Pombe Si Supu

When the legislation on control of alcohol consumption as passed last year, almost everyone went up in arms to protest it. The Member of Parliament who brought the Bill to the August House even lost his seat. Mututho became a villain- the bad guy who took away an aspect of African lifestyle that has been handed down through generations by our forefathers.

I cannot bring myself to be so self-righteous to claim that drinking is a social bane. Truth is, we all need a break from life sometimes, and the devil’s piss provides that much needed shoulder to lean on. It takes away your thoughts from problems, albeit for a while.

In campus, it is not any different. When academic pressure begins to take a toll on us, we need to steam off. A weekend of heavy raving becomes timely. When the girlfriend of two months (who most of the times is a classmate) comes up to you and says; ‘Baby, I don’t think we are going anywhere with this. I don’t feel like I have grown’, we resort to the brown bottle. We drown our sorrows in alcohol when that lecturer who only attended four classes in a semester slaps your transcripts with a D grade.

However, we have to understand that drinking is supposed to be a social thing. It is supposed to be fun. One needs to know just how much our bodies can take. I mean, when you drink yourself silly until you get knocked down by car, then that should raise some red flags. My immediate neighbour in campus is a lover of this beverage. I doubt he has a particular drink that he prefers. Heck, who does? In college, who cares if its vodka, gin, beer, whiskey, brandy or busaa? Those are just titles, right? As long as it contains ethanol, any beverage can do the trick.

But my neighbour does not seem to understand the drinking slogan that we chant every time we go drinking; pombe si supu. That’s why he looks like he just got into a ring with Mayweather. I pity him. I really do. Him and that second year who went wild after a few pints, broke a window and then started slapping anyone he meets along the corridors. Nobody could contain him until the alcohol took his consciousness away.

I know how it goes. Getting drunk happens to the best of us. I have gotten drunk before, and when I did, I found myself climbing on top of the cab that brought us.  But hey, I only wanted to see how the school looks like from that view at 4am on a Sunday morning.

If you have to drink, then do so with some modicum of sense. I bet you, you will have the time of your life.