THE YAKHA: CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN ...

tribe' "make fermented and distilled liquors for themselves, and use the
former in great quantities - the latter moderately'' (1880:401).
Cuha (.iBD - 'beer' ) was a fundamental component of Yakha social
life." To refuse it when visiting people's houses was to feel some
social norm was being transgressed. This was particularly the case if
any sort of business transaction was involved, It was also an avenue
for women's display of domestic virtuosity. When visitors approached,
it was normal for women to disappear soon after to the kitchen, from
where they could maintain a keen interest in events taking place on the
porch and from where at the appropriate time they would emerge, or
summon the porch sitters in to join them in the kitchen, with bowls of
freshly squeezed, milky white cuha served in brass bowls or stainless
steel cups, "Lots of vitamins, vitamins A and D" Bhim Bahadur (educated
in Kathmandu) said to us one day, and indeed it was served to the
smallest children. A bowl or glass was never served without a ref i ll
being provided, and the cautious drinker, or one not wanting to strain
the resources of the family, knew to drink only a little at first so
that the ref i ll was not large. Cuha was also the standard refreshment
for labourers (see Chapter Five). Whiie in the quantities in whicn it
was consumed it did have some inebriating effect, the alcohol content
general 1 y seemed very i ow,
Not so with raksi, a distilled spirit also known euphemistically as
chesmha (meaning 'clear'). This was aiso normally produced domesticaiiy
(see Plate 9), its production, like that of cuha, being seen as solely
the women's domain. While raksi was often drunk warm and freshly
distilled first thing in the morning in the pradhdn pd-c's house (with a
cup of tea and a snack), it was generally treated with more