No age check, Mumbai teens raise a toast

One does not need a fake ID when restaurants do not bother to check if a drinker is above 21 years.

You may be keeping strict checks in the house to ensure that your child does not consume alcohol, but restaurants, pubs and bars in the city have poor checks to ensure that all their customers are above the legal age for drinking.

This could be the reason behind excessive drinking habits among teenagers. DNA visited four restaurants and bars across the city — TGIF in Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel, Jugheads, Rainforest, and Redbox in Andheri West — to see what measures were in place to check underage drinkers.

The DNA correspondent was not asked for any ID proof in all the four restaurants. Most restaurateurs try to identify underage drinkers by their looks, but looks can be deceptive. At all the four restaurants, the drinks menu was given along with the food menu.
DNA ordered hard liquour, vodka or rum, in all these places. The waiter barely gave a nod and did not bother to ask for any ID proof.
At Redbox on Link Road in Andheri, when some students ordered drinks, the waiter only asked who one among them were drinking. The students, who looked older than the rest, said that they were drinking. The waiter took their order.

Once the drinks came, all students drank.“We always travel in big groups, if we want to go drinking. It is easier to order drinks. No one asks for ID cards. Once the drinks arrive at the table, no one pays attention to who is drinking,” said a 15-year-old students from the group, on condition of anonymity.

Underage drinkers said if they act confident, they easily fool waiters and are not asked for ID cards. “It is easy to fool the waiters. If one looks a bit older and acts confident, they do not face any problem,” said a 16-year-old girl from Khar.

Besides, there is no check on ID cards in most night clubs in the city. Teenagers said there are select night clubs in the city, especially in south Mumbai, that do not restrict entry to teenagers. “A popular night club in south Mumbai is always teeming with 17- to 18-year-olds. The bouncers at the entrance do not stop underage drinkers,” said Pratik Gulwade, a SYBMM student from Ghatkopar.

Besides pubs and restaurants, wine shops are the most popular places among underage drinkers to buy liquor from. “Since I look young and am barely five-feet-two inches tall, it is not easy for me to get a drink in bars. But I buy liquor from some wine shops in Juhu. They do not ask for ID cards,” said a 16-year-old from Vile Parle.

Other factors add up
l Parents drinking habit
l Age proof is not asked from youngsters, neither any fine is imposed on seller
l More pocket money
l Effect of Westernisation
l Availability of hi-fi bars
l Appealing Advertisements

Figures say it all
32% of teens drink when they are upset
15% said they drink when they are bored
46% said they drink to “get high”
45% said that their parents do not impose any kind of restrictions
16% teenagers start drink before age 15
70% take on farewell parties and birthday parties, New Year, Christmas, Valentine’s Day

Factors playing catalysts
| Lack of after-school activities
l To look cool and sexy
l Due to tension
l Trying to be on par with friends