Brass and copper vessels wanted a tin coating inside them and the coating needed to be completed periodically.
| Picture Credit score: Illustration: Satheesh Vellinezhi
Not way back I needed to vacate our ancestral constructing because it was to be demolished to present method to an condo advanced. Throughout the clearing course of I needed to get rid of quite a few issues which have been considerably outdated.
These family articles which have been as soon as the favourites of my forebears stood testimony to the care with which they have been maintained over time. They made me recall throughout a gulf of seven a long time the periodic visits to our home of Munusamy, the frail re-tinner of brass vessels, and Khadar, the burly cotton-mattress maker. They have been among the many conventional artisans who helped our family in sustaining issues in good situation.
Lengthy earlier than stainless-steel vessels got here into the market, it was brass, copper, bronze and aluminum utensils that have been utilized in our households. Brass and copper vessels, nonetheless, wanted a tin coating (kalai) inside them and the coating needed to be completed periodically.
The re-tinning operation by Munusamy was a sight to behold. When a number of brass vessels bereft of the shiny tin coating got to him, he would arrange a mini workshop in our courtyard. Digging a small pit within the floor he would create a brief blast furnace, airing it with bellows. Taking over a vessel, he would warmth it and sprinkle in it a powder (ammonium chloride).
Holding the purple sizzling vessel in a single hand with the assistance of kitchen tongs, he would, within the method of a juggler, shortly rub the internal portion of the vessel with a cotton material giving rise to a sudden curl of white smoke. Lastly, the vessel can be dipped right into a bucket stuffed with chilly water. Buzzing a jaunty tune he would take out the vessel, the internal floor of which might glisten with a silvery sheen. Even earlier than he accomplished re-tinning our vessels, he would get extra purchasers from the neighbouring homes, every giving one or two vessels for re-tinning. We, the kids of the locality, would watch with nice admiration the entire operation.
Re-tinning employees have nearly vanished from the streets of cities now resulting from an absence of demand for his or her providers. As have the makers of cotton mattresses who would come door to door, providing their providers.
In these days, although folks principally slept on mats unfold on the ground, every family had one or two mattresses full of cotton that wanted restuffing usually. I vividly bear in mind Rehman, one of many mattress makers.
Strumming a veena-like instrument that was used for carding the cotton, Rehman would announce his arrival on the streets. In our home, he would perform his work in an open area within the backyard. He used the carder to beat and fluff the cotton already within the mattresses and pillows. He would additionally add recent cotton. He would lastly hand-stitch the seams and return the mattresses of their new strong varieties. The whole backyard would reverberate with the “twang, twang” of the carder in the course of the operation. These of us who watched his work with curiosity didn’t thoughts the liberal cotton coating that we acquired. Hardly ever does one see these mattress makers on the streets now as folks desire to purchase mattresses, principally foam, from retailers.
The opposite day I used to be stunned to listen to a name of “kathi saannai” on the road. It was that of a knife sharpener with a conveyable contraption slung over his shoulders. He mentioned that he had continued within the conventional occupation by which he was skilled by his late father. He, nonetheless, rued the truth that it was not fairly paying, as most individuals discarded knives or scissors with blunted edges and purchased new ones.
Road distributors proceed to be energetic in promoting greens, fruits and meals objects. Nonetheless, the sight of tradespeople providing distinctive family providers might quickly be a factor of the previous.
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