After a late breakfast we left the Tourist Lodge
and found our rickshaw man waiting for us outside the gates. During
our ride into the lodge in the morning we had talked to him about
our interest in going out into a village to see the process of making
khéjur-gur. He proved to be knowledgeable about the area
and was to be our guide for the rest of our stay in Shantiniketan.
We were taken to a village about 5 miles outside of Shantiniketan
and the scenery changed as we got out of the hustle and bustle of
a university town. A pastoral ambience pervaded as far as the eye
could see. There were Phoenix sylvestris and Borassus flabelifer
trees everywhere: by the roadside, by village ponds, in the middle
of rice fields, and seedlings all over by the hundreds. On reaching
the outskirts of the village we made enquires as to the possibility
of buying some fresh khéjur-gur. We were directed to the
house of a farmer in the locality. We made our way through the edge
of a pond lined on all sides with massive Borassus flabellifer trees
and the tall but daintier looking Phoenix sylvestris. A surreal
reflection of these trees on the pond surface made us stop and enjoy
the scene. The man, Anand, expert khéjur-gur maker, was having
his morning meal with his family in the small courtyard of his home.
After introductions we were welcomed into his home. No, he would
not mind if we photographed him as he went about his activities,
but the khéjur-gur production for day had finished, early
in the morning, and he was now going into the fields to plough the
land. He did, however, agree to answer some questions.
Anand lives on land owned by a family. He cultivates
the land and the main crop is rice. He gives the landowner a certain
share of the harvest. All the Phoenix sylvestris and Borassus flabellifer
trees in the land are the property of the landowner and the harvest
derived from these trees, whether fresh sap, fermented alcoholic
drink or khéjur-gur, is shared with the landowner. Is he
happy? Can’t complain, it is my destiny, he tells us. But I
make the best khejur-gur in the area!
In the evening, as the sun sets, Anand climbs up
the Phoenix sylvestris trees and sets his earthenware pots to collect
the sap. Then, in the early morning before sunrise, he climbs up
again, to bring down the pots filled with sap. The slightest rise
in temperature starts the fermentation process of the sap. If one
wants an alcoholic drink, then this is not a problem. If one wants
to make gur, however, then the sap has to be processed immediately
after harvest. If one wants to drink the sap fresh from harvest,
it is a sweet, wholesome and nourishing drink devoid of any alcohol
content.
Khéjur-gur
