A FRIEND IN NEED – 1 : “SHAAN WALLAH”
For
the past about one year everyone in the house was nagging me for not doing a simple
task i.e. sharpening of our kitchen “Boti”. Well, now what
is a boti ? Simply speaking.. it is a kitchen knife… but not
so simple to operate….. and more difficult is to get it sharpened ! Each
Bengali household will have at least two of them.. one is called “aash
boti” for peeling off the scales of fishes,and, cutting fish . The
other one is “sabji boti” for cutting vegetables. It is
a sharp iron blade, about one and half inch broad and around 12 inch long. The
blade is “s” shaped and one side is fixed on a wooden plank. Unlike the chopper
running through the vegetable or meat, a boti is a stationary
thing…. the vegetables or the meat pieces would be pushed on the sharp blade
with the thumb while the wooden plank would be held tightly in one feet … a
very dangerous act… not many know the art these days. When an onion is cut in
the this Boti you would only see the fingers moving very fast
on a jet speed, and before you say cheese, you would find super-finely chopped
onion, like silk thread, pouring on the plate below !
**********
It was
usually noon time when the loud calling could be heard “shaan
walla, shaan walla” and Deep would be asked by his parents to get the
man. Deep would run all around the locality and following the sound locate the
man. This man would carry a very unusual tool…. sharpening equipment. It looked
like an “X” made with heavy wooden plank… on one top end there would be
the sharpening wheel, tied with it with a string would be the pedal. The man
would sit on the other top end of the “X” and pedal hard holding the “boti”
…..then lot of particles of fire would be flown around on all sides… a
visual delight ! Deep’s great interest was to see the fire-works ! Once the
sharpening job is over the man would lift the heavy equipment on his shoulder….
and again start walking with usual calling “shaan walla”.Deep always felt
un-easy for the man who carried such an heavy thing on shoulder.
**************
I was
going to the market and suddenly saw this young man on the road outside our
house. He was on cycle…. on his cycle there were a lot of knives and botis on
display… there was this sharpening wheel fixed on his cycle. Eureka….. I came
rushing back home and said hand me over the two botis, I think I got a man.
He
explained .. he is Miraj. He owns this improvised sharpening equipment…. It was
made by re-modelling an old bi-cycle. Going is tough these days…each sharpening
job fetches about Rs. 15/-… therefore he also sells botis and hand
made knives… that way he manages to eke out his living.
Just
to respond to my curiosity he informed that the man who used to carry the old
fashioned sharpening equipment was Sorab, his father. He further informed that
this sharpening business is no more a workable profession.
I am
sure, soon this friend-in-need will no longer be visible in the locality. In
any case using Boti is fast becoming an old fashioned way of cooking ….. there
are now multi-coloured chopping board… and of course wafer-thin choppers
flooding the market, they do not need to be sharpened in any case.
A FRIEND IN NEED – 2 : “DAAB-DAAB”
“Well,
you are now free of stomach ulcer” the doctor announced. Pakhi, my wife was
visibly happy on this news. “But you must follow certain food
restrictions…. no chillies… no hard spices” doctor added.
At
home the relatives those who assembled, were all happy. Those days a
horde of relatives, especially the elderly aunts and uncles would eagerly await
for the patients, to get the first-hand news. There were some elderly aunts who
suggested that she should take tender coconut water every day. “Before lunch”..
one aunt added.
Now, I
thought it was easy. Tender coconut or Daab as it is
locally called, was available in Paan (bittle nut) -cigarette
shops. Ganesh Rout’s shop was near our house…. this was the place we used
to fetch Daab in our youth-days. I set out for the shop.
On
reaching at the shop, two things I noticed. One, Ganesh is no more there… there
was an young man managing the small shop. Two, the shop is more decently
decorated. When asked, this young man informed that he is the son of
Ganesh, and, he never sells coconuts any more. “In fact, no paan-cigarette
shops would be selling coconuts any more”.he informed me. Now I was
panicked, and, asked is there a way out ? He gave me a tip. “Go near the temple
of our locality, and, wait. Soon Sushilda would turn up…. he sells them”.
I waited in front of the temple, nearly an hour and finally found my redeemer!
He assured me steady supply…. every day before lunch time. Next
several months Sushil dutifully accomplished his job religiously.. no
matter it is a rainy day or a scorching sunny noon. Near our house we
could hear him shout “Daab….Daab”. He re-modelled his cycle by
making two bamboo-made fence-like structure on both sides of his cycle where he
hanged bunches of tender coconut.Soon he became my friend…. I learned that his
full name was Sushil Halder, and he lived in a village called Raipur in our
neighboring district.. 24 parganas.
*******
Our
grand daughter Ruhani, studying at 5th standard,
was about to set out for her school when she complained that last night
she had a stomach problem. And right at the moment ….. we heard the loud
calling……”Daab…..Daab”. I rushed out…. and lo behold –
Sushil. I never knew he is still in the same business ! He is a a
bit old now….. so am I.
We
both were happy, meeting each other, after a long interval of several years.
Ruhani left for school, happy and relieved, after having the coconut
water.
Sushil
on his part , as usual, informed that going is tough these days. No…no. He has
no complain about the price he gets. The tender-coconuts he used to sell me
those days for Rs. 4/- only, now fetches 20/-. He feels, because of our
mobile phones…… tall mobile towers….. which disturbs the tall
coconut trees, the size of coconuts are fast getting reduced ! I did not
contest his scientific theories, but could only say “thanks”….. which
sounded very dry and artificial, even to my own ears !
A FRIEND IN NEED – 3 : THE GUITAR-MAN
Little
Deep came home running and was visibly excited and said “Mom, I saw the
guitar-man, he is coming this way”.
“Yes,
dear, I can hear the ‘tann…. tann….tann..’ sound now. Okay can you call him ?”
Deep wasted no time, ran out of the entrance gate very fast and returned after
a whilealong with his guitar-man.
He is
the Dhunuri – the pillow-mattress repair man. He has with him
this guitar-like thing, basic tool for his craftsmanship. He took out a
small square thick cloth, spread out on the courtyard in front of Deep’s house.
Deep was happy to bring out the pillows… some on shoulder… some in his hands
from inside thier house. He then handed over these old cotton pillows,
mostly sagging, to the guitar-man. Deep’s mom took the cotton mattress out on
the courtyard …this too was handed out to the guitar-man.
The
guitar-man then tore open these, one by one very carefully, not to over-damage
them. Then he took out the cotton from inside these pillows and the mattress.
Spread the old cotton evenly on the square piece of cloth. Most of the cotton
got clotted, like ropes ! And then the magic of his guitar began ! He placed
his one-string guitar on top of the cotton, and very softly ‘played’ the
guitar, meaning hitting on the string with a wooden piece. With the vibration
created, cotton pieces became very fluffy and soon the heap became bigger and
bigger. Thereafter the guitar-man, alias “Dhunuri”, put
this cotton inside the old pillows and mattress coverings. Re-stitched those
pillows covering and the mattress covering, by hand, bit by bit, without a
sewing machine. Soon they were all looking new. Deep was happy and was lying
down on the renewed mattress for a few minutes…. while his mom took out the
money and paid the man. Deep at this juncture asked the guitar-man “can I play
your guitar a bit ?” He readily agreed but cautioned “But do not hit hard on
the string…. it might break the string !” Deep did try, but, it did not sound
like the guitar man ‘tann’ ….’tann’….’tann’ !
**********
Decades
later a guitar-man was located, but, my grand-daughter could not be shown the
demonstration of his craftsmanship, for, we do not use cotton mattress ….. nor
cotton pillows anymore ! Yet another friend-in-need on the losing trail !
A FRIEND IN NEED (4): “SIL-KATAU” MAN
There
was a commotion outside and Deep’s mother had to come out of the kitchen. She
found that Deep is on a heated argument with some one, at the entrance door !
The Sil-Katau man was telling “Look boy, I told you I can give you Tajmahal for
Rs. 4/- and not less than that”. At this juncture, Deep’s mother laughed out
loud .. “ Tajmahal going at a such cheap price ….what is this all about
!!” The man then explained “Look Maijee (Madam), as you know, the
prices of everything has gone up, and, now my rate is Tajmahal
Rs.4/-, Fish Rs. 3/- and Plain Lines Rs. 2/-. “ At this point
Deep’s mother told that man, “Look, he is only a small boy, and he
really wants the Tajmahal …. you can do one thing … take Rs. 3/-, you may give
a little smaller Tajmahal” . The man smiled and said “Okay, I will take Rs. 3/-
from you, and, I will not reduce the size.. be assured.”
Soon
the man took out his small bag , took out different sizes of chisels and the
two hammers and concentrated on his job…. tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk. Deep
sat beside him on the ground and started watching his hand movement. He was now
visibly wearing an amused and mesmerized look.
*********************************
It
was noon time, I was waiting for the school bus which will bring my
grand-daughter home from the school. And then heard “Sil-Katau….
Sil-Katau”. The sound was emerging from among some building premise
nearby, and soon the man surfaced. I called him and showed him my house, and
asked him to wait for me till I come. I returned home soon with my
grand-daughter and asked her to inform her grandma about us. The child surely
got confused about the whole thing, but informed her grandma, who came running.
Once she saw the Sil-Katau man, she knew what is it, and, soon came out with
the Sil and theNora. These are two important
kitchen tools, still found in many old-tradition families. Sil is a 14” long,
10” wide and 2” thick stone tablet. Nora is cylinder type black stone
hammer about 10” long. Fresh spices are ground on this Sil (stone tablet)
with the help of the
Nora
(black stone hand grinder). With constant use, the surface of the sil and
nora becomes smooth. Hence the surface need to chipped with chisel
periodically. The Sil-Katau Man is a chipping craftsman who can make various
designs…. “Criss-crossing lines”, “Fish” and of course “Tajmahal”! I could not
hide my childhood nostalgia and asked “Can you chisel out a Tajmahal ?”. The
man apologised and said he can only make lines and that he has only one kind of
chisel and a lone hammer !
He
finished his job within about 10 minutes, and the lone enthused witness to the
act… my grand daughter did not get any thrill nor awestruck by the craftsman
ship. I handed over Rs. 15/- for the act to the sil-katau man, and, told him to
come again about a couple of months later – lest we lose a dying
tradition !
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