Picture this: a 38-year-old man, travelling the country, enjoying various types of alcohol, claiming it’s all in the name of ‘research’.
While we’ve all heard that excuse before, Magandeep Singh’s indulgent research has come into fruition in the form of The Indian Spirit: The Untold Story of Drinking in India . It’s a riveting read and encourages a conversation we could’ve been having for years now instead of gasping in outrage.
Given the rich diversity of India’s umpteen back stories, the boom of alcohol is unprecedented, but it’s a subject fuming with controversy. A few lines from The Indian Spirit read, “Whoever believes that India is a country of teetotallers clearly hasn’t scratched the surface… Alcohol has been a part of India’s diaspora since time immemorial. At no point has abstinence been popular or successful... People who believe in banning alcohol do so because they imagine alcohol-tinged lives to be debauched and decadent to the point of losing purpose and direction.” This misnomer is dying fast though, as if we are coming full circle in history.
While a few of us do enjoy the occasional merlot or peaty whiskey after-hours or along with lunch, heaps of trading and dialogue through the ages have led up to what’s in that glass in front of us. And it was no different when Singh was researching for this booze bible; he explains the year-and-a-half of research supplemented by a lot of time and energy, even though he’s a vetted sommelier and patron of the alcohol arts.
It’s mostly through personalised anecdotes that Singh details these trickles of history — be it the Mughals’ ruling over alcoholic trade, Portuguese convergence in Goa or India’s first IPA brewery which brought about native beer, Lion.
According to The Indian Spirit , it’s worth looking at how older techniques of spirit creation are revisited by an industry now worth over ₹1,500 billion.
Neither old nor new
Blank bookcover with clipping path
The microbreweries we are seeing pop up everywhere are part of a movement to engender India’s brew industry. We’re also seeing a revival of curiosity around mahua and toddy , the more desi spirits.
While beers have an acquired taste for many, the local spirits are something that literally live up to the idea of ‘liquid courage’, in that it takes serious gusto to have a sip.
Singh has taken with him the notion that the world needs to save their beverages, namely the heritage liquors which have an important Geographical Indication status. Feni cannot be made outside the State of Goa, as it has a country liquor label which is negatively perceived. It’s an issue of urgency for the local industry.
“If I could do something, it would be to encourage this saving and revival,” Singh finalises.
Singh shows no hesitation in his personal views on alcohol. He had his first drink at quite a young age— it’s kind of a big deal, almost a rite of passage. He points out that the dialogue around alcohol, as long as it remains sinful and taboo, will be treated as such.
Sipping savant
When asked if he’s ever tasted anything and regretted it, he cheekily states there’s an acquired taste about alcohol, adding, “Anything I say now will have been or will get big at some point in time. I’ve struggled with urak from Goa. I’ve been told it’s fantastic and is the only single distilled alcohol in the world. I just don’t have the stomach for it! I might come to love it... I mean, I think 10 years back I loved lagers, but now I loathe the idea of them!”
It’s a book for pretty much everyone, whether they want to critique the history or satisfy their intrigue. The Indian Spirit isn’t just a blatant documentation but also a narrative on where the liquor culture in India is headed.
‘The Indian Spirit: The Untold Story of Drinking in India’ is available on Amazon in Kindle and hardcover formats.
