NEERA: (Sweet Toddy or Palm Nectar)
Man collecting Neera from Date/Palm tree
Collecting juice from Palm in South India
Come summer and you will see lots of green-boxed rickshaws in the streets of Kashipur and other towns of Uttarakhand and western UP. No-no, it is not some kind of green-campaign started by some NGO. It is our friendly neighbourhood “Neera – Waala” selling NEERA. For those who do not know what this Neera is, “it is the sweet juice of palm/date trees which is collected over-night on earthen pots”. This is juice is then sold by Khadi Gramodyog Boards of various States in Summers as a cool-drink and in winters as black Jaggery. Either way, it is delicious and very good for health. Neera is known to be very good for stomach problems. Those who have poor digestion are advised to drink a glass of Neera every day.
Say what? You are not a child ! Okay – okay….. just keep your Neera in a container for two days and Voila ! your sweet Neera has now matured into an intoxicating drink called TODDY. Don’t ask me more 
Trivia: In one of Amitabh Bachchan’s early movie called ‘Saudagar’ he was the trader of the same Jaggery made out of the juice of date tree. Her co-star was legendary actress Nutan.
BEL JUICE:
Big ripe Bel fruit hanging on a tree
Big round Bel Fruit
This juice is very popular in the interiors of Northern India. This plant is said to be the favourite of Hindu Diety SHIVA. Its leaves are used as an offering to the God. The fruit of this plant is very peculiar. Like coconut, it has a hard shell on the outside and sweetish aromatic yellowish pulp on the inside. To make the juice, the pulp of the fruit is scooped out and mixed with cold water and sugar. This concoction can be had just like that or can be mixed with milk. Like Neera, this juice is also considered to be good for stomach. The juice is so aromatic that if you burp even after one hour, you will feel the aroma of Bel juice.
Medicinal Uses: Bel fruit has mild astringent, antiparasitic, antipyretic properties. The fruits are used to cure dysentery, dyspepsia, heart diseases and diarrhoea.
SUGARCANE JUICE:
Road-side vendor crushing juice out of Sugarcane
Typical shop selling sugarcane juice
It is among the more popular cool drinks of India. Almost every person of North India has had a glass of Sugarcane Juice once in a lifetime. Ask any person, a glass of Sugarcane blended with mint and lemon is so-so heavenly in the sweltering heat of May-June.
Besides these, Jal-jeera, Lemonade, fruit juices and numerous other regional summer chillers are available in India. We just turn a blind-eye to them and move on to gulp another bottle of Coke, Pepsi and other carbonated drinks.
This is such a sad state. I urge all of you to at least one time sum up the courage and ask your friendly neighbourly juice-waala bhaiya for a glass of juice. Trust me, you will not only improve your own health but also the health of our country and economy.
So….while you ponder over it, I am going to have a glass of musk-melon juice. Cheers and Happy Summers !!!
