Beer - An Introduction

 It is a hot summer day in 1980. An excited six year old boy is travelling with parents and siblings on a highway in rural Maharashtra, heading to the town where the child's father is currently posted. The child is infamous for being violently carsick at the slightest sign of turbulence - to the intense displeasure amd disgust of the child's elder sisters, who have to keep a wary eye on him whenever the family is on a road trip. And, all this is in an era when car windows have to be kept open - air-conditioning is unheard of.  The hot breeze comes in, slow-baking the  family. 

 Thankfully on this day, the road is clear and smooth, because the said child does not get carsick. The family stops at a highway restaurant for lunch. 

(As with most highway restaurants, this one  serves all kinds of patrons, and advertises  a "permit room" at the back - a fascinating signboard  that the child notes mentally for future exploration.)

The  children are allowed by their strict mother to order "cold drinks", fizzy stuff that would be frowned upon on normal days. Accordingly. a bottle each of the market-dominating brands Thums Up cola,  Limca lemon drink and Gold Spot orange make their appearance. But along with them, something very different is served to the father -  a tall, dark brown bottle, which dwarfs the smaller soft drink bottles. The label says "Golden Eagle" - and when opened, the bottle disgorges yellowish liquid, that is frothy and has a strange sour smell. It is altogether far more interesting than the Limca that is in front of the child. Immediately, the child demands the frothy stuff, not the soft drink. 

 The father indulgently says, certainly, you can have a taste and decide for yourself. Elder sisters and mother do an eye roll. 

The boy is less sure of his impulsive decision, the closer he goes to the mug. The liquid smells even worse at close quarters, and doesn't look all that appealing now. But, having been given permission by the father, it will be really cowardly to decline a taste now. So, closing his eyes, as if it were an undesired medicine, the boy sips the contents of the mug. 

And it is even worse than what the child has imagined. This liquid has a bitter an after-taste as well! Multiple gulps of Limca are required to get rid of the foul taste. The adults laugh at the child's bemused expression and feel they have cured him of any alcohol-inclined explorations. 

But they haven't. The impression of sour-smelling, bitter-tasting, golden-coloured liquid is stored in the child's memory as "to be retrieved and continued at the right age". And that bottle of Golden Eagle lager has certainly paved the way for countless beer drinking, brewing and experimenting sessions in the years since!