Back to roots: Man turns toddy tapper after losing Kuwait job in pandemic

If you have driven past the coconut grove in

Batim

in the morning or evenings, you may have spotted

Apollo Esteves

busy at work. The 56-year-old from

Goa Velha

returned to Goa during the pandemic, after spending 20 years in Kuwait, and took up his traditional occupation, toddy
tapping.
Toddy tapping is no easy task, and not too many in Goa do it currently. Not so for Apollo. “My entire family, including my father and uncles, were in this profession. I learnt it from my uncle and took it up professionally at 14, when my father passed away and I had to take care of my family. I moved to Kuwait for better prospects in 2001, and returned to Goa when I was jobless again in 2021,” he says.
With fewer toddy tappers and a greater demand for toddy, he sees it as a lucrative business opportunity. “When I returned to Goa, I realised toddy prices have gone from `20 a litre to over `200 a litre. My friends and family here helped me set up and restart this traditional occupation. I climb up the coconut palms thrice a day to extract sap, which is later fermented. People have started realising the health benefits of toddy and consuming it frequently. We also use it to make vinegar,” he says. He extracts around 10 litres of toddy from around 15 coconut palms every day. “Right now, we have around 10-15 toddy tappers in all of Goa. Goa Velha itself had around 500 toddy tappers, but now there are just five. There’s higher demand for toddy during feasts etc since many people use it to make sannas. Several restaurants approach me to deliver toddy, but right now I don’t have the bandwidth to do it. Most of what I get is sold at the coconut grove itself, and the rest, I use to make vinegar, which is in high demand too,” he says.
Ask him what he feels about the younger generation shying away from taking up traditional occupations, he says, “This profession has helped my ancestors and my family have a good life. It’s important for kids to understand that jobs like these can also help you make a good living, provided you work hard. It’s a lot of hard work to climb up and down trees every single day, but it’s worth it. Younger people don’t want to do this kind of hard work and instead choose to take up a job.”