Page 14 - Seniorstoday September-2023 Issue

A group of people in animal welfare
called Sil Pathar or Masale ke pathar. Every
dish had its own concoction of ingredients
and they were ground fresh each time a
dish was cooked. To start off, the stone
would be washed in warm water and all
ingredients of the day’s masala would be
lined up with coconut, fresh garlic, ginger,
a variety of dried spices, coriander, mint,
tamarind etc. Generally, all these pieces
would be smashed together with a pestle
and brought together and then rolled over
with the heavy rolling pin again and again,
water would be added depending on the
required consistency of the masala. Once in
two months a woman would come around
shouting ‘taaki-taaki’. It was understood
that she would sharpen the grindstone
with chisels and make small depressions
all over the stone and the grinding pestle.
Unfortunately, modern mixers and
grinders made this process redundant and
with it went the woman who would come
home to sharpen the grindstone.
● The Ghoda Gaadi wala and the Tongas
Image courtesy: tripadvisor.com
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organisation PETA campaigned against
the abolition of the Ghoda Gaadi or
the Victorias from Mumbai city. The
government abolished the stables and
passed a legislation to cancel the licenses.
There is a certain sense of regality of riding
in a Victoria, the fresh air blowing into
your face and looking down on the people
walking in the street. The additional fun
of the ride was the language of the driver,
his vocabulary was colourful, humorous
and bordering on the vulgar. A favourite
slang was calling the driver “Gajkaran”. All
these simple pleasures went away with the
Ghoda Gaadi. All over Central India, the
tonga was the common means of transport.
Suddenly, autos replaced tonga and one by
one, the tonga too disappeared. The Tonga
ride had its own charm. Again, the best part
of tonga ride was the tamasha if the Tonga
driver got into a fight which was often. The
innovative abuses and the Gaali Galoch
were humorous and memorable.
● The Pinjaras