ANANDA: An Exploration of Cannabis in India - Aleph Book Company, 2024

Cannabis, or ganja, is practically as old as recorded Indian civilization, with references to the plant being found in some of India’s earliest written texts and myths. Native strains of the plant are as common as rice or millet in many Indian states, and can often be found growing wild in the countryside. In scripture and reality, ganja is said to provide Ananda (bliss) or Vijaya (victory) over the cares and ills of the world. Cannabis is best known as a recreational drug but it has a myriad other uses as well, especially in pain management and the treatment of anxiety and other mental disorders.

In this lively, well-researched, humorous, and occasionally trippy account of ganja, Karan Madhok looks at every aspect of the cannabis plant: botanical, spiritual, medical, and recreational. The author hits the road in search of cannabis strains around the country, including a visit to the Himalayan hamlet that has offered the world-renowned Malana Cream (and the counterculture movements it has inspired); looks for the mythical Idukki Gold in Kerala; seeks the Sheelavathi variety in the Andhra/Orissa region, which is now at the centre of India’s most lucrative ganja trafficking operation; portrays the travails of addicts, and details the shadowy world of the gangsters and suppliers; hangs out with bhakts of Lord Shiva who openly consume the drug; and visits hospitals and clinics which use the drug for a wide range of therapeutics. A major portion of the book is devoted to India’s ‘war on ganja’ and how it played out in the cases of Sushant Singh Rajput and Aryan Khan.

Besides the factual and eye-opening research into every aspect of the narcotic, the author also contemplates the concepts of freedom, creativity, spirituality, and paranoia associated with the drug, and examines the upside and problems of decriminalizing ganja in India.

Ananda, the first major study of cannabis in India, is entertaining and enlightening -- it is the perfect introduction to the cultural complexities, curses, and boons of this integral crop.

Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India is now available!

Karan Madhok is a writer, journalist, and editor of The Chakkar. He is the author of Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis In India (2024) and A Beautiful Decay (2022), both published by the Aleph Book Company. His work has appeared in Epiphany, Sycamore Review, Gargoyle, The Literary Review, The Bombay Review, Fifty Two, Scroll, The Caravan, the anthology A Case of Indian Marvels (Aleph Book Company) and The Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English 2022 (Hawakal). You can find him on Twitter: @karanmadhok1 and Instagram: @karanmadhok.