First of all, before visiting India, you should get a little familiar with the intricacies of the mentality of the locals of this country, namely, the attitude of Indians to the strong drinks of their country. It's no secret to anyone that Russians are accustomed to a comfortable stay in the same Turkey or Egypt, where there is an all-inclusive system and the amount of alcohol is not calculated and does not run out at all. At the same time, for those who are accustomed to the conveniences of such a plan, it is worth considering that when traveling to a country like India, you should not roll your lip, sorry if I put it bluntly, because here they are critical of alcohol. If an Indian, and indeed any visiting tourist, appears on the street in an unattractive form, that is, drunk, then heated discussions from outside cannot be avoided. It seems that in India this is a national problem, and they are fighting it with methods that we used only during the perestroika period. India and alcoholic beverages - special relationship and what are the statistics. In some states, they approach the fight against the problem of alcohol with all responsibility, they treat it very radically, even banning it from sale. So, for example, in the state of Gujarat you will not be able to buy alcoholic beverages at all if it does not spoil your vacation perfectly, and if it interferes with plans, then this fact should be taken into account. In other states, the methods of fighting are different. Alcohol is heavily taxed, making it an unaffordable luxury for India's poor local population. Alcohol can be sold only during strictly allotted hours, and on some days it is impossible to trade at all.

In relation to alcohol, Goa is considered the most liberal state. There are no obvious problems with the acquisition of strong, and indeed any, alcoholic beverages. The most common strong drink in the country is considered to be beer, while its quality leaves much to be desired, and the headache that occurs after taking it is definitely provided for you.

As for the prices of alcohol, in different stores it can be completely different for the same product, even in the same state. In all states they sell in special shops - wine, except of course the state of Gujarat, but they are not always in sight, where they sell not very high-quality whiskey, beer, wine and rum. All these products are made from imported raw materials. But as for real alcoholic drinks, they can be bought here only in large and expensive bars in big cities in India. Naturally, such products will cost you a pretty penny, very, very expensive.

As in all countries where there is a poor population, the Indians were no exception and showed ingenuity. They found their own photo method for obtaining cheap alcohol. Almost the entire local population of India produces moonshine at home, for this they use sugar cane, since this raw material for manufacturing is very cheap, and you can buy it directly from your hands. Even if its quality is good, which is of course doubtful, drinking it is still very dangerous for health. There are also local alcoholic drinks in India, for example, arak is rice or coconut moonshine, feni is moonshine from cashew nuts, mahua - mahua flowers are used in the preparation of this moonshine, here they even manage to brew beer from rice. But here you should be very vigilant, since all these drinks are not familiar to our stomachs, that is, the probability of poisoning is high, so I do not advise you to experiment and endanger your health, while also being in a foreign country. You, since you ask what you can drink and what not, you want to have a normal rest, and not study how medicine is developed in India, and visiting hospitals is certainly not included in the list of visited attractions.

The Indian government has long been fighting the illegal trade in liquor. For the most part, the male population of India is not just any addiction to alcohol. It simply turned into a national disaster, the authorities even began to take radical measures to somehow resolve this issue. From time to time, headlines about deaths from alcohol appear in Indian newspapers, so the authorities at least somehow try to protect the population from this fate, intimidating them. The local police, in turn, are regularly fighting against the trade in this potion, but there are no results yet. At the same time, you can stumble upon home-made alcoholic drinks in a bar, where they are sold quite legally.

Therefore, I think having looked at the problem associated with alcohol in the country, you may completely refuse to drink alcohol. You can protect yourself from low-quality alcohol, as well as from any consequences, only by limiting yourself to consumption.

Alcoholism and related crimes, including brutal rape, have long become one of the most serious problems in India. For decades, the government has been trying to end mass drinking, but so far it has not been successful. Lenta.ru studied how India, a country of teetotalers for centuries, came to such a life.

“The first principle of yoga is to abstain from drinking alcohol,” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said as he explained why his region would not celebrate Yoga Day, a favorite brainchild of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. - So, if you are serious about promoting yoga classes around the world, first ban alcohol in India. Yoga is a process of natural healing of the body, which alcoholics cannot do.” Kumar's stinging words hit a sore spot: for the Indian nationalists, with the support of which Modi came to power, alcohol is a sign of corrupting colonial influence, but they cannot do away with it.

The grass was greener and the people were more sober

Until a certain time, India did not know such a phenomenon as alcoholism. In the village, millet or rice beer was traditionally brewed, and toddy was made - palm wine. True, strong alcohol was also driven, but in certain regions and on a relatively small scale, and it was mainly the poor from the lower castes who drank it. At the same time, most of the religious movements represented in the country directly prohibit the use of alcohol (Islam, Jainism, Sikhism and Vaishnavism). Others (Shaivism, Buddhism, Tantrism, Christianity, ancient tribal cults), although not so strict in this matter (and even use alcohol for ritual purposes), do not approve of drunkenness.

The British who conquered India brought with them the culture of drinking strong liquor and soon established their production on the spot. So breweries appeared in Hindustan, the production of whiskey, wine and rum began. The colonialists believed that a good portion of whiskey or gin saves from local diseases and brightens up the hardships of military and administrative service.

The Indian village was getting closer and closer to the achievements of progress, the iron horse was replacing the peasant ox, irrigation projects in the once arid regions dramatically increased productivity, and the villagers had free time and extra money that they willingly spent on intoxicating drinks. Alcohol became a status product, its consumption grew.

Both the colonial authorities and the emerging Indian national liberation movement saw this as a threat. They fought it in their own way: the British authorities simply banned the sale of alcoholic beverages to non-Europeans, and Mahatma Gandhi advocated the rejection of alcohol as a product that destroys Indian culture.

According to state law, the purchase of alcohol is allowed from the age of 25. This prohibition is hardly enforced.

Gradually alcohol prohibition became associated with colonial rule. As soon as British rule collapsed, most of the states of the now independent India allowed the free sale of liquor. Gandhi's anti-alcohol campaign also failed: despite all the efforts of activists, they failed to accustom Indians to sobriety.

Poverty, wealth, methanol

In the 1990s, alcohol consumption began to skyrocket. Accelerated urbanization, coupled with the liberalization of the economy, drove hundreds of millions of people from their places, enriching some and making others poor, ruthlessly breaking the entire value system on which Indian society rested for centuries. Illiterate peasants, whose plots were located on the outskirts of the rapidly sprawling megacities, received huge sums from the government at that time; their less fortunate comrades, forced to move to the slums of the city, lived on a few rupees a day. Some drank from suddenly fallen wealth, others from hopeless poverty. From 1992 to 2012, alcohol consumption increased by 55 percent. At the same time, according to the World Health Organization, 75 percent of adult men and 95 percent of women abstain from drinking alcohol. One of two things: either hardened Indian alcoholics literally drink for four, or the statistics are wrong.

Increased demand dragged behind a lagging supply. Burnt drinks appeared on the market. The level of consumption of deshi daru, locally produced alcohol, cheap raw alcohol, the sale of which is prohibited outside the state, has skyrocketed. The process of distilling deshi daru and its illegal variety - the so-called cholay - is most often not controlled by anyone at all.

Photo: Tumpa Mondal / Zuma / Globallookpress.com

In December 2011, 121 people died in the village of Magrahat near Kolkata, 100 were hospitalized.

Manufacturers of cholay, which is mainly made from rice, often add methanol to their product to make it stronger. This led to truly large-scale tragedies. So, in 1978, in one of the towns of the state of Bihar, 254 people died from poisoning with low-quality alcohol, in 1981 - 308 in Bangalore, in 1991 - 199 in Delhi. In 1992, more than 200 people died in Orissa, and 600 more were hospitalized with poisoning. The last case of this kind occurred in Mumbai on June 20, 2015: 90 people died after drinking cholay, and 31 more were hospitalized.

Sparing neither cows nor old women

According to statistics, alcohol consumption leads to a sharp increase in crime, especially domestic. In an Indian, driven from childhood into the narrow framework of traditions and brought up in strictness, under the influence of alcohol, moral restraints are turned off and what has been suppressed and restrained for a long time breaks out. According to Indian prison psychologists, 99.95 percent of prisoners say they do not remember the circumstances of the crime because they were drunk.

Strong beer (up to eight percent alcohol) accounts for 85 percent of India's entire beer market.

Rape has long been a scourge of Indian society. To give an idea of ​​the magnitude of the problem, it is enough to say that sexual violence is committed in India every 22 minutes. According to law enforcement agencies, in many cases, rapists admit that they were drunk before committing a crime. Six young people, a girl in New Delhi in 2012, were drunk.

The wildest crimes in India are committed under the influence of alcohol. So, on May 7, 2016, the police arrested a 40-year-old resident of the state of Chhattisgarh, who, offended by his 70-year-old mother for “climbing to him with morals”, raped her. A month and a half earlier, a 50-year-old resident of Madhya Pradesh, drunk on cholay, abused a cow - a sacred animal of the Hindus.

Quite often, alcohol helps a criminal to escape punishment: if a girl drank alcohol in the company of a young man and became a victim of violence, it is extremely difficult to prove that she did not consent to sex voluntarily. In 2010, a Delhi court, examining the case of Achey Lal, a resident of the capital, accused of the violence and murder of a 65-year-old woman, considered that the victim, being drunk, could well want sex herself, and removed the charge of rape from Lal. This caused massive protests.

Dry and useless

The Indian authorities are trying to fight alcohol abuse, but to no avail. After the country banned the advertising of alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverage manufacturers began to advertise CDs and bottled water under the same brand names as alcoholic beverages.

Many states completely ban the sale of liquor. This process is slow, since taxes on alcohol form a significant part of the budget (for example, they brought $ 1.2 billion a year to the state treasury of Kerala - a fifth of all income). In addition, as practice shows, a direct ban does not work well.

The authorities of the state of Gujarat, for example, after India gained independence, did not begin to repeal dry law. As a result, a whole shadow sector of the economy arose there, which eventually turned into a completely respectable business with the delivery of alcohol to a client at home. In the state of Nagaland, since 1989, possession, transportation, sale and consumption of alcohol can be sentenced to three years in prison and a large fine - but there are still illegal bars and shops selling moonshine and alcohol imported from the neighboring state of Assam .

Photo: Caisii Mao / Zuma / Globallookpress.com

In Kerala, prohibition has led to several huge political scandals: the tourism industry, which is largely filling the state treasury, as well as bar owners, who rested on the inevitable job cuts, came out against the ban on the sale of alcohol. As a result, the sale of alcohol was allowed, but only in five-star hotels.

Last but not least is Bihar, one of the poorest states in India, known as a supplier of low-skilled labor. There, a ban on the sale of alcohol was officially introduced on April 5, 2016. Whether the initiatives of Chief Minister Kumar will lead to the final collapse of the region's economy will become clear in the coming years.

Of course, not only the authorities of these states experimented with prohibition. Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Manipur - in these states at one time a complete or partial ban on the sale of alcohol was introduced, and everywhere it was canceled under public pressure, after the next elections, when the government changed, or when it became obvious that the ban only provokes an increase in the scale of smuggling and home brewing. And since the bans do not work, the authorities will have to look for another cure for the social ailment. What could become such a panacea is still unclear.

In India, they know a lot about not only tea, but also other warming, tonic and refreshing drinks. We will talk about the most popular, healthy and, most importantly, the most delicious traditional Indian drinks.

Masala tea

India is one of the largest tea producers in the world, and it is not surprising that this drink is very loved and revered here. The greatest fame in India due to the excellent taste and the huge number of useful properties that it possesses, has acquired masala tea. It is interesting that there is no single specific recipe for making this wonderful drink; it will be different in every house, cafe and restaurant. The only thing that remains unchanged is that the drink is prepared from a mixture of black tea, milk, sweetener, Indian spices and herbs. The choice of black tea is due to the fact that spices will not be able to suppress its taste. Sometimes masala chai is made using condensed milk, in which case it can replace both plain milk and sweetener at the same time. The mixture of spices and herbs for the preparation of this drink can be very diverse. The most commonly used are cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, fennel seeds, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, rose petals, licorice root, saffron and almonds in varying proportions.

Here is one of the recipes for making masala tea: not too fat (about 3%) milk is taken as the main ingredients - 1 liter, water - 1 liter, 30 grams of fresh ginger root, 15 black peppercorns, a few cinnamon sticks - to taste, 3 star anise, 7 grams of saffron, 2 cloves, 5 cardamom seeds, sugar and 30 grams of Indian black tea. Fenugreek, nutmeg, fennel, anise, coriander or vanilla are added as additional ingredients.

Bring the water and milk to a boil, then reduce the heat so that the liquids continue to simmer slightly. After that, tea is put into the water, and ground pepper, finely chopped ginger and, if desired, crushed nutmeg are put into the milk. Tea and milk are boiled over low heat for about five minutes, after which all ground spices are added to the milk. Then the dishes are removed from the heat and allowed to brew for three minutes. This is followed by the most crucial moment - pouring tea and milk from teapot into teapot. This process can last from 10 to 20 minutes - it is very important that the spices, tea and milk are well mixed to a homogeneous consistency. Then the drink is poured into a heated dish - it is believed that in this way it will be able to preserve all the taste without giving up its heat to warm the cup.

Masala tea has many useful properties: it perfectly tones the body and saturates it with useful trace elements, improves bowel function, warms up perfectly in the cold season and cools down when it's hot. It is drunk for colds and various infectious diseases, as it quickly relieves the patient of weakness and lethargy, improves overall well-being and warms well. Masala tea also helps people suffering from loss of appetite. In addition, this magnificent drink is used to improve immunity.

Nimbu Pani

One of the most popular illuminating drinks used in India to escape the heat is called Nimbu Pani. This is a lemon drink that is served in all institutions of the country. To prepare it, you need a liter of hot water, 150 milliliters of lemon juice, a tablespoon of lemon zest, 4 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, a few slices of lemon and ice cubes. Lemon juice, zest, sugar and salt are mixed with hot water, then cooled to room temperature. Then the drink is poured into glasses, ice is added and garnished with a slice of lemon.

Lassi

Another famous Indian illuminating drink energizes and perfectly tones. It is prepared very simply: mix a liter of curdled milk (fermented baked milk or kefir is also used), 3 cups of boiled water at room temperature, 6 tablespoons of sugar and a quarter teaspoon of ground cardamom seeds to a homogeneous foamy consistency, and at the end add ice.

Sherbet

Sherbet, which we used to call “sherbet” and think that it can only be hard, is actually originally a famous oriental drink. Islam forbids people to drink alcohol - therefore, sherbet was born, which excites love passion, gives strength and illuminates on a hot day. Sherbet is drunk before meals to slightly satisfy hunger, and after meals to complete the meal in a pleasant way. And it is prepared from a variety of fruits, berries, flowers, spices and plants.

In order to cook sherbet yourself according to one of the recipes common in India, you need to take a kilogram of plums, a kilogram of grapes, 500 grams of apples, the same amount of figs, a cinnamon stick, 10 grams of fresh ginger root, 8 cloves, a tablespoon of sugar, juice of half a lemon and 3.5-4 liters of water. Fruits, along with spices, are boiled for an hour. At the end of cooking, lemon juice is mixed with sugar and added to the fruit, after which it is boiled for another 10 minutes. Then the pan is removed from the heat, the sherbet is filtered, cooled and served to the table, decorating the glasses with slices of fruit or mint leaves.

Visiting tourists call India a country where there is an eternal fairy tale. However, to be convinced of this, you need to see everything with your own eyes. Unique flavor, great sights, and what are the local drinks and cuisine. It is simply impossible to remain indifferent. Alcohol occupies a special place in India, it's time to get to know it better.

Many people mistakenly believe that there is no alcohol here. Although in practice it is also actively produced in this territory.

So there is no need to bring it with you. As for the variety, even the most fastidious will be able to find suitable drinks for themselves. The price of alcohol in India is quite affordable. So, tourists should pay from 5-7 dollars for a bottle of rum.

local treasure

Understanding what they drink in India from alcohol, national drinks cannot be ignored. Most Hindus have a negative attitude towards alcohol. Therefore, they usually offer their guests a special masala tea. It is easy to make your own or buy.

For its preparation, tea, milk, spices are used. Usually the amount of additives is determined independently, one of the main components is ginger. This drink gives energy, improves memory, invigorates. Every Hindu has his own unique recipe to create a magical drink.

What do they drink in India from alcohol

Regarding alcohol, there is a complete variety. Any shop, restaurant and cafe will offer its guests a wide range of products. Usually there is no single recommendation. Some prefer strong, others light cocktails.

It is worth considering the most relevant alcohol in India. It is he who is advised to try during the holidays.

old monk

Local rum made from sugar cane. Many famous personalities were fond of him, among them Che Guevara, Fidel Castro. The roots of Old Monk go quite far. According to reliable sources, it is known that the date of its creation is 1855. In total, several varieties of this rum are shared. Some of them have a soft structure with a caramel smell, others are distinguished by hints of vanilla.

Rum has a dark color, and its strength reaches 42.8% alcohol. To achieve the desired result, you need to keep the shutter speed. Usually it is 7 years, but sometimes reaches 12 years. They sell bottles of any size, starting from 90 ml. It is often added to cocktails.

Today, to enjoy a special taste, it is not necessary to make a long journey. Since 2013, it has been supplied to Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Germany and other countries.

Aristocrat

The unique taste does not leave indifferent. The big plus is that alcohol prices in India are slightly over $10 per bottle. It is produced according to well-known technology. And thanks to the content of herbal squeeze, the drink received a special taste and aroma.

Tongba

Another popular drink based on fermented wheat. It is low-alcohol only 6-8 degrees. It is usually consumed during lunch. The manufacturing process takes several years, based on the fermentation process. When millet reaches the required condition, it is carefully ground. After that, the mixture is dried from a couple of months to several years.

Jandia

Particularly widespread in the Eastern part of the country. Made from rice, herbs, hay. Dough is kneaded from these components, cakes are made, which are sent for drying. After a couple of days, the cakes are mixed with rice and water. The resulting porridge is brought to fermentation. The final fortress does not exceed 8-10 degrees. However, tourists with such an elixir should not risk it. Frequent cases of poisoning have been recorded.

kingfisher

A popular beer that has received wide demand. It is actively sold in many establishments. And even those who do not have a license to do so. Therefore, even inexperienced tourists are able to find ways to get drunk without any problems.

Sula

Wine made from grapes grown in the south of the country. It has a dark purple hue and an incredibly delicate aroma. Usually served on special occasions.

Alcohol in India will appeal to everyone, you just need to find a drink that suits you. The main thing to remember is that excessive consumption can adversely affect health.

Travelers fall into three categories:
1. For those who will never go to India
2. For those who were and have had enough
3. For those who cannot imagine life without this amazing country

Probably, such a division can be applied to any place and state, but in relation to India, it manifests itself very clearly. And this is understandable. If you go to India, as to a European country - to look, relax, get a full service, then most likely you will not get any of this. The exception is the state of Goa. You can read about it - a family that fell in love with this heavenly place and lived there for several seasons.

What is India anyway?

India is controversial. It is thoroughly saturated with tradition and faith. Moreover, there are many religious directions, which makes it surprisingly tolerant of completely distant and different cultures. Despite its ancient history, India is like an inquisitive child. Philosophy, culture, religious traditions attract romantic travelers who seek to immerse themselves in meditation, faith, and yoga practice.

In addition, the requirements for traveling to the country are very simple. It is easy to get a visa and rent a house. What scares and worries?

First of all - garbage and dirt almost throughout the country. What we call unsanitary. We will tell you more about the history of littering. This is a very interesting topic.

From the car window

Another interesting topic is traffic. We talked about this in the article.

Preparing for a trip to India

I remember my trip to India. No matter what I heard. What kind of diseases in India have they told me about! And about amoebic dysentery, and about indigestion, and about terrible spicy food that you can’t take into your mouth - there are so many peppers and spices in it. Most of all, he was frightened by an incomprehensible disease, from which the whole body is covered with thick hair. Just a horror movie!

On the spot everything was simple and clear. There were no new discoveries.

There are diseases in India. Just like in any other country. And in order not to pick up an infection, you just need to follow the usual hygiene rules:

1. You just need to wash your hands before eating.
2. It’s just worth taking an antiseptic gel with you, because. water is indeed a problem. And climatic conditions are favorable not only for tourists, but also for bacteria.
3. You just need to drink only bottled water, i.e. drinking water sold in bottles at every turn.
4. You just need to watch how the locals behave, what they do, so as not to get sick with some disease unknown to us. One of those "frightening" diseases of India, from which the whole body will be covered with thick black long hair.

Every cloud has a silver lining, then you can set another record for the Guinness book.

Ram Singh Chauhan is the owner of the longest mustache - 4 meters 27 centimeters

Today we will talk about how to drink water in India and how Indians drink water.

Please note that water is sold: in plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic bags. It is this water that is issued and sold on trains. In eateries, a jug of water is immediately placed on the table. Here you can decide whether you want to drink the offered water or use your own.

Unlike Russia and some European countries, you can drink your own water in cafes and eateries in India.
The Indians themselves have a very interesting way of drinking water: they drink without touching the neck of the bottle. When they drink water from glasses, often it is metal utensils, they also do not touch the surface of the glass with their lips, but pour it directly into the open mouth.

It is especially important to consider this tradition in temples and ashrams. In India, water is drunk a lot and often. A huge number of people gather in temples. And, of course, many are thirsty. Special people, as a rule, assistant girls, carry water in cups. General cup. It is not customary to hold it for a long time, sipping water in sips - too many are waiting for their turn.

So you can’t drink from a common glass, touching your lips. This is a serious violation.

Most likely, the rule - to drink water without touching the dishes with your lips, is dictated by sanitary standards. But there may be religious reasons as well. Galya and I do not know about this.

Watching Indians drink water from a bottle is very interesting: it's a whole trick. It seems that water freely flows into the mouth, throat, stomach and enters somewhere in the intestines. Straightaway. In large quantities.
On YouTube, Galya shows this trick - how they drink water in India.