Bhopal’s Liquid Verse: A Toast to ‘Little Little… Swill’ and Timeless Tales

A low-key but lively drinking culture has been bubbling away beneath the surface in the heart of this great city, where poetry and philosophy combine with tradition and urbanity. The recent article titled "Tome and Plume: Little Little. Swill Adds to Bhopali Feel" maintains this unique blend of literary belletrism and alcoholic excess, illustrating how alcohol both ancient and modern has become an unobtrusive but enduring part of the city's character.

 

A City That Sips with Soul

While Bhopal may not have the pub density of metro cities, its residents are far from being teetotalers. From toddy and handia in tribal areas to Scotch and sura in urban lounges, the city's drinking culture proves a 10,000-year-old cultural heritage, dating back to the Mesolithic Age and Bhimbetka rock shelters.

 

Tradition in a Glass

Toddy (palm wine) and handia (rice beer) remain rural and tribal favorites, often consumed during social events and festivities.

 

Forest-flowers are employed to still brew mahua-based brews in Madhya Pradesh's regions, an ancient technique replicated.

 

The Rig Veda refers to Soma and Sura, ritual beverages which graced royal courts and sacred rituals of yore.

 

New-Fashioned Swill Meets Old-Fashioned Charm

Despite anti-liquor activism and official roadblocks, Bhopalis continue to drink their "little little" swill—sometimes supplemented by a pinch of poetry, politics, or philosophical sparring. The city's literary coffee houses, rooftop bars, and road-side tapris offer a setting where the introspection of Baudelaire meets Bundelkhandi humor.

 

As the article poetically notes, "One should always be drunk… with wine, with poetry, or with virtue." In Bhopal, it seems, lots of people drink all three.

 

Sources: Free Press Journal