'In those days there was no coffee': Coffee-drinking and middle-class culture in colonial Tamilnadu

Indian Economic and Social History Review

Volumn 39, Issue 2-3 SPEC. ISS., 2002, Pages 301-316

  Venkatachalapathy, A R ^a  

^a MADRAS INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES   (India)

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EID: 2442544649     PISSN: 00194646     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/001946460203900209     Document Type: Review

References (104)

1. Ananda Vikatan, 24 October 1943. See Thi. Ka. Shanmugam, Enatu Nadaga Valkai, Madras, 1986, p. 66. Also Ti. Ja. Ra. (Polutupokku, Madras, 1953, p. 190; essays written in the late 1930s) who observes, 'The public never desires anything. Twenty years ago, did anybody petition asking for soaps and coffee?' N. Subramanian (author of Sangam Polity and The Brahmin in the Tamil Country) remarks in his autobiography, 'The habit of coffee-drinking, I believe, entered our household only a few years before my birth [1915] .... Probably, it was only after 1918 that coffee-drinking became a tradition with my father' (En Valkai Varalaru, Udumalaippettai, 1993, p. 17).
2. Ananda Vikatan, 24 October 1943. See Thi. Ka. Shanmugam, Enatu Nadaga Valkai, Madras, 1986, p. 66. Also Ti. Ja. Ra. (Polutupokku, Madras, 1953, p. 190; essays written in the late 1930s) who observes, 'The public never desires anything. Twenty years ago, did anybody petition asking for soaps and coffee?' N. Subramanian (author of Sangam Polity and The Brahmin in the Tamil Country) remarks in his autobiography, 'The habit of coffee-drinking, I believe, entered our household only a few years before my birth [1915] .... Probably, it was only after 1918 that coffee-drinking became a tradition with my father' (En Valkai Varalaru, Udumalaippettai, 1993, p. 17).
3. Ananda Vikatan, 24 October 1943. See Thi. Ka. Shanmugam, Enatu Nadaga Valkai, Madras, 1986, p. 66. Also Ti. Ja. Ra. (Polutupokku, Madras, 1953, p. 190; essays written in the late 1930s) who observes, 'The public never desires anything. Twenty years ago, did anybody petition asking for soaps and coffee?' N. Subramanian (author of Sangam Polity and The Brahmin in the Tamil Country) remarks in his autobiography, 'The habit of coffee-drinking, I believe, entered our household only a few years before my birth [1915] .... Probably, it was only after 1918 that coffee-drinking became a tradition with my father' (En Valkai Varalaru, Udumalaippettai, 1993, p. 17).
4. Ananda Vikatan, 24 October 1943. See Thi. Ka. Shanmugam, Enatu Nadaga Valkai, Madras, 1986, p. 66. Also Ti. Ja. Ra. (Polutupokku, Madras, 1953, p. 190; essays written in the late 1930s) who observes, 'The public never desires anything. Twenty years ago, did anybody petition asking for soaps and coffee?' N. Subramanian (author of Sangam Polity and The Brahmin in the Tamil Country) remarks in his autobiography, 'The habit of coffee-drinking, I believe, entered our household only a few years before my birth [1915] .... Probably, it was only after 1918 that coffee-drinking became a tradition with my father' (En Valkai Varalaru, Udumalaippettai, 1993, p. 17).
5. For an exploration of the appropriation of the novel into Tamil society, see my 'Domesticating the Novel: Culture and Society in Inter-War Tamilnadu', The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 34 (1), 1997, pp. 53-67.
6. George Watt, The Commercial Products of India, London, 1908, p. 337; A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, Madras, 1967, p. 121; K.T. Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion, Delhi, 1994, pp. 229-30; B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, Madras, 1978, p. 159. Also see Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707, Bombay, 1963, p. 46.
7. George Watt, The Commercial Products of India, London, 1908, p. 337; A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, Madras, 1967, p. 121; K.T. Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion, Delhi, 1994, pp. 229-30; B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, Madras, 1978, p. 159. Also see Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707, Bombay, 1963, p. 46.
8. George Watt, The Commercial Products of India, London, 1908, p. 337; A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, Madras, 1967, p. 121; K.T. Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion, Delhi, 1994, pp. 229-30; B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, Madras, 1978, p. 159. Also see Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707, Bombay, 1963, p. 46.
9. George Watt, The Commercial Products of India, London, 1908, p. 337; A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, Madras, 1967, p. 121; K.T. Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion, Delhi, 1994, pp. 229-30; B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, Madras, 1978, p. 159. Also see Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707, Bombay, 1963, p. 46.
10. George Watt, The Commercial Products of India, London, 1908, p. 337; A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, Madras, 1967, p. 121; K.T. Achaya, Indian Food: A Historical Companion, Delhi, 1994, pp. 229-30; B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, Madras, 1978, p. 159. Also see Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707, Bombay, 1963, p. 46.
11. Claudia Roden, Coffee, Harmondsworth, 1981.
12. Anthony Giddens, Sociology, Cambridge, 1989, p. 20.
13. S. Muthiah, A Planting Century: The First Hundred Years of the United Planter's Association of Southern India, 1893-1993, New Delhi, 1993.
14. Gnana Aloysius, ed., Ayothidasar Chinthanaigal, Vol. I, Palayamkottai, 1999, p. 273 (originally published in Tamilan, 17 August 1910).
15. Gnana Aloysius, ed., Ayothidasar Chinthanaigal, Vol. I, Palayamkottai, 1999, p. 273 (originally published in Tamilan, 17 August 1910).
16. Madras District Gazetteers: Tanjore, Madras, 1906, p. 65.
17. Tinnevelly District Gazetteer, Madras, 1917, p. 105.
18. Mu. Arunachalam, Nilalarumai Veyililae, Madras, 1944, p. 28.
19. 'Anja Nenjan', Namathu Palasarakku Kadai, Karaikkudi, Thunmathi (Tamil calendar), 1921-22, p. 78. N. Subramanian observes: 'As coffee grew from strength to strength, palayathu was forgotten. But those with any sense of gratitude who have ever eaten palayathu with a side dish of narathai [wild lime] pickle and eritha kari [a curry made of leftover vegetables] will never forget its taste' (En Valkai varalaru, p. 17).
20. 'Anja Nenjan', Namathu Palasarakku Kadai, Karaikkudi, Thunmathi (Tamil calendar), 1921-22, p. 78. N. Subramanian observes: 'As coffee grew from strength to strength, palayathu was forgotten. But those with any sense of gratitude who have ever eaten palayathu with a side dish of narathai [wild lime] pickle and eritha kari [a curry made of leftover vegetables] will never forget its taste' (En Valkai varalaru, p. 17).
21. Ki. Rajanarayanan, Karisal Kattu Kaditasi, Sivagangai, 1991, p. 73.
22. Written by Choolai Munuswamy Mudaliar and published from Choolai, a working-class locality of Madras. For Tamil popular publishing in Tamilnadu, see my 'Songsters of the Cross-roads: Popular Literature and Print in Colonial Tamilnadu', South Indian Folklorist, Vol. 3, No. 1, October 1999.
23. 'Rakki', 'Ore Oru Cup Kappi', Sakthi, February 1947.
24. Grama Ooliyan, 16 March 1947. For similar advertisements issued by Narasu's see Swadesamitran (Weekly), 27 June 1943.
25. Grama Ooliyan, 16 March 1947. For similar advertisements issued by Narasu's see Swadesamitran (Weekly), 27 June 1943.
26. Lokabakari, 21 June 1928.
27. Coffee and tea do not figure in the indigenous medicinal texts and traditions. While native materia medica even refer to tobacco, coffee and tea do not find a place, probably because they are rather late entrants. However, popular beliefs hold that coffee and tea are heat- and bile-producing substances.
28. Tamilar Nesan, Vol. 7, No. 9, December 1923.
29. Navasakti, 15 June 1927.
30. Tamilar Nesan, Vol. 7, No. 9, December 1923.
31. Namathu Palasarakku Kadai, p. 18.
32. Not that it stopped many Gandhians from drinking coffee. Of C. Rajagopalachari's love for coffee, it has been said (by no less than A.K. Chettiar, another Gandhian) that he would have been mighty pleased if the entire Kaveri were to run with coffee. See A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, p. 119. Many Gandhians were taunted with the question of whether the followers of Gandhi could drink coffee.
33. Stri-Dharma, June 1926.
34. Maraimalai Adigal, Makkal Noorandu Valkai, Madras, 1976, pp. 205-06 (1st edn, 1933).
35. Englandu Kappikkum Indian Palayattukkum Nerntha Chandai Chindu, Madras, 1914.
36. 'Of Tamil Women', Young India, 25 August 1921.
37. Stri-Dharma, June 1926.
38. Lokabakari, 21 June 1928. Also see Ooliyan, 11 August 1925.
39. Lokabakari, 21 June 1928. Also see Ooliyan, 11 August 1925.
40. Lokabakari, 21 June 1928.
41. Maraimalai Adigal, Makkal Noorandu Valkai, p. 206.
42. A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, p. 122; B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, pp. 156-57; 'Anjanenjan', Namatu Palasarakku Kadai, p. 78.
43. A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, p. 122; B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, pp. 156-57; 'Anjanenjan', Namatu Palasarakku Kadai, p. 78.
44. A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, p. 122; B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, pp. 156-57; 'Anjanenjan', Namatu Palasarakku Kadai, p. 78.
45. R.K. Narayan, A Writer's Nightmare: Selected Essays, New Delhi, 1988, p. 56.
46. Swadesamitran (Weekly), 7 November 1943.
47. A.R. Venkatachalapathy, ed., Pudumaippithan Kataigal, Nagercoil, 2000, p. 381.
48. Ibid., pp. 254, 605.
49. Ibid., p. 552.
50. B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, p. 156; Ki. Rajanarayanan, Karisal Kattu Kaditasi, p. 75.
51. B.G.L. Swamy, Bothaiyin Pathaiyil, p. 156; Ki. Rajanarayanan, Karisal Kattu Kaditasi, p. 75.
52. R.K. Narayan, My Dateless Diary, Mysore, 1960, pp. 2-3.
53. A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, p. 125. Also see Gnanakootan's preface to Vathsala, Suyam, Madras, 2000, p. 7.
54. A.K. Chettiar, Kudagu, p. 125. Also see Gnanakootan's preface to Vathsala, Suyam, Madras, 2000, p. 7.
55. R.K. Narayan, My Dateless Diary, p. 3. N. Subramanian too remarks that 'Coffee-making in those days was such an elaborate ritual' (En Valkai Varalaru, p. 17).
56. R.K. Narayan, My Dateless Diary, p. 3. N. Subramanian too remarks that 'Coffee-making in those days was such an elaborate ritual' (En Valkai Varalaru, p. 17).
57. Venkatachalapathy, ed., Pudumaippithan Kataigal, p. 554.
58. S. Muthiah, A Planting Century, p. 126. Also see Sooravali, 25 June 1939.
59. S. Muthiah, A Planting Century, p. 126. Also see Sooravali, 25 June 1939.
60. Ananda Vikatan, 24 October 1943, emphasis added.
61. Sakthi, February 1947.
62. R.K. Narayan, My Dateless Diary, p. 3.
63. Navsakti, 2 November 1923.
64. A. Marx, Udaipadum Punitangal, Coimbatore, 1997, pp. 112-16.
65. Ki. Rajanarayanan, Karisal Kattu Kadithasi, p. 74.
66. Ibid., p. 75.
67. Chitti, 'Oru Cup Kapi', Manikkodi, 29 September 1934. This essay written in the fashion of A.G. Gardiner and Hilaire Belloc, was acclaimed as a classic (Kalamohini, 15 Aadi, Chithrabanu-Tamil calendar, 1942). Also see, A. Ramgopal, 'Teilai', Kalaimagal, October 1948.
68. Chitti, 'Oru Cup Kapi', Manikkodi, 29 September 1934. This essay written in the fashion of A.G. Gardiner and Hilaire Belloc, was acclaimed as a classic (Kalamohini, 15 Aadi, Chithrabanu-Tamil calendar, 1942). Also see, A. Ramgopal, 'Teilai', Kalaimagal, October 1948.
69. Chitti, 'Oru Cup Kapi', Manikkodi, 29 September 1934. This essay written in the fashion of A.G. Gardiner and Hilaire Belloc, was acclaimed as a classic (Kalamohini, 15 Aadi, Chithrabanu-Tamil calendar, 1942). Also see, A. Ramgopal, 'Teilai', Kalaimagal, October 1948.
70. Ti. Ja. Ra., Yosikkum Velaiyilae, Madras, 1952, pp. 39-40.
71. S.V.V., Soap Bubbles and More Soap Bubbles, Madras, 1988, p. 98 (1st edn, 1946).
72. Mu. Arunachalam, Indraiya Tamil Vasananadai, Madras, 1945, p. 18.
73. Ibid., p. 67.
74. For an extended discussion of these debates, see A.R. Venkatachalapathy, 'Coining Words: Language and Politics in Late Colonial Tamilnadu', Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vol. 15, No. 2, 1995.
75. Mullai, No. 4, 1946. As late as 1967, A.K. Chettiar was commenting, 'We hear demands like "light coffee", "medium coffee", "strong coffee", "double-strong coffee" at cafes. Tamil terms for these are yet to be coined'; Chettiar, Kudagu, p. 125.
76. Mullai, No. 4, 1946. As late as 1967, A.K. Chettiar was commenting, 'We hear demands like "light coffee", "medium coffee", "strong coffee", "double-strong coffee" at cafes. Tamil terms for these are yet to be coined'; Chettiar, Kudagu, p. 125.
77. Rajaji Katturaigal, Madras, n.d., pp. 12-13. See Rajaji Kataigal for a short story about rivalry in the coffee-trade between two dealers.
78. Rajaji Katturaigal, Madras, n.d., pp. 12-13. See Rajaji Kataigal for a short story about rivalry in the coffee-trade between two dealers.
79. The Tatas have recently introduced a new brand specially meant for south India called 'Kaapi'.
80. U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Nallurai Kovai, Vol. 2, Madras, 1991, p. 53. Originally delivered as a Presidential Address to the Tamilanbar Manadu, Madras, 1933.
81. Ve. Anaimuthu, ed., Periyar Ee. Ve. Ra. Chinthanaigal, Vol. 2, Tiruchi, 1974, p. 922. Originally written in 1948.
82. G.A. Natesan, 'Changing Times', Indian Review, August 1938.
83. Navasakti, 29 October 1926.
84. A.K. Chettiar, Ulagam Suttrum Tamilan, Madras, 1957, pp. 125-26.
85. 'Rakki', 'Oru Cup Kapi', Sakti, February 1947.
86. Kuyil, 15 August 1948.
87. 'Anjanenjan', Namathu Palasarakku Kadai, p. 78.
88. 'Kapi Hotelgal: Janangalukku Erpadum Keduthalgal', Navasakti, 2 November 1923; 'Kapi Hotelgalin Seerkedana Nilamai', Navasakti, 15 June 1927; Su. Aa. Ramasamy Pulavar, Ilagiri Porulgala? Ematootargala?, Madras, 1955, p. 26.
89. 'Kapi Hotelgal: Janangalukku Erpadum Keduthalgal', Navasakti, 2 November 1923; 'Kapi Hotelgalin Seerkedana Nilamai', Navasakti, 15 June 1927; Su. Aa. Ramasamy Pulavar, Ilagiri Porulgala? Ematootargala?, Madras, 1955, p. 26.
90. Indian Review, August 1938.
91. Gandhi, 6 November 1933.
92. Ve. Anaimuthu, ed., Ee. Ve. Ra. Chinthanaigal, Vol. 3, pp. 1783-84 (originally published as an editorial in Kudiarasu, 3 July 1938).
93. Ve. Anaimuthu, ed., Ee. Ve. Ra. Chinthanaigal, Vol. 3, pp. 1783-84 (originally published as an editorial in Kudiarasu, 3 July 1938).
94. Ibid., Vol. 3, p. 1849.
95. Manikkodi, 2 February 1936.
96. Stri Dharma, August-September 1935.
97. Manikkodi, 2 February 1936.
98. Swadesamitran (Weekly), 23 May 1943. Another advertisement in this series portrayed a sailor (Ibid., 21 November 1943).
99. Swadesamitran (Weekly), 23 May 1943. Another advertisement in this series portrayed a sailor (Ibid., 21 November 1943).
100. G.O. No. 1527, Public Works (Labour), 30 July 1943, Government of Madras (Administration Report-Factories Act-1942, Appendix III).
101. G.O. No. 2092, Public Works, 22 July 1944, Government of Madras.
102. Mu. Arunachalam, Indraiya Tamil Vasananadai, pp. 89-90.
103. G. Alagiriswamy, Nan Kanda Eluthalargal, Madras, 1988, p. 102.
104. R.K. Narayan, Story-Teller's World, New Delhi, 1989, p. 44.