PROHIBITION OF LIQUOR

TODDY (‘KALLU’) VINEGAR AND

THE THOUGHT OF PROHIBITION

I remember Paily, the old sacristan of St. Mary’s church, a jolly person. He used to say that a bottle of ‘Elaya Kallu’, toddy which is absolutely fresh right from its source, is brisk and fine. A couple of glasses of this elixir make a man merry and a merry heart lives long! The natural palm wine, no doubt, is a healthy drink. This is very refreshing and puts you in a creative mood. He who drained bottles of ‘Mootha Kallu’, fermented toddy, which was kept for some time, would take him to an exhilarating height just like hard liquor. The toddy could be distilled into arrack, a more intoxicating drink. If too much of fermented toddy or arrack is consumed it makes you totally intoxicated.  Beware, if you have unlimited quantity of toddy or arrack one would get addicted and intoxicated. Due to the ‘Delirium tremens’ one might tend to babble and to stagger from side to side, a reason for wordy altercation or even a melee might  ensue which may lead further to a serious felony. For a labourer who toils hard all day, toddy definitely stimulates his energy. The spurious toddy on the other hand might steal the consumer’s health and in extreme cases his life as well.

I have seen the toddy tappers who venture out in the morning and evening to perform their task of tapping and collecting toddy. Their attire is unique. A short loin cloth is used to cover their privies as they have to climb the coconut trees with ease. A wooden pad which provides a sheath for their sharp ‘Chethu Kathi’, tapping knife, is fastened over this cloth around the waist. A black coconut shell, with an opening at the top, filled with mire too is carried with him on the waist band. He holds on to a braided ‘Churakka’ pot (a large and oval shaped fruit’s cover used as a pot, which is braided with coir rope) to collect the toddy from tree top. These tappers have a different way of climbing up the coconut trees. They place their steps on pieces of coconut husk firmly tied on to the tree trunk and climb up and down as if he is climbing on a ladder. On reaching the top, he climbs on top of the tree-crown with the support of a sturdy and strong palm leaf and settles down comfortably to start his work. These tappers get a panoramic view of their neighbourhood and the activities therein. It is interesting to watch the toddy extraction procedure. The palm wine which had oozed the previous night into the pot atop the tree is collected and brought down. He then cuts a little bit of the ripe coconut bud end and ties the bud with a coir yarn, beat it from top to bottom with a bone and rubs a little mire or mud at the cut end. It is believed to produce more yields. Then he moves on to other trees he is tapping. If the tapper is in a fine mood he might give a few bottles of toddy to those who ask him for it in exchange for money. This entire process is repeated in the evenings as well. “The watering of the palm trees during summer improves the yield,” says Kunjappan Vazhavelil, a veteran tapper. True he says from his practical experience.

Normally, the contractor of the toddy shop earmarks a few high yielding coconut palms which are fifteen to forty years old to tap toddy. The rent of the tree used to be hundred and fifty rupees per tree which was paid by the licencee or contractor who auctioned the toddy shop. This fetched the farmers a sizeable income.  Tapping was a livelihood for a lot of Ezhava men on the Island. I knew Raman Vazhavelil, his son Kunjappan, Kandu Kunnunkal and my neighbor Kumaran Kalappura and his son Babu were experienced tappers of this locality.

‘Appachan’, occasionally bought a few bottles of fresh toddy to make vinegar. It was kept for a few days after which it was strained and stored in large bottles. The sediments and precipitates were cleaned every thirty days. After six months the final product obtained was unadulterated concentrate vinegar. This was used in for making various pickles and salads. Vinegar was also made by adding sugar to coconut water and fermenting it in the same way. By boiling the toddy one can obtain ‘Chakkara’ a medicinal jaggery

I knew Sanku Vazhavelil, Kelu Puzhangathara, and Velayudhan Karikkanthara eked out their living by making vinegar. They used to sell this to hoteliers and other customers in town. Gone are those days as now this authentic brew is hard to find. 

The thought of total prohibition of liquor is insincere, immature and absurd. The State of Tamilnadu and Kerala tried it once. Those governments found it difficult to rehabilitate the traditional employees engaged in the trade. They too miserably failed to curb the trade in spurious liquor and drugs that flowed from within and out of the state, which is more injurious to health. Therefore, they were forced to withdraw the same. I suggest an alternative method of imposing heavy penalty on those habitual drunkards who misbehave in public places.

 

I wonder why the government is promoting and monopolizing the trade in the coloured spurious arrack branded as foreign liquor. Consumption of this is injurious to health. The great Chanakya, in “Arthasastra,” an authority on statecraft, suggested revenue, by sale of liquor or by deal in prostitution or by consecrating a deity atop a hill and giving propaganda of miracles done to attract the crowd, only on the occurrence of a rarest of rare event, where a government has no other source to raise funds to manage their affairs. It is not advisable for a government to embark on such a trade or business. It is against great ideals. At the same time it is difficult to enforce total prohibition. I would suggest liberal licensing to coconut growers to tap toddy, which would help the agriculturists to obtain a reasonable income and the common man would get a healthy drink.

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com