Mond, The Brew – Tribal Empowerment from the Interiors of Central India

By Colonel Satish Singh Lalotra

‘I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me’—Winston Churchill.

The heartland of India like any other place of this sub-continent of ours has much more in its innermost recesses to offer to its people as well as to the visitors who are left stupefied in their very being by the sheer vastness and plethora of people, places, events, flora & fauna that call this place as their holy abode.

The fact that it’s physical grandeur in the form of ‘Vindhyachal and Satpura mountains stand as a sentinel to the ancient divide between the original inhabitants i.e. the Dravidians to the south and the Aryans to the north of these two physical entities places MP in the center of curiosity of all and sundry.

At home primarily to one of the biggest tribal population of the country and abound with one of the richest bio-diversities that has ever been confronted by an individual, I am of the firm conviction that one lifetime is not enough to engage all the facets of this central state of India. Madhya Pradesh is choc-a-bloc with canopies of forests that are so dense that in some areas of these forests it would do better if a traveller is armed with a torch to find his way around in broad day light.

Though the state of MP is home to a variety of flora & fauna, it may appear amusing to some of us that even to this day and date there are unchartered territories in both of these arenas that require a very professional touch to bring out the best of such resources.One such variety of flora that has been the mainstay of the majority tribal population of MP is the quintessential ‘Mahua’ in its myriad variants.

In the forests and national parks including the famous tiger reserves of MP like the STR ( Satpura tiger reserve), Kanha tiger sanctuary etc the sweet scent of ‘Mahua flowers ’is a common and familiar one. Stout, broad leaved Mahua trees abound in the region and for the indigenous tribes like the Baiga, Korkus,Santhals etc this is ‘Tree of life’. The British considered the spirit a threat to public health and banned its distillation with India too continuing in the same tradition even after 75 years of independence.

For the longest time, Mahua liquor was considered ‘Country liquor’ rather than a proud Indian spirit. That is changing slowly though. The MP government w.e.f 2021 has declared ‘Mahua’ as‘Heritage liquor’. And now from the year 2023, comes ‘Mond’ –the first Mahua spirit in india distilled by indigenous tribes. I would have remained oblivious to such a tectonic event of Mahua getting and gaining respectability from its home government had I not ventured into one of the spirit shops near ‘Benaulim’ beach in south Goa while on a short summer vacation trip last summer.

Though self-having turned a teetotaler for the last decade or so, I do cherish good brands of brew that I like to flaunt and favour with friends. The man behind the counter watching my demeanor and gait quickly came to the point by stating that only a connoisseur of good things venture his famous shop. Letting out a big guffaw I asked him to let me know what does he have from the world of spirits that doesn’t have remotest of connection of being a Goan.

Quick on the uptake, the man unwrapped his latest acquisition –‘Mond’ with a gleam in his eyes as if I had already given my approval of his choice. But one look at the bottle of spirit and the words written on the label –‘HERITAGE MAHUA LIQUOR’ set my pulse racing as also took me back a decade while I was still serving in the army/ DGQA and posted at a nondescript place called as ‘Itarsi’. Without even a second glance at the price tag I paid the man and became the proud owner of a heritage liquor bottle.

Itarsi is located in the lap of ‘Satpura mountains’ and is abound with these Mahua trees to no end. In fact our firing range at ‘Taku’ is located in the thickets of Mahua trees so much so that many a times the visibility in that area is reduced to mere 50 or 75 yards at the most.

Early morning while proceeding to the Taku firing ranges from the administrative base of CPE Itarsi it was a spectacle to watch host of Korku tribal people both ladies and children collecting these ‘Mahua’ flowers and leaves in their wicker baskets perched high up on their heads oblivious to the mad rush of vehicles on the NH-69 plying from Itarsi to Betul and vice versa.

Unfortunately these Korku tribal people do not make this brand of spirit that goes by the name of ‘Mond’. It is the ‘Bhil’ and ‘Bhilala’ tribe who live in Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP, UP and parts of Maharashtra that undertake this unique venture. The self-help group that produces ‘Mond’ brand of spirit is based in ‘Katthiwada’ in the ‘Alirajpur’ district on the borders of Gujarat.

In the traditional ‘Bhil home process’ they simply soak the dried Mahua flowers which is naturally sweet in water and keep it in dark.The yeast,already in the vessel from previous batches starts working and the mash is ready in about five days in summer and takes slightly more time in the winters. This is then put on a fire and distilled, the resultant spirit is slightly cloudy and consumed within few days’ time. The process they use to create ‘Mond’ spirit is same albeit tempered with modern techniques that help with temperature control and quicker fermentation.

This tribal empowerment project has been now in the works for quite some time and involves the participation of two other SHGs ( self-help group) –one in the ‘Kathiawada’ of the Alirajpur district and the other in ‘Bhaka Mal’ of Dindori district.

The latter are working on Mahua liquor called as ‘Mohulo’ that also has hit the market with full force. Members of the SHG were offered special training on the basis of distillation and once the units have been fully set up, they will be handed over to the tribal groups to nurture local entrepreneurial & alcobev talent.

As for the taste, this homegrown organic spirit has no additives or artificial flavours and is made by people who understand the essence of its flavour. On the palate, the drink is smooth with earthy and floral notes that come from the Mahua flower. The flavour is comparable to that of Mezcal or gin with the drink having 38% ABV.

Since the best of connoisseurs of spirits cum liquor are Goan, the parting shot to me by the spirit owner shop was to partake ‘Mond’ on the rocks with a dash of soda and a slice of Italian lemon or Gondhoraj. It also goes well with tonic,lemon and crushed ice or ginger ale.

Never in my wildest of dreams did I realize that a lesson in tribal empowerment and its concomitant manifestation will result into a handsome brew like the ‘Mond’ of which I too was now owner of a bottle of; that too far from its origin which lay in the central land of Madhya Pradesh.

I am sure these tribal SHGs must be dreaming that every initiator into this heady Mahua brew must turn into a ‘Winston Churchill’ who became famous due to his saying– ‘I have taken more out of alcohol, than alcohol has taken out of me’.

The writer is a retired army officer and can be approached on his email—slalotra4729@gmail.com