Blast To the Past

The other day I read three news items in the paper –

(i) Sweet shops are finding it difficult to price their wares based on the latest GST because of individual tax rates on different ingredients (cocoa powder, cashewnuts, saffron, pista etc), so sweets are likely to get very expensive.

(ii) The Railway Ministry is encouraging passengers to carry home-cooked food as of late, there have been a lot of complaints regarding the quality of food being served.  (iii) The Railway Ministry is considering doing away with bedding in AC coaches.

Now this has got me thinking .....It's BLAST TO THE PAST ……..

When we were young, very rarely did we buy sweets from the market; they were always prepared at home - and therefore, they were pure, they were delicious and they had the most important ingredient - love (grandmother's/mother's), although they were anything but fancy looking! I still crave for those unadulterated kaju barfis that my mother used to make, the golden brown pedas covered lightly with powdered sugar, coconut barfis and the-most-difficult-to -make-at-home Karachi Halwa!! Then there were rosogollas, puran poli, patisapta and sandesh...everything was home-made!

Train journeys were great fun because of the goodies that were packed in the food basket for those 'picnics on wheels'...for long journeys there was always something special for every meal! I marvel at my mother's innovative culinary ideas that made sure nothing got spoiled during these journeys!

The highlight of our train journey was of course the quintessential HOLDALL - a canvas rectangular roll with large pockets on either side that could hold pillows, bedsheets, blankets, footwear...anything and everything that couldn’t fit into our suitcases. This would then be rolled up and strapped with leather straps! Sometimes this roll would end up being so big that it required all of us siblings to sit on it to flatten it out a bit so the straps could be buckled. Oh, how much we used to laugh when Aloka, the eldest, being a little on the heavy side would make the final and successful attempt !

Now, thanks to the woes of sweet shops and the Railway Ministry, our children and grandchildren will finally get a taste of OUR golden years! 

PS: If one of my artistic friends can add a sketch of a holdall, it will complete this write-up!