Where did they go!

A few days back I read an article on waning significance of Postman in India with the advent of internet/private courier. I realized that I have witnessed so many professions vanish over a period of time.

I grew up in Bombay during the late seventies and eighties. As I kid I recall how vendors used to scream from the top of their voices selling their products one after the other right from the morning till late evening. Most of them had a specified time during the day during which they would visit our localities.

Of them I guess only the vegetable/fruit vendors remain, that too I don’t see many. Most of them buy from the local markets or super markets nowadays.

Some of the business were unique . There was this barter system wherein you could exchange your old clothes for new steel utensils. The communities who engaged in this trade were mostly from Gujrat and the vendors were woman. I recall they used to come home with their vares and my mom used to spread out the stock of old clothes that we had. Sarees/Trousers and Shirts commanded a premium. If they were torn they got discounted. My mother and the vendor used to spend hours haggling over the right value of exchange. My mother used to pick the largest of the utensil and the vendor lady would show her he smallest of the piece and justify it. Most of the time she managed to extract an extra Saree or a trouser. At times if our luck was bad the supposedly steel utensil would crack wide open in a few days. That was enough to get the vendor black listed. Next time we would move to a new vendor. I was told that the clothes were recycled and made in to new ones and then sold at flea markets. I guess Indians did more for their environment then.

The next was the rice puff guy. He would generally come around 4pm with his bag full of rice puffs, a small bag having spiced lentils and peanuts. He sold the rice puffs for 10 paise, the spiced lentils was a bit expensive, 20 paise. Today 10 and 20 paise coin is history, so is rice puff vendor. Getting a rice puff or the spiced lentil was such treat those days and was more satisfying than what a burger can do today. I had to literally beg my parents to buy me a pack of rice puffs then.

The other vendor who comes to mind is the “Kulfi” vendor. Kulfi is the Indian counterpart of the Ice Cream. It is made in earthen pots in a very traditional way.

The vendor used to come to sell this mouthwatering stuff close to midnight. They did not have the freezers , so the timing was apt to prevent the Kulfi from melting. Around 9-10 pm I could hear the shouts of “KULFIIIII”. They were not cheap, and came in different ranges, the cheapest one I guess came of Rs1/- and the expensive one in the range of R2 or Rs 3/-. We could only afford the Rs1/- Kulfi and occasionally used to get treated with a Rs2 or Rs 3 Kulfi. The quality of the milk and the flavour decided the price. Trust me it was a real treat to have a Kulfi during our summer school breaks. At times my parents used to refuse to buy us one and we used to remove our frustration on the kulfi vendor. We would hide in our balconies and call him out. Poor guy would wait and try to locate his prospective client and we used to hide and enjoy our moment of fun.

I wonder at times as to what happened to these professions and where did they get absorbed in this new India. Today I give my old clothes to my maid, rice puffs are bought from stores and so is Kulfi. They are now sold under major brands.

I miss those vendors specially the ones who sold goodies , they were so cheaply priced from todays standards, but nothing of today can match their taste. Timeless!