Talking of price rise and what a rupee or for that matter a 10 rupee note can buy today ..maybe a Maha Munch... I thought of devoting some of my spare time to rekindle old memories of my school days during the 80's in Bombay
Pocket money coined in those years more as coin money was a welcome gift from our parents and the most we could get during those days was a 20p or a 10p on a daily basis. I was not in a habit of spending those coins on a daily basis though. It might so happen that there could be dry days in between.
A 10 p or 5 paise used to put our young minds in a dilemma as to what item could be purchased. There was always the local small grocer, who had all the stuff, right from 1p so as to say, you could fulfill the senses of your sweet tooth five times over. But that was too meagre.
The local grocer had pappadis, nuts, groundnuts, loose biscuits of ParleG, Chikkis, Ravalgoan sweets and what nots. On the way to school and around the school, especially during recess time, there used to come, a few hawkers who could understand our weakness on sweets, especially the chikkis and cotton candy, the sugar balloons that we used to call them during those time. The chikkiwala had a chisel with him which was used to chisel out portions of chikki from his large circular plate, which he used to keep on his bamboo stand, away from our prying hands if not from our eyes. I thought during those times the chikki was costlier than gold, the way he used to hand it over to us for our 5p or 10p that was doled out to him in return.
The process of making the cotton candies was enchanting for us, as the hawker used to practically reserve the preparation in front of our eyes, so that most of us would come out and stand around him than go across to any other optional hawker who offered his services to us on that day.
By the time, we chewed on the chikki and enjoyed the saliva mix with the goodness of jaggery, the bell would go off, thus signalling the end of recess time. It was, when we came to the secondary school, that the ice cream or the gola (crushed ice) maker was made accessible to us. He along with another maker was always positioned on the road adjoining the municipal school, which was on the way to our school. There were other hawkers on the street selling all sorts of condiments, (jamuns, green berries which we used to train our eyes to wink) but the moment our eyes caught sight of these 2 persons, all the rest would fade into darkness. They had this excellent assortment of colours to lace the golas. The grating and the formation of the gola was yet another process that would entertain our eyes. These people whether they be the golawala, the sweet candy maker, all were magicians in those heydays for us.
A treat to my classmates, especially the close friends circle, used to be a gola and for that I used to save my daily allowance. Apart from the gola makers, there were kulfi wallahs who used to make their appearance once in a while, and we used to grab the opportunity.
In contrast to the yester years, we are witnessing a sea change in the school and college canteens of today. What was denominated in paise has got translated into rupees, and even that has become scarce change for the community. Agreed; prices are not what they were three decades ago, but the dependency on canteen items for breakfast and lunch have increased. This can also be attributed to the modern parents who are working both ends to meet the rising expenses. In most of the homes, the good healthy food made for breakfast or asTiffin
Pocket money coined in those years more as coin money was a welcome gift from our parents and the most we could get during those days was a 20p or a 10p on a daily basis. I was not in a habit of spending those coins on a daily basis though. It might so happen that there could be dry days in between.
A 10 p or 5 paise used to put our young minds in a dilemma as to what item could be purchased. There was always the local small grocer, who had all the stuff, right from 1p so as to say, you could fulfill the senses of your sweet tooth five times over. But that was too meagre.
The local grocer had pappadis, nuts, groundnuts, loose biscuits of ParleG, Chikkis, Ravalgoan sweets and what nots. On the way to school and around the school, especially during recess time, there used to come, a few hawkers who could understand our weakness on sweets, especially the chikkis and cotton candy, the sugar balloons that we used to call them during those time. The chikkiwala had a chisel with him which was used to chisel out portions of chikki from his large circular plate, which he used to keep on his bamboo stand, away from our prying hands if not from our eyes. I thought during those times the chikki was costlier than gold, the way he used to hand it over to us for our 5p or 10p that was doled out to him in return.
The process of making the cotton candies was enchanting for us, as the hawker used to practically reserve the preparation in front of our eyes, so that most of us would come out and stand around him than go across to any other optional hawker who offered his services to us on that day.
By the time, we chewed on the chikki and enjoyed the saliva mix with the goodness of jaggery, the bell would go off, thus signalling the end of recess time. It was, when we came to the secondary school, that the ice cream or the gola (crushed ice) maker was made accessible to us. He along with another maker was always positioned on the road adjoining the municipal school, which was on the way to our school. There were other hawkers on the street selling all sorts of condiments, (jamuns, green berries which we used to train our eyes to wink) but the moment our eyes caught sight of these 2 persons, all the rest would fade into darkness. They had this excellent assortment of colours to lace the golas. The grating and the formation of the gola was yet another process that would entertain our eyes. These people whether they be the golawala, the sweet candy maker, all were magicians in those heydays for us.
A treat to my classmates, especially the close friends circle, used to be a gola and for that I used to save my daily allowance. Apart from the gola makers, there were kulfi wallahs who used to make their appearance once in a while, and we used to grab the opportunity.
In contrast to the yester years, we are witnessing a sea change in the school and college canteens of today. What was denominated in paise has got translated into rupees, and even that has become scarce change for the community. Agreed; prices are not what they were three decades ago, but the dependency on canteen items for breakfast and lunch have increased. This can also be attributed to the modern parents who are working both ends to meet the rising expenses. In most of the homes, the good healthy food made for breakfast or as
I thought; the basis of pocket money handed over to us as kids was to learn and keep a control of finances that came to us. It was meant to be a learning curve for handling, procuring things, managing and thereby saving money. It also would serve other purposes like understanding the cost of goods; their market prices and thereby appreciates the worth of money that was in our hands. As they say, money saved is money gained. Before buying an item, we need to think twice on whether it is really essential for us. Each of these needs have to be validated and vetted before the purchase can be made. This skill would come in handy and help us when we step in to older shoes. Sadly the scene has changed and the basic purpose for which the pocket money was initiated has been lost. But I am sure; today with a little effort from each one of us – the kids, parents and the society; the term pocket money could hope to regain its past glory.
I am thankful to my younger brother Sunith for sharing his school days’ memories with me while writing this article.
Beena Kollara
very interesting beena.
ReplyDeletethis is the right kind of childhood memories.
please continue writing.
regards
jp uncle @ trichur