These numbers might surprise English speaking elites in very large towns, who work for MNCs, and pontificate on twitter

This is the real India. https://twitter.com/indiainpixels/status/1287663685452697602

Even in a supposedly "westernized" state like Goa -

Notice the Male-Female gap in alcohol consumption - 45% vs 4.2%

And no...this is not about poverty or lack of urbanization

The differential exists everywhere where traditional brahminical culture is strong with deep history

Be it UP or TN

Differential falls in regions where Indo-Aryan cultural penetration is weak

Chattisgarh, Telengana, North East

And it reveals one major cultural feature of North India - the historical core of AryAvarta

The incredibly low rates of alcohol consumption (even among men) that characterizes Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, MP, Gujarat!

These would rank among the lowest rates in the non-Islamic world

This is so much in contrast to the stereotypes many have about Indians from different parts

E.g. The hard drinking Punjabi / Delhiwallah
The abstemious Tamilian

The numbers suggest something else!

And the reason is this -

Vegetarianism and Teetotalling are "mass culture" in North India. The societal norm

So North Indian elites project themselves to be different from masses (these are not cool things for them)

In contrast, in many parts of South, where alcohol consumption in more deeply rooted, the SI elites project their teetotalling / vegetarianism more prominently than say NI elites

Hence you get these stereotypes that are the opposite of the reality on the ground