Beer named after Gandhi does brisk business in Russia

Mahatma Gandhi advocated abstinence from alcohol all his life but a Russian pub sells a beer in his name. Proletariat Craft Beer pub in Nizhny Novgorod, where France and Uruguay played their Fifa World Cup quarter-final on Friday, has listed ‘Mahatma Ghandi India Pale Ales’ as one of the eight beer varieties it sells.

When We asked the bartender about the beer named after Gandhi, he showed a sticker in which the Father of India promotes Rewort Brewery’s beer. “We only sell the beer in Gandhi’s name and don’t know why it is named after him,” he added before pouring a Mahatma Gandhi to another customer.

Sergey Shabanov, a middle-aged customer, said the brewery has named a beer after Mahatma Gandhi to honour the “great Indian leader”. “We all love Gandhi here. I love the beer in his name, too. Whenever I visit this pub, I don’t leave without drinking a mug of Mahatma Gandhi,” he added.

A. Vijaya Subramanian, an Indian expatriate who runs a restaurant in Moscow, said he had not been aware of Gandhi beer. “When total prohibition is still in force in Gandhiji’s home state of Gujarat as a commitment to his ideals, it is a shame that his name is being used to sell beer in Russia. We will raise the issue with the authorities concerned through the association of Indians here,” he added.

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