There are few quite like the merry men of Communist Kerala. From a group’s 27-year crusade for senior citizens’ right to subsidised alcohol to others who shoot off indignant SMSes if a liquor shop delays opening its shutters by even five minutes, Soutik Biswas records the desperation of the Malayali alcoholic.
MJ Akbar is a member of Rajya Sabha and the author of several books, including Doolally Sahib and the Black Zamindar: Racism and Revenge in the British Raj