Nectar in a Sieve

After the ban on alcohol in Bihar, traditional toddy tappers have been rendered jobless

- Sona Singh

THE flight to Patna reminds one of the alcohol ban in the state before touchdown. Outside the airport, large hoardings display banners of happy women. In 2016, the Nitish Kumar government fulfilled his promise to the women electorate-it promulgated the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, which imposed a total ban on the sale and purchase of alcohol in the state. But hardly 100 km away from the state capital, in Dalsinghsarai, Pinu Kumar Choudhary (29), is disillusioned.

A graduate in history from the Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Pintu was preparing for government exams, but did not have any success. A Pasi by caste, Pintu is now looking for employment as he cannot pursue his traditional family business of toddy tapping after the government's ban on alcohol.

Navigating Pintu's Life

Pintu's family has been in the business of toddy tapping for generations: his elder brothers, his father, uncles and cousins knew no other means of earning except toddy tapping. In 2016, when the ban was implemented, selling toddy became illegal.

When Pintu was 22, he had learned the life skill of his forefathers-climbing up the khajoor (date palm) and taar (palmyra) trees to collect unfermented neera in terracotta pots locally known as lavani. Pintu recalls that he decided to join his father and brothers in the family business as a fresh undergraduate student. People in his family were not in favour of Pintu migrating to big cities for work after the demise of his cousin son in Mumbai. Pintu recalls that his nephew, Arun Mahto's son, had gone for work along with many others from the village, but one day the news of his demise reached them. No one knows how he died, but everyone remembers that his body came back in a coffin. After that, no one from the family ventured outside for work.