What our homes lack today

While we are progressing towards mod and chic living, there are a few household things from yesteryears that can still be useful…

Wall calendar

Only yesterday I realised that I didn’t have any track of date because I was too busy with work and when the nights turned into days, I didn’t come to know. But this never happened to our dads when we were growing up. There was always a calendar, fixed at a prime spot, which you couldn’t ignore. Certainly, our elders knew how important it was to be with time. It was a ritual of sorts when tonnes of calendars would get printed just before the year could end and get distributed across households. As kids we used to be very excited waiting for the New Year’s calendar to get placed in the house. We would even compete with the other kids in our locality to see who got a better, more beautiful one. Today, I do occasionally see the Kingfisher Calendar with swimsuits-clad models flaunting their svelte bodies, gracing the walls of a few of my friends’ abodes, but it just doesn’t ring a bell.

Matka

I still have the taste of that water kept in earthen pots and it takes me to my granny’s house. The matka or ghada is still very much a part of her everyday life and whenever I pay a visit to her, I only drink water from it. I wonder why we don’t have in our kitchens today. Sure enough, there are refrigerators, ROs and water purifiers and the concept of keeping water in earthen pots sounds prehistoric. The purpose of a matka was to keep the water cool and free from dust and other small impurities, but these days, since we have a lot more life-threatening chemicals in the water we receive from taps, the earthen pot may be able to make it completely safe for drinking.

But, it does have its advantages and if you take proper precautions, it might be the best option. It keeps the water at an ideal temperature which is either not too hot or cold, unlike fridge, and makes it ideal for drinking. You need to filter the water first, clean the matka properly and keep it covered all times, and use a long-handled ladle to spoon the water out. Also, remember to clean it before re-filtering everyday to avoid the scum getting accumulated inside.

Achaar ki barni

I hardly see those big, earthen jars around anymore, where our moms and grannys used to store pickles which would last for years, without getting spoilt, and get distributed across families. Making pickles was a long, demanding process and storing it well was an equally challenging task. It still is but we don’t get to see it in front of our eyes, unlike yesteryears. These days we go to food stores and pick up a bottle or two any of those branded pickles and each time we gulp it down, we crib about it being not matching up to the standards set by our moms. And then, one of our friends returns from a home trip and surprises us with homemade achaar and we savour it to our heart’s content.