Ghalib, His Spirit And The Story Of A Tomcat

Whatever the facts , One thing is for sure that Ghalib had Old Tom and that too with flavoured rose water and salted almonds for a snack ( Chakhna ).

(Photo by Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

ग़ालिब' छुटी शराब पर अब भी कभी कभी पीता हूँ रोज़-ए-अब्र ओ शब-ए-माहताब में . Ghalib! I have quit liquor but even now sometimes I do drink on cloudy days or when the moon brightly shines It is believed that the greatness of Ghalib's poetry came from his wit, his muse and his alcohol. They say that every evening , Ghalib came out of his ballimaran haveli , had kebabs at the kebab shop owned by Maseeta, went to his favourite courtesan’s house and had three pegs of OLD TOM. Saif Mahmood in his book , “Beloved delhi : A mughal city & her greatest poets”, has mentioned in some detail a letter by Ghalib . Old Tom was introduced to Ghalib much later in life by a British on a boat trip from Benaras to Calcutta . Infact Ghalib was very amused by the fact that the colourless liquor is called Gin ( Ginn as in Genie ) Whatever the facts , One thing is for sure that Ghalib had Old Tom and that too with flavoured rose water and salted almonds for a snack ( Chakhna ). “Write drunk, edit sober “ While Hemingway may not have actually said it but more often than not the quote is attributed to him . And to think of it, if Old Tom had any part in Ghalib’s poetry , I had to try it . I kept looking for it and could not find it in Delhi , then one learnt that you would get it in London. Now as luck would have it, I had a friend travelling to the UK for a month . And as soon as she asked me what I wanted from London – I said Old Tom Whiskey. And I bragged about my knowledge about Ghalib and his drink etc etc . I got a call from London telling me that there is no Old Tom whiskey but it’s a kind of Gin and then I was very subtly and sarcastically reminded of my knowledge of Ghalib’s poetry and his drink. I was left embarrassed. …but the embarrassment was worth it . After a month - I had in my hands a beautiful bottle of Old Tom Gin - called Poetic License. What’s in the name - said the great bard . But folks ! this one is all about its name - remember it all started with the story of the great urdu poet - Mirza Asad Ullah Khan Ghalib and it couldn’t be just a coincidence that I managed to get the drink made by a distillery called Poetic License . The distillery says about itself on its website - “All we ask is you lift up your wild spirit and listen to your inner poet. If you can’t write it down then live it, and drink it down. It’s how we’ve got to where we are today” But what is OLD TOM GIN and how did it come into existence ? This question led me to The Gin Craze . It was a period in the early 18th century when the consumption of gin increased rapidly in Great Britain , especially in London . The Londoners were drinking so much that the Parliament had to pass five major Acts, in 1729, 1736, 1743, 1747 and 1751, designed to control the consumption of gin . There are quite a few stories about the origin of the name OLD TOM . I guess everybody who calls him/herself creative , must have created a story about the origin of Old Tom gin. One of the stories is about a tom cat falling into a vat of gin giving this gin the name . One commonly heard story is that of Captain Dudley Bradstreet who basically found a way to bypass the Gin Act of 1736 . What he did was that outside his window he hung a sign featuring an old tomcat. People used to put a coin in the slot made in the mouth of the cat and after receiving the coins Bradstreet would pour a shot of gin through a lead pipe from under the cat’s paw where there was a slot. But the story that comes across as most believable is the story of a distiller called Thomas Chamberlain and his apprentice, Thomas Norris. Chamberlain worked at Hodge’s distillery, teaching Norris his ways. cutting the long story short - chamberlain came to be known as OLD TOM and Norris was known as YOUNG TOM। This can be seen when Norris (young Tom) completed his apprenticeship, he opened a gin palace in Great Russell Street, Covent Garden. The gin that he sold at that time was called Old Tom . The gin has a sweeter and more peppery taste in comparison with Dry Gin but is slightly drier than the Dutch Jenever, thus is sometimes called "the missing link”. The sweet taste is nurtured from botanicals and inclusion of rose petals infuses a distinct character to the sweetness as well as a slight rose gold tinge . Enjoying the aroma and taste , I tried to lift up my wild spirit and awaken my inner poet and it led to nowhere . Hence it was proved that Ghalib’s poetry was because of his genius and not gin . I had the Gin, Genius can wait. Also Watch:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClz_RB886dDsoRqF311OrCQ/featured (Nitin Sukhija is a media professional who has dabbled in different roles in various media . And yes , He loves to travel and tell stories ...) Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP Network Pvt Ltd.