They have a ‘spirit’ for survival

JAIPUR: The fragrance of Mahua hits you long before you actually reach your destination. After trekking half-a-kilometre on unmotorable track full of ditches, mounds of earth and thorny shrubs, you come to a clearing where fire is burning under tin containers, whose mouths are attached to tubes. These tubes lead to earthen pots half submerged in water.Two women are tending the fire.
These women are from the Kanjar tribe and they are brewing country liquor in a covert operation that might make even the Army intelligence proud. Only thing is that, there is nothing legal about it.
The Kanjar tribe of Rajasthan has a checkered past. Living in shanties in tiny villages close to highways, the women were mostly into sex trade and the men made a living out of theft. However, with passing time, brewing country liquor has become the main profession of the womenfolk.
"I have been doing this for years," Sujatha Kanjar, one of the two women says. "It is pretty easy," she giggles. "The only issue is raids by police and liquor mafias." Sujatha has been arrested, abused and beaten up. Yet, she continues brewing liquor in her own rustic way. After all, the profits aren't too bad and it is much better then manual labour, which she would have had to do, had she not been contributing to the family income this way. No, she has never been into sex trade, but quite a few of her relatives are continuing with it. Most of the women of her village, Kanjar Basti, brew liquor.
"There are 10 of us from the village who make alcohol," Sujatha says. She makes six bottles every day, which she sells for Rs 360 (Rs 60 each). Her expenditure is Rs 120 for these bottles, which leaves her with a tidy profit of Rs 240. Not bad, considering manual labour would have fetched much lesser for greater effort. No wonder the liquor mafia often come calling with a band of thugs.
The best part is that, customers come to her home to make the purchase. In the markets, a bottle of the variety of country liquor that Sujatha makes, sells for Rs 120. So, for the die-hard drunks, buying his brew illegally from the Kanjar Basti makes sense.
The process of making the drink is quite scientific, although archaic. Four kilograms of Mohua flowers and 2kg of jaggery are mixed in seven litres of water. This concoction is allowed to ferment in covered earthen pots in shade for three days. Once the process is over, it is then heated in the tin containers and the vapour collected as alcohol in the metal containers submerged in water. To put it in perspective, the process of fermentation-distillation-condensation is followed in its simplest form.
Even though it looks easy to eye, this is a clandestine multi-layered operation, which involves a lot of checks and lookouts. A warning system is in place to allow the women enough time to remove all traces of their activities in case of raids. They also do not keep the bottles at home for long. If the brewing process is complete by 4 pm, the stuff is sold out in a couple of hours.
Yet, they sometimes get caught. "There have been two police raids this year," Sujatha informs. And an innumerable attacks by goons. Bruised and battered, these women will continue making liquor. After all, it is a question of their survival.