Culture Shock

(contd from Changing Lifestyles of 26 September 07 )
After Pakistan was created,it was the exposure to the local elite culture that brought about changes in society all over the country, and reached the rural scenario. According to the driver from upcountry, tea made its presence felt as an early morning drink, and replaced the calm and soothing pure milk and ‘lassi’ drinks in more recent times. Early in the morning a glass of hot tea mingled with the cloying sweetness of saturating quantities of crushed jaggery, would be very stimulating;so indeed having it along with�parathas’, very satisfying. Lassi still holds the forte, let us hope the urban influence is kept away otherwise it is like people coming a visiting, would be entertained with tea or ‘botal’, the latter the more ice cold, the better, soft drink of course. The biryani, korma and ‘cheekan this’ and ‘chickan that’, is a ‘gift’ of recent times. In the good old days, it used to be the good old ‘bakra’, thoroughly roasted, and cooked to deliciousness particularly in pure ghee. Served with tandoor roti. No salads. No fuss. The dessert served used to be cooked and cooked milk ‘khoaa’’ also in pure ghee and full quantity of crushed jaggery syrup.� Delicious halwa’ and this was the fare for the satisfied guests at all occasions, from births to deaths and all occasions that get counted in between.
Nowadays medical people are blaming the rural kitchen for maternal and child morbidity. Driver from upcountry says, “I don ‘t buy it�. Says, those mixed -up rurals also try to make closed up houses and rooms like urban(Like those seen in colonies), and stuffy small kitchens, will suffer due to lack of proper circulating air. The very presence of electricity,fans, pressing irons and other gadgets run on electricity;producemore and more heat in the small rooms, and dresses made out of modern fabric with synthetic yarn, produce a feeling of hotness and discomfort, which worsens the situation. The real rural kitchen has a bit of the ‘outdoors’ to itself; the fuel is excellent� biomass� obtained from the ‘home’ department itself. The rural females have proper training in cooking, and the utensils are earthenware and the food cooked is easily cooked, simple, tasty and kind to the ‘stomach�. There is no trapped smoke full of impurities, the little kitchen is the cynosure of all household activities.In many a rural area,the days of jow, jowrr and baajra are gone. In those days there were no heart attacks, no pernicious deficiency, no diabetes. Everyone had a well built physique and enjoyed doing hard work. The food was next to nature....
The driver from upcountry hinted at the work done by science Research to produce new variety of crops. These crops are definitely more hardy,resistant to diseases, and need less water, all to make the modern day farmer more lazy and prone to heart attacks!But he says of the original old crops,they are irreplaceable, and he can vouch for his grandparents and parents too when they say, the bread made from the original wheat crop, was not only delicious but very energy giving. It was so delicious, you just felt like eating more and more, and when you had your fill, then after that even if you stayed without food the whole day,it kept you going. The driver was just a small boy then,but he says he remembers the soft bread, he simply felt like going on eating, so delicious!!It even smelt delicious. It is hard to get that flavor and aroma in the foodstuffs available nowadays. True, there is the potato, some variety of tomatoes, onions, banana, essences of strawberry and vanilla, all used to have a special, strong and flavorful intensity about them, and all this 50 and 50+ years ago. Are we then missing something. Are we getting less? Are we getting used to it? Artificiality has come into our lives. All fresh food before it comes to us,becomes ‘preservative-ised.’(to be continued)