Winter once upon a time

THE other day, a power failure made the winter chill irksome; it also brought to mind the winters of my youth. To keep ourselves warm, we used a portable fireplace, a layaroo. Summer-dried, it was crafted from thick mud. Fire was made from dry twigs of garna shrub and corn cobs. Dried stems of corn plant, locally called tande, were used to stoke the fire. We would snuggle into quilts made from worn-out clothes; reclaimed big and small pieces of such cloth were layered atop each other and hand-stitched. This multicoloured godadi is colloquially called khind. It was very effective in retaining heat as it allowed no cold air to sting us.

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We would take turns to be near the wood-fired chullah as mother served food. Much relished was sarson ka saag with makki ki roti, washed down with liberal amounts of chhachh.

Pre-final exams held in December made us forget the cold as we sat in rows in the school ground for three hours, grappling with the questions and writing the answers on paper sheets clamped on to a cardboard. When it snowed in the mountains, students turned up wrapped in woollen shawls (pattoos) that were woven from hand-spun lamb wool.

Making vadian was an enchanting exercise. Split dal was water-soaked and just before it fermented, it was de-husked by repeated washings. Then it was pulverised to a smooth paste in a mortar that was a big cavity in a huge thick slab of hard sandstone with a heavy pestle. Condiments flavoured this paste, mixed with liberal quantities of shredded petha. Nuggets pinched from this paste were placed on a clean cloth spread over a cot and sun-dried.

To make sevaiyan, kids would take turns to operate the hand press mounted onto the sides of a cot. Watching the strings of dough coming out of the sieve was anticipated with excitement. To illuminate the nights, we needed kerosene-lit hurricane lanterns as there was no power supply.

It was exciting to watch the corn pop out from sand heated in a wok on the chullah. Father brought groundnuts and revdis on Lohri. Pinnis made from pulverised and fried moong dal and khoya were other winter treats.

Every morning, water was fetched from a well half a kilometre away — an ordeal with no escape. Some girls carried the water-filled pitchers on their heads and walked the cobbled path with elan.

On Sundays, the boys went to the well for a bath in the open. One who could lift the metal pitcher, gaagar, upside down with one hand above the head and let the water pour over him had ‘arrived’ as a young man, the cold weather notwithstanding.

That was then. Now, even a brief power failure irks us!