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Searching for Soma – Heritage Liquors of India
Desmond Nazareth, Rahul Srivastava, Aniruddha Mookerjee, Moderated by Shoba Narayan
“Korea has soju; Japan has sake; America has bourbon; Mexico has tequila and mescal What about India?
Indian tribes have been distilling spirits for longer than the Scots have. At a time when national spirit is high, shouldn’t we consider a signature spirit as well?
This panel explored the origins, evolution and the future of Indian indigenous brews and spirits such as Tadi, Feni, Mahua, Handiya, Roksi, Apong and Kesar kasturi among many others. “
Speakers
Desmond Nazareth
Desmond Nazareth is the principal founder and MD of Agave India, a company set up in 2007. Agave India is India’s first and only rurally based ‘greenfield’ small batch ‘field-to-bottle’ and ‘forest-to-bottle’ craft distillery, using Indian know-how and raw materials. Desmond has been instrumental in formulating the 2018 pot-still based alcohol manufacturing standards in India.
Rahul Srivastava
Rahul Srivastava studied social anthropology at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, J.N.U, New Delhi and Cambridge University, U.K. Presently he is a co-founder of urbz.net. urbz is a global action and research collective with offices in Mumbai, Goa, Geneva and beyond. The work of urbz has been shown at various venues around the world including MoMA (New York), Centre for Contemporary Culture (Bordeaux), Chicago Cultural Centre, (Chicago), Maxii (Rome), Bhau Daji Lad Museum, (Mumbai), among others. His writings, co-authored with Matias Echanove, have appeared in various publications and periodicals including the New York Times, Oxford University Press, Wall Street Journal, New Village Press and Strelka.
Aniruddha Mookerjee
Growing up in a food and drink obsessed environment, Aniruddha’s interest in Indian indigenous alcohol developed during his years as a journalist in the east and north-east. He has been tasting brews, collecting spirits, and sometimes working hands-on with communities to learn their art, for over two decades now. He has travelled extensively in the interiors of central India, the north-east and the south to sample and understand the history, socio-economics and cultural practices related to brews and spirits sourced from Flowers, Grains, Palm sap and Fruits. His book, “Searching for Soma: A Quest for Indian Spirit,” has been commissioned by Harper Collins
Shoba Narayan
Shoba Narayan is an author, journalist and columnist. She has written for a number of national and international publications. She is deeply interested in Indian aesthetics, design and handloom. She is the host of “The Sanskrit Podcast with Shoba Narayan” on YouTube
