Mahua, Honey, and the Making of Modern India

Bahaar: I wanted to learn more about Naar and somehow ended up writing an essay on mahua flowers, forest gatherers, colonial forestry, and tribal resistance. Would love to know what you think of this one.

Meera: I rediscovered Mahua after ages. It was a childhood favourite that we would pick up on our way to school or during picnics from under the trees. The Mahua from Wild Harvest is now my favourite.

Bahaar: We had a [Mahua] tree near our house growing up, but I never knew they [the flowers] were edible!

Sowjanya: Thank you for sharing, this was a lovely read. Fascinating history of how forests have been treated in the past 150-odd years.

PS: Nice read. Neglecting the rights of the hunter-gatherers, who are also the original inhabitants, has been passed on from the British state to the Indian state; our administration reeks of colonialism, plus more typical Indian-style discriminations have been added.

Sonia: It’s beautifully written. Thanks for sharing. It’s led to me hankering for these ‘major’ forest fruits.