Reading Time: 8 minutes
Over the last few years, quite a few organisations have become redundant. Not just large entities, some vendors, some occupations and foods as well.
Here’s a list of things that were once a part of our daily lives, and now have disappeared. Well almost:
- Gas Lamp Lighter
In my childhood, I used to see a man on Marine Drive at twilight time go from one light pole to the other. He had a long wooden pole at the end of which a hook that would yank at some contraction and the street lights would come on. Those days, the street-lighting, was gas and not electricity. Even after electricity came on, the pole-and-yank process went on, but no longer.
- The Ice Bullock cart
Mumbai had ice factories spread across the city. These made blocks of ice that a man on a bullock cart transported to little restaurants within the local area. For example, in South Mumbai, there was an ice factory in Sassoon Dock and one was in Ballard Estate. These bullock cart ice carriers used sawdust to cover the ice that was then covered with gunny cloth. This insulated the ice even in the sweltering summers.
Ice was supplied to small restaurants, canteens, soft drink shops and was loaded into an ice box. Even today, sugarcane juice vendors have ice blocks from which they break up little pieces and put in your glass. Another unknown fact was that the ice factories were also very helpful if there was death in a family when they would bring ice up to the flat where the body could be kept on ice for preservation.
- The Kalai Wala
Indian kitchens used a variety of vessels. Some copper, some brass and some earthen. Water was stored in copper and earthen vessels. Brass vessels were used for cooking and these were coated with tin and this was called ‘Kalai’. Constant use of cooking vessels would wear out the kalai and they had to be recoated once in two-three months. Kalai protects from food poisoning and blackening of the vessel. The process of kalai is to melt the tin and coat the vessel as soon as the tin is melted. With stainless steel, aluminium, non-stick Teflon coated vessels in use these days, the kalai is no longer required and today very few people used brass and copper vessels that required tin coating. The kalai walas have vanished from the cities back into the small town and villages.
- The Masalawaali Bais
Every May, women would go around homes and pound dry cooking masalas that would almost last a year, if they were properly stored. They were three women who would carry their own mortar and pestle. The mortar was a large wooden bowl in which three big pestles were used to grind the masalas that the three/ two women would stand around the large mortar and in a well-choreographed movement, pound the masalas. Within four to five hours, a household yearly consumption of masalas was ground, stored and sealed into the bottles. Besides money, people would give them tea and maybe a little snack. All the mixers and grinders have made these women unemployed and go back to their villages.
- The Taakiwaali Bai
The ancient art of the grinding masalas in most Indian homes was a daily ritual. Most homes had their own indigenous stone grinders in some shape or size of form 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.
6. The Ghoda Gaadi wala and the Tongas
A group of people in animal welfare 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.
7. The Pinjaras
The Pinjaras were traditional cotton carders who carried a little contraption on their shoulders with a wire that they twanged as they went around from locality to locality. They opened up the mattress and the razaais and re-fluffed them once again. They would use the same cotton and re-stich a quilt. With the new mattresses and pillows that have come into the market, a Pinjara is no longer needed and this business too has faded out. Now in small lanes and bylanes, they are tiny shops selling mattresses and pillows.
8. The Madaaris and Snake Charmers
Completely disappeared from urban cities are the jugglers, the monkey shows and the snake shows. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Organisation have ensured that these people cannot perform any more in the urban towns. They are shunted out to the small towns and villages to run their shows. The monkey juggler came with his own vocabulary and phrases. Children loved the show and the man entertained and made his audience laugh. Everybody who looked at the snake charmer was in awe of the snake and this man’s ability to make the snake follow his sign language. Unfortunately, both the road shows have vanished. So much so, that the Naag Panchami festival can no longer be celebrated because the animal rights groups want you to feed a plastic snake.
- Flovaa
Much before cut flowers became a business, a vendor would come home once a week with a big flat basket shouting ‘Flovaa’ and buyers from their balcony would signal him to come to their flats. Once a week he would visit a different locality and it was always enjoyable to buy flowers with a little bit of higgle haggle. This man went away long ago.
- Ice cream vendor
An Ice cream vendor would come shouting ‘Kulfi Malai Kulfi’ and serve two scoops of hand-churned milk ice cream on a leaf with a piece of card paper that one folded and used as a spoon. There was also another ice cream vendor who would come on a cycle shouting Kulfi Kulfi. He had a wooden vat from which he would pull out a metal container in which there was an Ice cream on a stick. The above two have completely disappeared. Thirdly, there is still a handcart that sells hand-churned Ice cream sold under the brand name of Mewad Ice Cream.
Also have disappeared a lot of vendors who came to the door.
The Pao and eggs man brought oven-fresh pao, bread and eggs.
12. The Khaari Waala
The Khaari Waala who brought Khaari Biscuits, crispy crunchy in the mouth, round-baked puffs that are called butter biscuits and assortment of chivdas, fried dal that he carried in a large trunk on his head and went house to house. All the stuff is now sold in packs of various sizes by companies like Haldiram, Lakshmi Narayan Chivda etc. This man still has a few old-timers who buy khaari biscuits from him but otherwise this vendor will soon disappear.
13. The fisherwomen who came to the door with fresh catch. After the usual haggling, she cleaned the prawns and cut the fish. She also could get you homemade fish fry masala.
14. Our meat man comes to the door with fresh cut meat and other organs, this is a second generation vendor, and his father would come twice a week. I remember the father one day brought his son to the door and told us that he had become too old to go house to house and his son would now take over the business. A few years later, he came and said goodbye to us saying that he was going back to Akbarpur, his village in UP. They were emotional parents. My parents gave him some tissues, a towel and a blanket. Much later, the old man died and we condoled with his son. The meat vendor’s sons no longer want to be in this business. His elder son is a software engineer and younger son is a qualified chemist wanting to open his own chemist shop in the village. The fisherwoman’s daughter migrated to the US and did not want her mother to go door to door. The mother did go to the US for six months but came back to selling door to door saying she enjoyed her work. She now has the latest phone and has become very tech savvy. One can order and she will have stuff delivered.
Besides these vendors, there was a man who came from Gujarat once in two months with buffalo ghee, and one youngster who came once in six months brought honey. There was something about a relationship with these vendors… one trusted them to get the best stuff. Often they would ask if we needed any domestic help, they probably had a nephew wanting a job and sometimes it was the other way around. We needed domestic help and they would get someone from the village. During the mango season, they would get raw mangoes for pickling. On a happy occasion one would give them Mithai and of course Diwali Baksheesh was a taken -for-granted requirement.
Covid put an end to a lot of vendors who would come door to door, societies did not allow these people to come into the building. And after that, the likes of Big Basket, Jio Mart, BlinkIt, Instamart and Zepto made them redundant. Urbanisation sure has taken its toll.
