The callings and the calls
There are some hawkers' cries that one seldom hears in Bangalore
today. With changing lifestyles, certain trades have become redundant.
The knife-sharpener with his big wheel, the cobbler with his bag
laden with the hammer, anvil, twine and needle, the vessel polisher
with his bellows and coal to light a fire by the road, were a common
sight in the city's residential areas some time ago. Children used to
crowd around the tradesmen as they got down to work. As the knife
sharpener steps on his pedal and works up speed on the big wheel, the
big eyes on the little faces would gaze at the sparks that fly as the
knife kisses the abrasive wheel. The housewife pays him a coin and
beams at the newly sharpened knife as she gets into the house. Elsewhere, the
cobbler inspects the slipper whose sole opens like an alligator's
snout and smears the resin over it with a piece of rubber. He then
works a neat seam around the edge with his sharp needle and snips off
the twine at the end of the exercise. He pockets the 25 paise, and
proceeds on his way. After the sparks from the knife sharpener, it’s
the magical special effects of the vessel shiner that fascinate the children most. They watch as he prepares a furnace on the
ground by digging a small hole, filling it with charcoal. The
reluctant embers are then goaded into a flame by a bellow that huffs and puffs
furiously. He then works on the holes in the vessel with his hammer
and puts it over the fire. And then picks up a handful of white powder
and applies it on the sooty surface of the brass or copper vessel,
transforming it into gleaming silver when he rubs the powder with his
cloth. Today, with roads widened to the edge of houses or footpaths paved with granite slabs or concrete, there’s no place to dig the little furnace.
Moreover, the housewife uses stainless steel and non-stick vessels. A
loose sole on a slipper is an excuse to buy a new one, and there are a
host of branded knife sets tempting the shopper on supermarket
shelves.
Like these tradesmen, also missing are the blacksmiths working on the steel rims of the bullock cart, or an ox or horse being shod as they are made to lie on
their sides on the ground.
vijaysimha@newindianexpress.
today. With changing lifestyles, certain trades have become redundant.
The knife-sharpener with his big wheel, the cobbler with his bag
laden with the hammer, anvil, twine and needle, the vessel polisher
with his bellows and coal to light a fire by the road, were a common
sight in the city's residential areas some time ago. Children used to
crowd around the tradesmen as they got down to work. As the knife
sharpener steps on his pedal and works up speed on the big wheel, the
big eyes on the little faces would gaze at the sparks that fly as the
knife kisses the abrasive wheel. The housewife pays him a coin and
beams at the newly sharpened knife as she gets into the house. Elsewhere, the
cobbler inspects the slipper whose sole opens like an alligator's
snout and smears the resin over it with a piece of rubber. He then
works a neat seam around the edge with his sharp needle and snips off
the twine at the end of the exercise. He pockets the 25 paise, and
proceeds on his way. After the sparks from the knife sharpener, it’s
the magical special effects of the vessel shiner that fascinate the children most. They watch as he prepares a furnace on the
ground by digging a small hole, filling it with charcoal. The
reluctant embers are then goaded into a flame by a bellow that huffs and puffs
furiously. He then works on the holes in the vessel with his hammer
and puts it over the fire. And then picks up a handful of white powder
and applies it on the sooty surface of the brass or copper vessel,
transforming it into gleaming silver when he rubs the powder with his
cloth. Today, with roads widened to the edge of houses or footpaths paved with granite slabs or concrete, there’s no place to dig the little furnace.
Moreover, the housewife uses stainless steel and non-stick vessels. A
loose sole on a slipper is an excuse to buy a new one, and there are a
host of branded knife sets tempting the shopper on supermarket
shelves.
Like these tradesmen, also missing are the blacksmiths working on the steel rims of the bullock cart, or an ox or horse being shod as they are made to lie on
their sides on the ground.
vijaysimha@newindianexpress.
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