation. The last stages of Trans. meditation involves the intake of charas.
So basically, it isn’t meant for the aam junta to smoke as and when we please for less than devotional reasons. That being said, I am a daily abuser. :)