The "Sulai Diaries"

The part of the world that I am from is famous for this vicious nectar. Before the economy was opened for the likes of Dewar and Jim Beam or that of the India Made Foreign Liquor, The drink Sulai, having a distinct pungent smell and made from a heady concoction of molasses, and what not had been ruling the roost. In the glory days of Baragolai Colliery, when coal productionwas up and most of the miners who used to work in the mine shafts for prolonged duration, Sulai was the source of their energy. As the dependence on this alcoholic beverage grew, the illicit trade became a sure shot way to reap huge money. 

One popular legend among us then was about an incident involving the lathi welding Assam Police. The Police authorities once realizing that there were many illegal “Sulai Bhattis” or distilleries came down with full force in the middle of night, so as to keep the growing menace under tight leash. By then, there were a few isolated incidents, whereby consuming this drink, a few unfortunate individuals lost their lives.

There was one such distillery that was being operated by a woman. Sensing that the police had already arrived and since she had invested a lot, a wild idea dawned upon her. To save her investment and her sole livelihood, she came out, tore her clothes and started dancing around the coal fire. Such was the intensity of her dance, the entire police force were astounded and shocked. Assuming that the lady had been possessed by some devil and fearing that they might be cursed, they abandoned their mission and ran back to their jeep. 

Yours truly had a rare chance of having Sulai and going by the experience, I thought my whole intestine would come out. I am not endorsing Sulai nor do I have the intention to popularize it. It can be best described as slow poison that sucks up the very essence of life and slowly eats in to your body’s defense mechanism. I have seen so many deaths of people whom I knew and the only common factor in them was “Sulai addiction”. It is not good for your health and most important of all, it is the family that suffers most.