Lajo Devi is curious as she looks at the diary in which this reporter is noting down details. Within a few minutes her curiosity turns to fear.
“Ee sab likh ke thanwa mein debahu ka [Are you going to give all this to the police station]?” she asks in Magahi – a language spoken here in the Magadha region of Bihar. She has been talking about how brewing mahua liquor made from the flowers of the mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia) – her only source of income – has been helping her survive.
Although initially reluctant to admit it, the eight kilograms of jaggery rotting in two canisters in a corner of her kutcha house give her away. Seeing this reporter’s gaze wander to the canisters, she immediately covers them up with black polythene sheets. “I am only making it [liquor] to sell during Holi,” she explains quickly.
Lajo Devi’s fear and worry about brewing liquor at home is warranted. The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, bans the manufacture, possession, distribution or consumption of liquor or intoxicants including mahua liquor. Punishment for doing so includes imprisonment, which could extend to life, and fines of Rs. 1-10 lakh.






