Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 5. 2.
23
Pampore, the Saffron Town
Kashmir
is known for many good things including apples, walnut, willows, woolen shawls
and of course the finest quality saffron or kesar
or zaafran, which means yellow in
Arabic. One of the most expensive spices in the world, saffron is also referred
to as “Red Gold”. Its history spans over more than 3500 years. The Romans used
it as a deodoriser, the Egyptian healers used it to treat gastrointestinal
ailments and it is said that Cleopatra used saffron for cosmetic value.
Saffron
spice comes from the stigmas of the purple flowers of the plant Crocus sativus.
Each flower contains three components — petals, yellow strands, and red
threads. These are arranged in order of importance. Pure saffron is extracted
from the red strands. More than 1,50,000 flowers are sifted and scanned for a
kilogram of the crimson spice. After this, the strands are dried over a
charcoal fire.
Saffron
is cultivated in Iran (which is currently the
largest producer of saffron; it produces 300 tons of saffron every year)
Afghanistan and Kashmir. However, the best quality saffron comes from Kashmir.
In
Kashmir saffron is cultivated in about 6000 hectares of land, more than 90 per
cent of which is in Pampore tehsil of Pulwama district in South Kashmir while
the rest is in central Kashmir’s Budgam and Srinagar districts.
Pampore, a small town about 13 kilometres from
Srinagar, in Pulwama district is known as the Saffron Town of Kashmir.
On our way to Pahalgum from Srinagar, we went
through the town. There were scores of stores on both sides of the National
Highway selling saffron. There were several shops named after ‘Zamindar’ and
‘Dar’. Almost all shops were also
selling dry fruits, blue berries and silajit and other herbs.
We went to few shops. The problem that we
faced in buying few grams of saffron was of discerning the fake from the real.
Every shop selling saffron claimed only they have authentic and pure saffron,
rest are just fakes. We were confused and decided to buy only from government
shop. In a government shop, the price was thrice what the shops in Pampore were
asking. We got more bewildered.
Priestesses of Kolkata
Of late in West
Bengal a number of marriage ceremonies are conducted by priestesses or female Purohit. I have seen marriages being
conducted by female Purohit at Arya Samaja in several states including Odisha.
But normally we are used to see Brahmin priests performing the rituals in Hindu
marriages.
Things are changing.
In West Bengal, these days, one finds many marriage rituals are conducted by
female Purohits. I had been to one such marriage recently. I was told that
there are several teams of female Purohit, who conduct the marriage ritual.
They usually come in a team of three or four, in same colour saree. The
erstwhile lengthy marriage rituals have been simplified. The lady priests conduct
the rituals with Sanskrit slokas. They also sing Rabindra Sangeet (songs of
Rabindranath Tagore). Some of them also translate the mantras and slokas in
English, so that the bride and groom understand what vows they are taking.
They also insist on
marriage registration before ‘sindur daan’ a ritual of the groom putting
vermilion on the forehead of the bride, which marks the completion of marriage.
In some cases they
have done away with the ritual of kanyadaan (giving away of the bride by her
father), to have gender parity.
Desh badal raha hai.
The country is
changing.
India’s
first newspaper’
Last Sunday, 29
January was Indian Newspaper Day. India's and Asia's
first printed newspaper 'Hicky's Bengal Gazette' or 'The Original Calcutta
General Advertiser' started its publication on this day in 1780 in Calcutta.
Published by an eccentric Irishman James Augustus Hicky, it barely lived for
two years. But it left a legacy which was “was powerful enough to challenge an
empire.”
Like no one in
India before, Hicky believed his duty was to spotlight malfeasance, fraud and
abuse of power. Broken by court battles and imprisonment, Hicky, who confronted
both the State and the Church, died impoverished and ailing on a China-bound
boat in October 1802. But it left a legacy, which the later newspapers,
especially the nationalist ones carried forward.
Andrew Otis has
written a book detailing the fascinating history of the paper, ‘The untold
story of India’s first newspaper’.
The Owl
The image of owl
across culture is interesting and intriguing. From wisdom to stupidity, from
divinity to evil - the image veers in extreme. Owl is the carrier (bahan) of
Goddess Laxmi, the Hindu deity of wealth. It finds place on the altar of
worship. However, in many cultures, they are considered evil omens. Many across the world consider owls to be
unclean and undesirable, and these birds are frequently associated with witch
doctors or shamans. In Nordic culture the owl is
considered as wise and studious. In Odisha the owl or ‘pecha’ stands for
ugliness and stupidity. Wooden owl, like the one you see in the photo is a
popular decorative item in Bengali homes.
We have some owls
in our campus. Sometimes I meet them at night sitting still on the bamboo bush.
One night, one of
them looked at me with his round eyes, and asked “am I a peculiar creature or
you?”
I kept mum. It is
not always wise to speak the truth.
Budget
2023
Number of economists in India
31 January- 1045
1 February -3,36,771
2 February - 5,67,826
3 February - 1045
++
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