Brilliant Idea of Kerala people to Deviate from alcohol..!!! Is to Engage with Chess..!!!

In a novel way to campaign against alcohol consumption, Kerala Government has drawn up a plan to honour non-tipplers in a local village panchayat here by presenting them with a cash reward of Rs. 1,000 each.

Select residents of Chemmaruthi village, who have never tasted liquor in their life so far, will get a cash prize of Rs. 1,000 each and a shawl as part of the Health Department’s anti-liquor campaign.

As many as 10 villagers, aged above 40 and have a clean personal background, would be chosen for the reward from among the applications received, health department sources said.The drive is being organised under the aegis of the Public Health Centre in Chemmaruthi near Varkala town.

A senior health official said the aim of the programme is to create awareness in the society that alcoholism is a disease and it can be cured through proper treatment.

Way back in 60s and 70s, a village in Kerela was not just into brewing liquor, they were badly addicted to it. In no time this became worst curse for the villagers. Village community realized that addiction to alcohol was leading to many other severe problems.

However, instead of being an easy prey to alcohol, the village chose to get over it. Thanks to their determination to get rid of alcohol they convinced excise officials to raid the village and put an end to alcohol brewing. To remove one curse, they happily embraced another addiction! No, you won't be able to guess what! 

                                                                              

Today, 90 per cent of the residents of Marottichal are chess players. Everyone, including men and women, children and grandparents together indulge in games of chess! They raise a toast with games of chess and not alcohol!

Puthur Gram Panchayat president Sreenivasan said, “Around 90 per cent of the villagers are chess players. The panchayat has undertaken a mission with an objective of announcing that the village is the first comprehensive chess literate village in the country. The village will be formally announced as the first chess village in August.”

Viswanathan Anand, Grandmaster and five time World Chess Champion, too congratulated the villagers’ effort “to create a rare distinction in the field of chess”.

Village’s dedication to chess found its place in cinema too, in 2013, this story was converted into Malayalam movie, August Club. Isn’t it amazing that villagers chose to replace their pegs of alcohol with a game of kings, queens, knights, rooks, pawns and bishops? This story is definitely worth inspiring!