Ten-year-old Priyanka easily nudges her way past tall and hefty adults gathered outside `Eswara Krupa wines’ at Millers Road and completes her purchase within minutes. Being a child has its own advantages.  The flip side, though, is being forced to kowtow to the demands of elders—in her case, her mother who sends her to purchase liquor for Rs  20  daily.
Priyanka is just one among  a rough estimate of over 50 children who troop to this shop at Vasantnagar, located just opposite the Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College of Nursing on a daily basis. They are forced to buy drinks for their parents, relatives and even employers. Little do those involved realise that they are grooming the next generation of alcoholics by exposing these youngsters to a vice when so young. It mocks the Karnataka Excise Act which prohibits sales of alcoholic beverages to children below the age of 18.
Here’s  a peep into the lives  a  few of the children Metrolife interacted with. Fear of adults  was a major factor bringing these children to the shops. And all of them are quick to retort that they do not drink.  Ramesh  (13) comes  to the shop on alternate days for the sake of his grandfather with whom he stays. When asked what he buys, he says, “Old Monk which costs  Rs 32.”  Ramesh works at a bakery and his grandfather is  employed as a security guard at a flat in Vasantnagar.  “I have to buy and keep the bottle and keep it ready for him before he returns from work. Otherwise, my grandfather would beat me up,” this lad says.
Bhimu places his hand on his head and swears, “I  do not drink. My brother too does not drink. I am buying this stuff for Rs  58 for the employers of my brother, who works  as a coolie at a construction company.   My brother works for them and so I am doing it.” 12-year-old Govind is buying it for his father, “He expects it to be ready when he returns from work. So, I rush her daily.”
The shopkeeper carefully puts the bottles  inside a white, plastic cover and hands it over to the girls and boys who come here. You can easily mistake the kids to be carrying some household provisions. A few boys  take just the bottles but carefully hide them from view by stuffing it inside their pockets.
 They also seem to be aware that these are not nice things to have in hand and make a dash if you try to speak to them.
One of our readers (who has contributed a picture) spotted two boys in the shop and confronted a salesman inside the wine shop for an explanation. “What can I  do? They are asking for it. So, I am giving it,” was  his tame response.
Vinod, who runs a shop in the vicinity,  feels the wine seller is not be blamed. “He is running a business. The children bring money and so he gives them the products. I am furious with the parents who are embarrassed to be seen buying drinks. I have seen many stand at a distance from the shop and goad their children to go and buy the stuff.  This happens every day.” 
A hawker, who insists on anonymity is angry with the mothers. “The men come openly to the shops and buy them.
“It is the women who send in these children  and cites  Priyanka as a  case in point.  There is  a six-year-old boy who comes  on alternate days to buy the bottles,” he says.
Officials at the State Excise Department said, “Shopkeepers are not supposed to sell liquor to children below the age of 18. Neither are parents supposed to send children to these shops.  Action can be taken under the law against both of them.”
Will the government enforce the law?