The Weekend

It was December 2015, and I was returning from my office. I was coming by a shared auto and dropped by a metro station at cyber city, Gurugram. From there, I decided to walk to my room as it was nearby. It was around 10 PM and I got late due to some pending work at the office. As I walked a few meters, I saw a young man lying on the road, he was badly drunk, unconscious, and partly wet may be due to vomiting. A lot of people were passing by, but no one was bothered to check his well-being. Many times, I also see beggars in a similar state who do it intentionally to get some money, but this guy was different. He was well dressed, wearing branded clothes, and shoes, and I was able to assume that he was an employee in some nearby private firm. In the cyber city, Gurgaon resides many private firms and maybe he was working in one of the firms. So, looking into his attire, I thought that this may not be a normal case and I should enquire. I went closer to him and tried to push him to bring him to some consciousness, he was not completely unconscious, so he saw me and tried to cooperate. I asked him, what happened brother, do you need any help? He tried to react but was not in complete control so was facing difficulty in communicating. His wallet was coming out of his back pocket, and I can see that it had good cash. So, first, I decided to shift him to the corner side footpath. Also, a lot of auto rickshaws were passing, hence it was better to shift to a corner of the road for his safety. As he was around 6 feet, I cannot shift him all by myself, so I requested a few taxi drivers standing nearby to help. Those taxi drivers stand there daily waiting for their pickups from the cyber city IT park. I requested them to help and move this man to the corner, but their reply sent a message that signifies an uncomfortable trend. One of them reply “arey sir jane do na, yeh har hafte ka natak hain in jaise logo ka” (Leave it, sir, it is every week’s affair for these people)

Another one said: “thodi aur der baad dekhna, kuch aur aise hi gire milenge pure area mein and unke dost unko kandha dete nazar aayenge” (Wait for some more time and you will witness a lot of people in this state)

Another one said “arey sir aap jao, thodi der baad hosh aa jayega isko and sab theek ho jayega” (Sir, you carry on with your work, he will be fine in a few hours)

All these men were replying in the same tone as they have been witnessing similar situations for years. But still, few of them helped to shift this guy to the corner. These people were not at fault for making such statements and laughing at the state of this boy. This signifies the image of the so-called WEEKEND vibrations. It was a Friday night and hence the youth have all freedom to drink, roam around, party, smoke and return late at night or enjoy a night out. It shows that this culture of drinking and partying on weekends is an accepted trend, a necessity among the youth.

I shouted a couple of times and pushed him so that he comes to consciousness. I threw some water from my water bottle on his face, and he gained some consciousness. He provided his smartphone to me, I tried to operate it, but the phone was locked so I asked him to unlock it. He was under the complete influence of alcohol but somehow after a few attempts, he unlocked the phone. I checked the phone history and called the last dial number. Fortunately, the phone call was picked up, and it was his colleague who dropped him off after a weekend Friday night party. I told him everything and he told me that he just left him a few minutes back, he told me to wait for some time till he reaches there. I was happy that somebody is coming to take him as this guy was not in a condition to go home by himself.

I consoled this guy and told him that his friends are coming to pick and gave him some water. I was there for 15-20 minutes before his colleagues came. At that time, I was looking at this guy and thought if this is how he is supposed to spend his Friday night; if this is a state his parents would even think of in their dreams; if this is a price he is paying to work in a multicultural and modernized environment; if this is a peer pressure to enjoy on weekend and flaunt on social media to get some likes; or this is how youth end up on every weekend frustrated with private job pressure and stress to perform, or this is the freedom they enjoy being away from home. I was feeling disappointed because I belonged to the same category of the private sector employees where Friday night is a celebration and the weekend is a time to get rough, enjoy and have fun. It creates so much pressure on the youth to ensure that they enjoy weekends, post the pics on social platforms, and flaunt it in the office on Monday. If they are not doing so, then they are forced to think that they are wasting their time.

After 15-20 minutes, his friends came in the autorickshaw. The moment I met them, I asked them how they can leave their friend in such a condition and not drop him at his home. They mentioned that it is nothing new for them to party on Friday night but today they had more than anticipated. One of them mentioned a famous line “sir, aaj kuch jyada ho gayi, nahin to isko itni kabhi nahin chadti” (Today, he drank more than expected and hence got intoxicated, otherwise he behaves properly after drinking). I thought that it is nothing to be proud of, but today’s youth does not like to listen to moral lectures from strangers. His friends were grateful and took him with them, and I was at peace that he is now safe.

On the way back to my home, I was thinking that what or who is responsible for this culture. Am I trying to copy somebody, is this a trend in modern cities or a hallmark of a developing economy, am I falling prey to a vast industry created around the weekend where everyone is giving fascinating offers or is this a kind of scam to lure the youth and earn revenues? It is always great to have 2 days off after a week of work pressure and it is nothing wrong to go out, chilling, and partying but it should not mean endorsing a trend that appreciates alcoholism. If you search around all social media sites, you will see people openly posting pics of consuming alcohol during weekends in some fascinating bars, and pubs. This clearly indicates a growing culture or a pattern among the youth.

There are many things that you can do on a weekend to create a happier society and give you satisfaction. Few people go for a weekend outing to enjoy nature, witness a new culture, trek, explore, exercise, and capture moments. Few people invest precious time in designing their future by learning, preparing for exams, and planning for their growth. These people create a culture of how weekends are meant to follow your passion, pursue your hobbies, meet friends, watch your favorite sports, and experience new horizons. Occasionally, these outings may involve alcohol consumption, but the focus lies in something else. For ages, different civilizations have seen traditions of social or occasional drinking where important ceremonies are celebrated with alcohol but to consider that this is the only way to celebrate is an obsolete idea. In today’s world, there are many ways to celebrate your success. In the long run, drinking may not directly impact people like this boy because he will be earning enough to drink and maintain a good lifestyle, but this behaviour will endorse a poison that creates havoc in people belonging to marginalized communities. Unfortunately, in today’s time, weekend and alcohol consumption has become synonymous with each other and it is the collective responsibility of the youth to reverse this. Also, these metro cities have created so many opportunities for us to earn, grow and reach our zenith, so it becomes our responsibility to maintain the sanity of these cities. 

It will always remain a personal choice how to spend it, but it is time that we should think about this buzz created around “The Weekend.”

Inspired by true events. 

Regards
Live For The Nation