TODDY TO TEQUILA : The Story of Alcohol in India
TODDY TO TEQUILA : The Story of Alcohol in India
Sandhya Mulchandani
- Publication date : 19 January 2026
- Print length : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9353456770
- ISBN-13 : 978-9353456771
Alcohol in India has never been just a drink; it has also been a ritual, a taboo, a temptation and a tool of power. Toddy to Tequila uncovers the deeper story, of how alcohol evolved alongside India itself.
From Vedic altars and tribal stills to Mughal durbars, colonial taverns and today’s sleek distilleries, alcohol has been worshipped and banned, taxed and outlawed, served in earthen pots and showcased in jewelled goblets. It has served as sacred libation, social glue, political weapon and economic engine, reflecting the shifting currents of faith, class and authority.
Tracing millennia of myth, medicine, empire and society, this book dismantles persistent notions about Indians and drinking, revealing instead a patchwork of traditions unique to the subcontinent. At its core are the people who brewed, celebrated, condemned and controlled alcohol: gods and ascetics, kings and soldiers, women distillers and reformers.
India’s history of alcohol is ultimately a history of India itself.
Alcohol in India has never been just a drink; it has also been a ritual, a taboo, a temptation and a tool of power. Toddy to Tequila uncovers the deeper story, of how alcohol evolved alongside India itself.
From Vedic altars and tribal stills to Mughal durbars, colonial taverns and today’s sleek distilleries, alcohol has been worshipped and banned, taxed and outlawed, served in earthen pots and showcased in jewelled goblets. It has served as sacred libation, social glue, political weapon and economic engine, reflecting the shifting currents of faith, class and authority.
Tracing millennia of myth, medicine, empire and society, this book dismantles persistent notions about Indians and drinking, revealing instead a patchwork of traditions unique to the subcontinent. At its core are the people who brewed, celebrated, condemned and controlled alcohol: gods and ascetics, kings and soldiers, women distillers and reformers.
India’s history of alcohol is ultimately a history of India itself.
Author Bios:
Sandhya Mulchandani is an author and researcher whose work explores eroticism in mythology and in ancient and medieval literature. She has written several acclaimed books, including For the Love of God, The Indian Man, Love and Lust, The Five Arrows of Kama and Kama Sutra for Women, the last one having been translated into multiple languages. She has also produced a modern translation of Muddupalani’s Radhika Santawanam and has been featured in numerous documentaries.
Deeply interested in Hindu philosophy, mythology and music, she continues her research and writing from her home in Delhi.
Sandhya Mulchandani is an author and researcher whose work explores eroticism in mythology and in ancient and medieval literature. She has written several acclaimed books, including For the Love of God, The Indian Man, Love and Lust, The Five Arrows of Kama and Kama Sutra for Women, the last one having been translated into multiple languages. She has also produced a modern translation of Muddupalani’s Radhika Santawanam and has been featured in numerous documentaries.
Deeply interested in Hindu philosophy, mythology and music, she continues her research and writing from her home in Delhi.
