Nostalgia - travel by train

It started more as a lark.  Friends mentioned that the Indian Railways was extra kind to women.  At 58, they could avail the senior citizen concession and that too a very generous 50% .  This was peak season with school holidays and the only tickets available were the 1 AC. And so our adventure began.

As the train rolled in, it really looked as if the coaches were ancient.  They deserved a heritage listing I thought.  The AC coach of the Hyderabad Chennai express was quite pathetic.  The curtains were torn, the switches were dirty.  But the berth was comfortable.  We got a coupé and and the journey was not too  long and so we decided not to be critical.  It was nice to hear the vendors go by selling Chai, Coffee and Mosa....  We wondered what mosa was till he continued Mosa, Mosa, Samosa....  Did we try them?  No.  At one time no vendor would have gone by without a purchase being made, but this time we carried homemade food and bottled water.

I wish they would clean up not just the trains but the areas around the tracks closer to the stations. Even an increase of the fare by a rupee, considering the numbers that use the trains, could provide livelihood to people who would willingly clean up the place. It just requires a will to do it. 

The journey was otherwise comfortable and I had the best sleep in years !  

I would have thought that was the first and last train journey of this leg. There was much to be desired in way of cleanliness at the station and on the train.  But we had an unplanned trip to Madurai and the air tickets were way too expensive and the location of the bus station was not convenient.  So we looked at the Indian Railways again.  And with our concession it made sense for another train journey.  And by now, we knew what to expect !

We chose to travel by 2AC to Madurai by the Duronto Epxress.  This was a recent route that was introduced , bi-weekly, and to our surprise considering this was holiday season, the train was empty.  Traveling as senior citizens has its  benefits especially if the Ticket Inspector is not young either. There was immediate empathy.  We had the side berths that we wanted to change and he gave us two lower berths in a four berth cubicle, with the two upper berths vacant, and it was like having a big room to ourselves.

Our last journey was by the Pandiyan Express.  Once again by 1 AC and what a pleasant change this was.  The compartment was sparkling.  So clean, you could walk barefoot.  The linen was spotless.  This ride restored my faith in the Railways.  If they could do it on one train, they could repeat it with others. At least I hope so. 

I did notice a few plus points.  There was better seating at the stations.  More facilities.  The railways website IRCTC is quite user-friendly for booking and cancellations.  And all the three trains departed and arrived on the dot.  In some cases a few minutes early.  That was indeed a pleasant surprise. 

A piece of advice, do not travel First AC unless you can avail the concession.  It is not worth it at the full fare which can work out more than the fare on a low cost airline. 

And well, will this be my last train ride.... I don't think so. 

Lasting first times....

There is always a first time.  Just too many to recall and relate. And as you grow older, the first times and the other times that follow, make these the experiences one falls back on. 

The first time I started teaching, I was very nervous.  I asked my father, who had begun his career as a lecturer, for some tips.  He said  “Remember, you definitely know more than the student sitting in front of you, but that does not mean you can fool them”.  “Go prepared and if you are unable to answer any of the questions, do not try to dodge the query or even pull a fast one”.  “There is no harm admitting that you do not know.  But go back the next day, with the answer.  A student will respect you for that”.   That advice held me in good stead in both teaching and non-teaching life

Getting on in years, some tasks are no longer done with ease.  Can be more trying than the first time. I was rather pleased the other day,  when I threaded a slender silk thread through a very fine eye of the needle in dim light.

  Perhaps it was the new pair of glasses!  But to me it did feel like an achievement of sorts.   Like a first time without depending on others.

There will continue to be some firsts.  Like the first time I made a snowman with my daughter a couple of months ago.  

So very enjoyable.  All those Enid Blyton books, the Dennis the Menace and Archie comics that we read as kids conjuring different images all took life on a cold bleak wintry day.  And then coming back to a hot cup of tea with some cupcakes.  I was a ten year old all over again.

There will be other firsts… until there is a last.  Amen. 

PS - This was for the SRA group - the subject being - The First Time

In Rewind Mode

The day the music died….(To those from my time, it would be a song by Don McLean and for the younger generation maybe the lines would still be a familiar Madonna song)  

But that is how we felt for a long time after WorldSpace closed their operations in India.  It used to be a routine.  Early morning devotional music – Carnatic and Hindustani that slowly progressed to a faster beat for the exercise hour and then to Farishta for old Hindi songs. The day went by. 

And then there was no music at all.  We put away the satellite receiver.  Our 15 year old Sony music system was in a bad shape.  From disuse. For a while we managed with the music channels on TV and we were only listening to the latest Bollywood music.  An occasional good song, but constant Sheila and Munni can get so tiring.  V thought we had enough of it all and lugged the music system to the service center.  

It came back a fortnight ago with the FM radio, CD and audio-casette player in working condition. We found ourselves removing the carton that had not seen the light of day for almost three years. A box filled with memories.  Of age old audio-cassettes!! The thought of donating the tapes had occurred to me , but I had found no takers.  All had moved on to newer technology. The younger one asked me to check on Amazon.  You might just get lucky, she said.  Some ancient articles can bring in good money. But no such luck.  Everyone seemed to think they just had to be junked.  And so the carton remained.  Thank god for that!

After spending a whole day sorting them out, we have boxes (and more boxes) of songs - in all languages - English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu.  Classical music - western and Indian. Vocal and instrumental. And the tapes in good condition too.  With music to last a life time.

What was even better was the discovery of the tapes of my children reciting nursery rhymes, slokas and a whole lot of baby talk that their grandfather had recorded.  

And yet another surprise.  We had met MS Subbalakshmi when she was no longer giving public performances. No mobile phone cameras, no digital cameras to capture the moment.  But for this ...

And now I get up to the sound of music...and a cup of tea (yes, I am not the first one to awaken) . What could be better than that?

Chai and Biscuit

The thought of biscuits takes me back many years when we had a lovely biscuit factory - JB Mangharam & Sons. I say lovely, because I can still remember the wonderful aroma that used to waft from their factory as we went past the area where they were located. Even as far as a kilometer away!

The lane outside the J B Mangharam factory had these carts that used to sell huge packets of broken biscuits. Like the export rejects of the present day. There would be wafers, cream biscuits, ordinary tea biscuits in all sizes and shapes. For a princely sum of five rupees. These would be brought home and stored in two 5 kg tins of Sway detergent powder!!

Sway used to be the detergent of our times. They were probably the first company that introduced the detergent powder. They sold it in packs that were placed in these big light blue tins. After which the tins would be scoured and sun dried and ultimately found a pride of place in every kitchen. Most kitchens would have rows and rows of these tins in which pulses and eatables were stored and as in our house the JB Mangharam biscuit bits.

The variety of biscuits or cookies available these days are mind boggling. There are many who will proclaim that the most boring biscuit of them all is the Marie biscuit. But invariably when you go visiting friends,unannounced, you will be given a cup of tea with the Marie biscuit. Some have even rechristened it as Mary Biscuit.

Hard to think of the good old Marie biscuit as a food of the royals or upper class. In fact it is thought that the large size was intentional . Ever noticed that it cannot be dunked into the tea even in a fairly large mug until after the first bite. It would have been highly 'improper'for a royal to indulge in dunking!

The biscuit was named after the Grand Duchess Maria, or Marie,daughter of Czar Alexander II of Russia, who was supposedly the Lady Diana of her time. She married Alfred , the second son of Queen Victoria. To commemorate the union, a bakery in Britan created the Marie biscuit.

Now with a Royal wedding coming up, Prince William has brought this otherwise considered boring biscuit into limelight, by choosing it to be a main ingredient of one of the cakes that is to be served.

It is the bland flavour of the biscuit that makes it specially suitable for sweet dishes. A friend made this rich dessert from Marie biscuit the other day. She made a liqueor of coffee. Dunked the biscuit in it. A layer of that on a shallow dish. A coating of marmalade. And over it the chocolate sauce. Followed by nuts. And some whipped cream. This was repeated thrice. The leftover cream was slathered over the top. Decorated with more nuts and then frozen. And sliced and devoured.

A delicious alternative to dunking in tea. And Prince William would definitely concur.

PS: If you like dunking biscuits into your beverage, check out this site.

Note:

A google search indicates that JB Mangharam is now a subsidiary of Britannia Foods.

And Sway detergent vanished when they were outsmarted by Surf. Sway detergent increased their sales by giving a plastic bucket for every 3 packet tops. Sales soared, till Surf bought all the buckets that were manufactured. Sway could not keep up their offer of bucket exchange. Housewives changed their brand and the detergent company soon closed down. The Sway tins remained in many households like ours till they corroded.

Image courtesy: http://www.jollygrub.com/dwimages/dunk.jpg

How much is your Rupee worth?

We love replicating anything the West has to offer. From their reality shows, soap operas, songs to films…  with the Indianised version.

This concept however cannot be tweaked to a 1 `  Store. 

I mean what would one get for one Rupee? While we have a new symbol, nothing much has changed.

When I was younger, I would wonder why grandparents harped about one anna  ( 6 paise ) and what it was worth. Now, I know better. I find myself talking about the times money got me more goods, the times when a rupee coin was not left carelessly on the table.

 I paid a princely sum of Rs 6/- as fees per month for class VII (No, I did not go to the local Zilla Parishad school).  But a popular private school. Prior to that, the fees might have been lower, but I was not entrusted with the task of carrying the money, as I traveled by public transport....what if I lost the money enroute? My mother would come personally and make the payment.  Bus fare was 7 ps for the journey of 4 kms from home to school. We normally had 10ps with us and the conductor always returned the change .

I found a diary which my mother kept for everyday transactions. It makes interesting reading.

It says:
Milk - 3.78 Rs
I remember there were about 6 half liter milk bottles, so that was probably the cost of 3 liters of milk. 
Bread - 0.70 ps
Supplies - 0.70 ps ( I wonder what supplies meant!)
Plantains - 1.0 Re - that could be for a dozen
Udaya Stores - 45.00 Rs ( was that for the monthly provisions?)

It is precisely the reason why I found the project that  Jonathan Blaustein ( a photographer) undertook when recession hit the economy, very fascinating. He checked what he could buy for a dollar across the world. 

And so on a ‘jobless Sunday’ – not really, I finished all my chores in the morning and am taking a well deserved rest – I thought I would do a survey of my kitchen and with some rough calculation arrived at what a rupee would buy.

Take a look -

2 tbsp wheat flour ( barely sufficient for a small roti) , 30 ml milk ( a few cups of dilute tea) , 5 bhendi  ( insufficient for a curry ), a small ladle of sugar ( enough for the diluted tea) , a tablespoon of dal ( sufficient for seasoning), a lime ( may make  a small glass of lemonade), half a handful of red chilies ( to spice up a curry) and two chocolate eclairs ( that might make a litle kid happy).

A 1 ` store just would not work!!

any takers for this one?

We shall never forget this purchase. It was a hot Sunday afternoon and we had just dropped in at this exhibition on our way back and were well on our way out until someone spotted this object.

It was a ooh and an aah and the salesman just caught the look and expression and let off his sales talk. It is from one single piece of walnut wood, exquisitely chiseled from Kashmir, blah, blah blah. Our man fell for it hook line and sinker.
It is not as if we did not appreciate the piece but for the price that was being quoted?? Definitely not thought the three of us and walked away. Only to find that someone had stopped and made the purchase. We were told that we had no aesthetic sense.
It still finds a place of pride in our living room. At least out of respect for the price tag.

Vintage camera

The office renovation is still going on. Found carelessly kept aside was the old camera - Kodak Pony 135. Don't miss the leather case.

I am not too sure who gave it to us. I googled it and got this link http://licm.org.uk/livingImage/Pony135.html,

I also unearthed a Cannon super 518 which has a bid of $10 on ebay.

I remember the camera my parents had. It seemed to be a kodak brownie - a box camera I guess. The cord had to slung around the neck, the camera held between your hands at around chest or waist level and one had to peer into the lens from the top and the shutter was at the bottom. Many a black and white picture was taken with this camera. The reels were expensive and so was the processing of the pictures. Photographs were taken only on special occasions. It was an expensive hobby. It was a treat if one was allowed to handle the camera and that was rare. And to think that the brownie was a cheap camera introduced by Kodak - sold for a dollar!!

Much later my brother sent the Kodak Instamatic camera from the USA. The camera had no adjustment features - simple to use. And he was kind enough to send the cartridges too. These cameras were also the low cost ones and were not meant for long use. But we Indians ensure that we get most of a product and it was used extensively. However, processing the pictures continued to be expensive.

Of late, I have become shutter happy. Sometimes with the mobile and often with the camera. And the digital camera allows the freedom to experiment without the expense. And though most moments are captured many remain just images on the system and not in print.

When I was just a little girl....

Long, long ago there was a little girl. Yes, one more trip down memory lane. It is amazing how the blog invokes memory - of images that were lying dormant in my mind. Or was it the passport application form that I was filling up where I had to write my parents names several times.

My father on his postings outside Hyderabad, would move there and my mother and three kids remained in Hyderabd, so that our studies were not affected.

I remember traveling with my mother ( I wonder why my brothers were made to stay back home) to visit my father who was posted at Rajahmundry. It seemed a long drive. And the sight of the river Godavari was breathtaking. There was no road bridge then and we had to get the car on the ferry and it took almost an hour to cross the vast stretch of water. The guest house of the Paper Mills was on the banks of the river. And there were steps where we could sit down and let our feet into the water!!. I was told that there were crocodiles in the river and was always on the lookout for one that might stealthily creep up.

During one of our visits, we were taken and shown around the mill. I remember the huge boiler ( these were days of not so modern machinery). At the end of the visit we were given a scrap book ( of purple paper). I had paper cuttings of important news items stuck on the pages of this scrap book ( with cooked rice used as glue) for a very long time.

A few years later my father was posted at Bodhan in Nizamabad, this time he was in charge of the sugar mills. Here we made several trips with family and friends. The ride here was also very comfortable since my father's official car was a huge Dodge car. (It was quite fancy those days and on one instance our car was actually mistaken for the prime minister's car and we caused quite a few scary moments for the pilot motorcycle rider since we overtook him!!).

The house at Bodhan was large and had huge lawns . The tracks on which the train with wagons full of sugarcane passed close by and we were allowed the privilege of pulling out fresh sugarcane stems and biting into them ( my teeth were sharp then!!) and juice dripping all over. Evenings were spent sitting sitting on the lawns gorging on delicious snacks. Of course an educational trip to the sugar mills was part of every guests itinerary. The sight and smell of molasses was quite overwhelming. I don't know about my dad, but this was a job I quite enjoyed. I had a lot of fun sitting with the receptionist (while waiting for my father to finish his work) and transfer calls with the old kind of telephone exchange. For some time I was also a lift ( elevator) operator. All this while my brothers played table tennis in the recreation room.

Over a cuppa....

I was introduced to coffee drinking after marriage. Not that we did not have coffee at home. We did, but it was prepared differently. I was told that the family (in laws) had settled for packaged coffee powder by then, otherwise it had to be coffee seeds freshly roasted and ground each day and then powdered and placed in the coffee filter over which boiling water was poured, and as it passed through the powder it would absorb the flavour and drip into the container below. Once the coffee was made it was poured into a steel tumbler and placed in a davara . The coffee would be poured from tumbler to davara till a nice froth was built up.

The present day coffee pub culture is a source of wonder. The kind of coffee that is served - all flavours - and at exorbitant prices . At some places we would scald our tongue on hot coffee ( imagine drinking hot coffee with a straw!) and then on our way out ring the bell to tell them that we thought it was an amazing experience!! We ( read oldies) have realised now that these places are for the young and not for the serious coffee drinker.

We have over a period of time turned into tea drinkers. And our tea is more like boiling water with a dash of sugar and milk but having the strong flavour of the tea leaf.

I cannot remember when I started drinking tea or coffee. We had specific times for it at home ( when I was young). And it was served in bone china cups with saucers. All this has now given way to the mug. And colourful ones of different sizes!

Our favourite beverage was the buttermilk ( thaak - buttermilk in konkani). There was a huge ceramic container in which some curd or the previous day's buttermilk was placed and then milk was added to it and churned. Periodically warm water would be added till the butter seperated at the top. This was carefully collected and used for applying on the slice of bread, or when a sufficient amount was amassed it was heated to get ghee. The flavour of home made butter and ghee is hard to beat. We now depend on salted butter and bottled ghee! Once butter was seperated the watery buttermilk was poured into a container and we had this with all the meals. On hot summer days when we came home there would be the familiar glass jug with diluted salted buttermilk seasoned with mustard, corriander, and for the added flavour there would be finely chopped green chillies and a dash of asafoetida ( which was thought to be good for digestion). On even hotter days we were given ragi malt to drink since it was supposed to have a cooling effect.

My mother, always was one for experimenting with food. And she would serve us delicious milk shakes. One of our favourites was a banana milk shake to which drinking chocolate was added. We christened this drink the Chocoban.

Of late,despite all the hoolabuloo of pesticide residue in cola drinks, I have taken a liking for them. I find it rather soothing when I have the dreaded headache ( migrane?). The carbonated fizz does wonders. And to think that it was a prohibited drink at home when my kids were young as I strongly believed they were a source of empty calories ( with no worthwhile nutrient content). I still maintain the empty calorie bit, but for the relief it provides I am willing to overlook it all.

Roadside eats

This picture appeared in the newspaper the other day. It did stir some childhood memories once again. This was one of those forbidden sweets ( Bombay mithai) for us. The vendor generally made his presence known by plucking on an instrument ( some folksy stuff like the ektara I guess), that could be heard for some distance. This would continue till some of the kids surrounded him and off he would get down to work pulling at the sugar mound and carving different shapes like the flower seen alongside. Some children would want a watch which he would make and put round their wrist. Another of those prohibited food for us ( which is seen even these days) is the ice crush. The ice block would be grated and then gathered together and put on a stick with a liberal dash of colour and essence. It did seem so attractive. But my mother was wary of the colours used in these sweets and the quality of water. In fact she was so particular about the water that even on some of the infrequent times that we went out for a meal at the small restaurants, we were not allowed to sip the water that was served at the table. Of course those days we did not have bottled water and nor ever imagine that water would ever be sold!! Incidentally, she passed on this finicky behaviour to me.

We had to walk about a kilometer to the bus stop from school. And we did at times stop at the fruit sellers for either a guava or the favourite tothapari mango This delicious mango is eaten when raw ( it has a sweet and sour taste) and the fruit seller would allow us to choose our fruit and then with the knife deftly cut it and liberally apply salt and chili powder. The thought still makes my mouth water. It made the journey to the bus stop very enjoyable.

We had the churan seller ( finely ground spices or whatever, but very tasty) that was packed in paper rolled almost pencil thin. We would tap it on to our palm and lick (yes we did) it gingerly. On days we could afford to ( 10 paise) we would buy a huge turkey egg ( hard sugar candy maybe half the size of a tennis ball) which we would pop into our mouth and suck for about 20 minutes.

As much as I do miss the eats, I definitely did not allow my children to stop by for such snacks. I would insist that the fruits be bought and washed and prepared under more hygenic conditions ( realising of course that the taste would never be comparable).

Shankranti aka Pongal

Pongal/Shankranti was fun. We had this colourful rangoli that was made and we had the kids and friends at home. Having active youngsters at home is the best thing to happen these days ( despite the mess that invariably follows). The traditional pongal was prepared. I FLEW A KITE TOO!!. Of course the art of kite flying was thanks to being the only girl in the family and also the youngest, so I got to tag along with the two brothers and picked up these skills. It was a lot easier now flying from the rooftop of the building. There is definitely more wind power and flying a kite is not too difficult. As a kid I had the experience of flying a kite from an open ground where we had to use a lot of hand movements to get the kite flying. And of course being able to manouver was another thing since there were more trees around. ( these days there are more buildings and wires that we have to contend with). And making the famous manja at home with glass powder and the sticky sap of a cactus to bind the glass powder on the string. Thank You S-I-L for the happy moments of kite flying.

The youth magazine of our times

When I was a teen (not so long ago :-) ) we had a magazine called the Junior Statesman ( later abbreviated to the JS). It brought a lot of excitement in our lives. We subscribed for it and every week would wait for the magazine to be delivered . You may wonder why the special mention of this magazine? The last post that I made has a reference to Jug Suraiya who incidentally was an important part of JS. I wonder how old he is now. Definitely older than I for sure. There was so much to read and many contests to participate in . (I won a second prize for completing a poem and also a drawing. And in the process received Rs 15 & 10 by money order as the prize! - big money for a teen!)

Every issue had a letter to the editor by Papiya and Tuk Tuk Ghosh, who we all believed were imaginary till a couple of months ago there was a small news item which said that Papiya Ghosh a famous historian in Bihar was killed by some real estate sharks. And her sister Tuk Tuk was an IAS officer. I missed the news item, but had a mail from a friend asking me to look it up. I am sure there were many sad JS readers that day.

A nice article on JS is the one written by Sashi Tharoor. As he writes, the magazine was born at a time when the only channel on TV was Doordarshan (with their agriculture programs). JS reached out to all us young teens. The language was so simple and so unlike the stuff that is printed today. If it were to resurface today, I am sure that no teen would ever leaf through it. They would probably find it boring and instead reach out for the trash that is brought out as intelligent reading material for the youth of today.

Sadly I read that trash too for lack of anything better!

Bombay with my father

I saw a picture of the Mumbai museum yesterday. And I went back in time once again. That particular room was so vivid in my memory. And to think that I had hardly even thought of the visit to the museum in the past 40 years. And of course I just sat and recollected the trip. I hope no one noticed me then ( at my desk at work). I must have had a lost look. It was in 1968 that we had been on our annual vacation to Mangalore/Udupi and my father had work at Bombay. My mother was very particular that my father took me along so that I could have my first trip on an airplane. Air travel was extremely expensive and not too many people had the privilege of traveling by air. And I had my student concession ready - it brought down the fare by half. Those days we did not have to report early, there were no security checks. And most airports had those lovely cane chairs and almost all were quaint old buildings( it was quite like home). The best part was that those who came to see us off could stand on the lawns of the airport and actually wave out to the passengers in the aircraft. We got into the craft (Avro) stuffed our ears with cotton. I had been told what to expect on the flight and that some could get sick and so on. I proudly told my dad as we took off that I was not feeling air sick at all only to be told that we were just taxiing and at that moment probably moving slower than a car . It was quite an eventful trip ( of 5 hours with a halt since the aircraft could not make the trip non stop). And every time we hit an air pocket the plane would dip some 15-50 feet and liquid in the glasses were sloshed all around. In Bombay my dad took off from work one day ( clear instructions from my mother once again that I would have to be taken around and shown the place) and we went to the Bombay Museum- known then as the Prince of Wales Museum or was it Bhau Daji Lad museum ( which started off this nostalgic trip of mine), the Taraporewala aquarium, the hanging garden and Gateway of India. I do not remember much more except that on the trip back from Bombay, we had some great food served on the flight. I next traveled by air about 25 years later!! Well things have changed now. Air travel is not so uncommon. I also wonder how many residents of Bombay ( now known as Mumbai) have visited the Museum!!