Much like everything else in India, alcohol has mystical beginnings; it made its appearance as Soma. It came with the promise of new thought-processes, and thus an opportunity to contact the Other, often experienced and expressed as a union with God.

The book traces alcohol’s journey from the inebriated gods and goddesses during rituals, to the kings and heroes, all the way to the common men and women who would devour it and sing paeans in its glory, thus making the drink an intrinsic part of India’s literary and artistic expression.