Goan liquor Feni faces a bleak future as Toddy Tappers face harsh times

The Toddy Tapper and the coconut Plucker are both becoming rarer and rarer to find in Goa. With a high-risk, live threatening job, Pluckers daily-wages are going up, but are hard to find. But then, few from the younger generation are keen to take up the Toddy Tappers job (Render mam - Toddy Tapper uncle as he is called locally by the children) in the tourist-resort state. If the head count of Toddy Tappers  in the state is decreasing, so has been the corresponding decrease in coconut tree cover in the state.

The decrease in numbers does not argue well for the Feni drinkers. Goa’s famous drink called Maddi or Feni which is produced from the coconut palm sap or juice, a local variety of liquor, which is very much in demand among the tourists and locals alike.

Increasing flow of tourist to the sun-kissed silvery beaches has meant that many a coconut plantations are being flattened either to build a small resort or a big five-star hotel in the coastal village of Goa.

And if that was not enough mega housing projects of 100-plus apartments which are increasingly bought by wealthy Indians, Non-resident Indians and foreigners, has further diminished the coconut tree count in the state.

But sixty year-old Cruz Dias has been battling all odd to carrying on the profession which was handed over to him by his forefathers and which will effectively end, when he puts down his tools and says enough is enough. Both his sons have since long moved away from the traditional occupation, to pursue a career at sea, as stewards for a American cruising company.

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Every day I clamber up and down the coconut tree every morning and evening, with the Zamnnem (containers made from gourd skin) and Kati ( a sharp edged instrument used by him to make an incision for the toddy to flow into the container) filled with Sur (toddy) slinging by my waist.

According to stories related by our ancestors we were told the friars who came along with Portuguese conquerors from across the oceans tutored our ancestors the trick of fermenting the Sur into what looked like " Fenno", a forthy substance from which Maddel, the coconut Feni, began to be distilled in home-made stills.

 During the monsoon, coconut  toddy extraction from the palm does not comes to a stand still, it goes on. A Toddy Tapper braves his life and climbs the tree overcoming the windy and slippery moss growing on the tree bark.

Unfermented toddy is very sweet and nourishing drink. As a young boy I used to drink a lot which my father brought home and was caught one day and was given a spanking by my father.

The toddy when strained and boiled to crystallizing point, it produces palm Jaggery, an important brown coarse form of sugar, used in making Goan sweet delicacies, besides Feni liquor.

I started in this profession as a teenager; my father was also a Toddy Tapper so it was but natural that I join him in the trade. Not only my father his three other brothers and his cousin brothers were also involved in tapping the coconuts and then producing coconut Feni.

I have not studied much, I went to a primary Portuguese language school and now to read and write a few basic words of English, besides a few basic words in Portuguese which I studied in the Portuguese language school.

My mother and my aunties use to go the nearest town- Margao to sell the distilled liquor after modern transport came to village after the liberation of Goa from the Portuguese, since selling the liquor commanded a better price in the cities.

But earlier as a teenager; I remember in our old ancestral house in Cuncolim village, many villagers came to place their orders in bulk or some took one or two bottles for daily consumption, or to keep the liquor in the case of emergency, as liquor was used and continues to be used for medicinal uses in Goan houses till this date.

After some time my family had to move out of Cuncolim village leaving the business in the hands of many cousin brothers. The Toddy Tappers business which my relatives inherited in Cuncolim have since abandoned with passage of time by them.

The work of extracting coconut Feni is a risky job, every day thrice; I put my life to risk by climbing the coconut tree.

Recently I had skin infections for my hands, I consulted many doctors and after making visits too many of them, a treatment from one of them served its purpose. But in spite of the painful hands, due to infection, I had no choice but to continue by daily chores.

Earlier in my youthful days, I used to climb thirty-five trees per day but now I have only twenty trees now. So I climb up and down the trees sixty times in a day in recent times.

 I have two assistants who also tend to more trees. Earlier, when my father was running the business, I used to canoe across the river Sal and go to Cavelossim, a beach side village, to collect toddy from the trees. But now, the area has developed into resorts and that has meant the trees are cut and if there are existing trees, they are inside the hotel property, which they are not ready to give us for extracting toddy.

According to the Excise laws in force in the state, every year we have to furnish details of the number of coconut tress from which we are extracting toddy along with the no-objection certificate from the land owner.

In good old days of the past Goan families used to believe that the toddy tapping  from a palm tree was beneficial in a way, that it helps in refining of the tree. Not any more.

In recent years, more and more people are reluctant to enter into a contract with us for use of the trees. Some eye the returns from the coconuts that the tree produces. Some also fear that if someone falls and dies while climbing the coconut tree his spirit will haunt the place. The belief in such stories comes from people relegating stories from the past.

But, I have a painful memory of death occurring before my own eyes. One of my assistant, an orphan, he had no family,  we were his family, he was prone to epileptic fits, one day he suffered a bout and came crushing down from the tree to the road – an instant death. I was on a nearby tree and the image of his death haunted me for months and I call recall it even now, after almost ten years, as if it happened yesterday.

In the event of the death the Toddy Tapper family receives insurance from the government, thanks to the initiative taken by the All-Goa Toddy Tapper Association which has been instrumental in the social security measure for us. The same benefits my father generations were not entitled. All of us are members of the Association; we meet regularly to discuss our grievances ranging from harassment by corrupt Excise officers and guards to challenges faced by us from our own brethren in the form of adulterer liquor which is giving the entire community a bad name.

Spurious Feni is sold by some unscrupulous sellers. They produce Feni containing Navsagar and even Ammonium Chloride and Zinc Chloride from the batteries, in order to boost it’s strength. Spurious Feni is injurious to human health. A good drinker can easily tell the difference between a genuine Feni and an adulterated one by it’s taste and flavour.

If trees for tapping toddy are decreasing, personnel to tap the toddy from the trees is another concern.

The future appears bleak, as I have not been able hire assistants to help me in my job. Hiring new persons to take up the profession is very difficult. Last week I made a trip to Ambaulim in Quepem Taluka, a distance of 20 kilometres from my residence in Betul  village, on the look out for fresh recruits to help me. But I have not been successful. I have kept word with my friends and hopefully they will get back to me. 

If, I am not able to find assistants and if the current lone one deserts me, then, I will be forced to give up on the task. But on the other side, I love to work and not sit idle. It is a form of exercise for me. I also do not want to be burden on my family and depend on my every day needs on my son's family.

But the day is not far, when I will say good bye to this profession as lack of assistants, decrease of coconut trees and my falling health, all but, will probably fast forward the decision, which I have been pushing back for years.  

Cruz Dias was talking to Armstrong Vaz