The toddy tappers of Tamil Nadu triumphed last week after 23 years of temperance. Toddy is a potent and pungent Indian drink fermented from palm sap, traditionally collected by tappers who scamper daily to treetops to retrieve earthenware pots filled with sap tapped from the trees. But toddy tapping became a near-forgotten craft after 1948, when Tamil Nadu responded to a plea by Mohandas Gandhi to save Indians-and their pay envelopes -from toddy.
Last week Tamil Nadu suspended prohibition, and toddy shops were licensed to brew the potion again. But after so long...
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