StorieswithKritika

The funny thing is that I’ve wanted to make this blog so many times over the past 2 years, but it was this flower that became the catalyst for my blog.

It was a usual lunch at home, when at the dining table, someone asked my sister and I if we knew that olive oil was “Mahua ka tel”. Oddly enough, already knowing of Olives and their Greek mythical significance, I’d never really bothered to finding out the Hindi name for Olives. This question, however sparked my curiosity. While not an olive, Mahua/Mahwa is the butterneat tree famous for its oil and traditional role as an alcoholic beverage.

When I first read about its alcoholic characteristic, it surprised me that, despite meeting many food and drink enthusiasts, I’d never really heard about this flower and why being a traditional alcohol it was not more popular.

Diving into this though, I discovered that this flower held way more cultural impact than I’d ever realised.

Mahwa is considered as a divine gift and each and every part of the plant has its uses. In central, western and eastern India, it is a community staple in many rituals, festivals and local ceremonies . Mahua is multipurpose and it yields, medicinal, cosmetic and sweetner characteristics. Moreover in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, it is celebrated as heritage liqour.

So why are we so unaware of the same?

As it turns out, unsurprisingly, during the British Colonial Rule, Mahua was banned by the British legislation on grounds of public health and morality, even today when you google it, it is said to cause lunacy. These restrive laws during the Raj even extended to the simple collection and preservation of mahua flowers as well. This Ban offered the British twofold benefits. First, it allowed them to promote foreign liquor such as scotch and gin in India by eclipsing the indegenous and native trade of alcohol. This granted them more economic control over finances and the alcohol industry. Secondly, this policy helped in the suppression of cultural and traditional practices by citing them as immoral and dangerous. Seems to be like a theme in colonial India honeslty.

Today, revival of Muhua’s traditional heritage is making a crawling but much needed comeback, with only a few central states relaxing the trade restrictions on it. It seems the colonial hangover caste a lasting shadow over our perception of consumption of heritage plants such as Mahua.

Now, knowing so much makes me proud and happy of our heritage and super curious to try this floral sweet liqour that has held the heart of traditional communities centuries before I knew of it!

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Credits:  The Mahua Picture used above  is clicked by Dinesh Valke from Thane, India.

It is taken from Wikimedia Commons under the license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/