Politics of the palm: A protest wrapped in a festival in Tamil Nadu

The Hindu

24-05-2025

Tamil Nadu's tryst with toddy, a byproduct of the State's official tree, the palmyra, has been steeped in complexity since the implementation of the Prohibition Act in 1937. For years now, toddy tappers have petitioned the government to legalise toddy, categorising it as a health drink. The government has steadily rejected the demand, continuing to criminalise the tapping of this product, all while several regimes have toyed with its legalisation.
What might seem like a moot point to the rest of the State has had a direct impact on the lives of those who scale the rough trunk of a tree that thrives in barren landscapes. Think of a palm tree climber. A visual of a tired man with ropes around his hips and legs sweating profusely whilst a blazing sun shines, somehow emerges.
A festival in Villupuram's Narasinganur titled Pana Kanavu Vizha [The Palmyra Dream Festival] village wished to change this narrative of a tired toddy tapper. On May 24, when an oppressive humidity took over the village and not a single blade of grass moved due to the stillness, around 2,000 people from different parts of the world, danced, performed martial arts, scaled the palm, drank padaneer and toddy, and chose to picnic, all whilst celebrating the palm. Although it seemed like a gala on the outside with fire dances and ice candy, the event concealed within its folds, a vociferous protest. Associations protecting the rights of toddy tappers from across the State, were present, providing monetary aid to the cause.
D. Pandian, at the forefront of the Tamil Nadu Palm Tree Climbers Protection Association, is the convenor of the Pana Kanavu Vizha. The Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937, outlines the penalties that come with the extraction of toddy. It is a non-bailable offence, he says.
For years now, the criticism that the government has raised against toddy tapping and its sale, especially since its classification as an alcoholic drink category after brief stints of government-run toddy shops in the 1970s and 1980s, is the adulteration. Pandian says that those brewing spurious liquor and adulteration deserve punishment. However, toddy tapping is an entirely different business.
An article in The Hindu from September 30, 1970, shows that the demand has existed for years. 'A deputation of the Tamil Nadu Kal Venduvore Kazhagam, led by Dr. M. A. Karim, met the Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, on Tuesday and presented a memorandum pleading for exemption of toddy from the Prohibition Act,' the article says.
'They tell us that they do not know how to regulate or do quality checks of our products. We tell them to come with their equipment. We do not want to follow a model like that of Kerala's where toddy shops are run by the government. We do not want toddy shops at all. Those who grow and tap palm though, should be allowed to tap it and sell it to those who seek it,' he says.
Toddy is usually tapped between December and May but peak season tends to be during summer months. Each tree produces between two and five litres of toddy and each litre is sold for ₹100 in a hush-hush way. Padaneer, another liquid byproduct of the tree, is priced at ₹120 because the tree requires a coating of alkaline before tapping. 'It is also far more effort to tap for padaneer,' says T. Vinayagam, district head of the association's Tiruvannamalai division.
Until recently, the practice of paying off the police to tap toddy in a clandestine manner existed across the State. 'But why should we be criminalised for climbing a tree? Do you know the number of times the police have come and pulled our fathers and grandfathers off the trunk of the tree? It was horrific to watch. That's why there are so few tree climbers today,' says V. Ranjini, the head of the women's wing of the Tiruvannamalai district's association.
Ranjini adds that the children as young as three, are given toddy as it is said to have several health benefits. An article from The Hindu dating back to July 2, 1931, by Colonel J N Chopra, from the School of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta, speaks of the vitamins benefits available in a toddy drink.
Harris Karishma, who scales the palm treat with grace swears by the healing powers of toddy which she claims cleared her skin condition. It is a video of her inviting people to this festival that went viral on social media. 'Today, even climbing a tree is political but it is in my blood. That is not going to change,' she says.