Hey Everyone!
I'm back with a bang from a fairly long hiatus
with lots and lots of retro news - folks, ideas are just buzzing and I can’t
wait to put pen to paper and for your perusal. However, let me make a start
and arouse your
interest.
A FRENCH LADY IN GIRGAON
A trip to
Pondicherry is always a delight but this time it was a double delight when I pleasantly ran into Alexandra Quinn with whom I had worked almost 15 years
ago on an assignment in Bombay which we
both enjoyed for a year .
Alex, a French anthropologist
from the University of Sorbonne, was on the lookout for a Marathi speaking
person with working knowledge of French and an anthropologist like herself. My
professor Dr Kamla Ganesh called me and asked me whether I would like to work
with her. Not really knowing what I was in for, I jumped at it. Alex then
explained to me that she had already done one assignment in Bombay couple of
years back “Tracing the journey of the Dabbawallas” in Bombay. She literally
lived their journey for two whole months before she wrote about them. Well this
assignment was all about women who supplied lunch dabbas and snacks to all
Bombaywallas who wanted to partake of home-made and good wholesome food. The
category of women she selected was of a low to middle income group who were
part of a food centre called KUTUMB SAKHI. A large kitchen with all the amenities, this
centre distributed food to different SAKHI kiosks all over the city but mostly
the fort area. Alex wanted to feature
these women and their food culture as part of her PhD programme. So interacting
with them, their families and getting acquainted with their lifestyles was the
agenda.
Kutumbh Sakhi was run by Mrs.Nawalkar wife of Mr.Promod Nawalkar, M.L.A in the S. K. Patil
Udyan in Marine Lines - a beautiful park
with fountains and a greenhouse
type of semi enclosed area. This park
had a dual purpose – a park for all both the young and old during the day and
in the late evening was used as place for quiet reading and study for
many young students and working people for lack of space in their own homes. Many
Bombay wallas will surely recall this green lung in the city but currently I
see this place totally cordoned off. Not knowing what’s going on - whether
redevelopment demolition or disappearance of the garden itself.
Soon Alex and I
set to work. The first move was to establish a friendly rapport with the women
for we were definitely going to intrude into their lives for the next couple of
months. Not only their lives but their houses too. To get them to talk about
themselves to a foreigner itself was a herculean task. And as an interpreter
and a research assistant I had to put all my persuasive skills to test. It was difficult but soon found that each of
the women had a vulnerable side. Some were widowed young , others abused battered
or abandoned yet others reeling
from the behavior of their own kith and kin – but yes all of them trying to
make a life for themselves through
Kutumbh Sakhi. And FOOD. I then realized
that food can be such a leveler.
The environment
was so lively and harmonious here. It was when the women met during every
morning or afternoon shift that everything changed. There was bonhomie and
cheer all around. Many an amusing
anecdotes were recounted and exchanged with zest and perhaps a little exaggeration
all in good spirit. For me, it became tedious to translate every word to Alex
especially the finer nuances of the Marathi language into either French or English
as Alex’s English was not too fluent. So the dictionary was a constant
companion! Occasionally Alex felt left out while we joked and I could see the
frustrated look. But she was a good sport and we tried to do our best.
Many a times she
wanted to visit their houses and most of the women were reluctant. I could
sense this because of their living conditions. It was a sensitive issue but I
knew we would need to push it gently.
What an
experience it was - most of them lived in Girgaon in the different wadis –had to explain to Alex
what a wadi was. She was fascinated with Girgaon and for the next one year had
explored every bylane of Girgaon like no Bombaywalla had, I bet . The few multi
storeyed structures which dominated the quaint shops selling myriad things,
sweatmeat shops displaying the typical Maharashtrian fare especially eateries
like Panshikars from where she would
never return empty handed was a treat. She loved the crowds of Bombay, the
packed trains, the street food, the roadside chaiwalla where she savoured “the
cutting chai” and sugarcane juice walla , even the humble channa wala.
The entrance to Panshikar at Girgaon
Delicious Kothimbir Vadi and Ambache Panhe at Panshikars
(Both Images are clicked by Manjiri when we visited Girgaon together)
(Both Images are clicked by Manjiri when we visited Girgaon together)
During the course of her research she was
intrigued by the food rituals they followed especially according to the
different seasons. I am referring also to the concept of the hot and cold food.
At the end of her tenure she too was constantly questioning should I eat this
or should I not. Their peculiar individuality fascinated her and she very rarely
found two women to be alike and that was what was so interesting. She loved the haldi kunku, satyanarayan
poojas, the Holi festivals and the food which went with it. She became an
expert at making puranpolis. Alex always wore Indian clothes while working and
became a French chick only in the evenings.
On one of the visits
to a family, we met a face reader who read her so accurately that Alex got
afraid and ran away. She was amazed at the gentleman’s accurate reading of her life.
Alex had collected substantial data and was
ready to weed out the unnecessary. She took away with her lasting and endearing
memories.
Our conversation at Pondicherry was only
about Girgaon and how it was slowly losing its originality.
Today KUTUMB SAKHI kiosks have increased
and so have their sales and it continues to serve the large community of Bombay
with its wholesome fare.
Image Credit :Satish Bodas for rediff