How Mumbai’s masalawaalis make a single spice from 30 ingredients

Bottle masala is impossible to find in stores.

FIRST CAME THE BURNING EYES. Then the uncontrollable sneezing.

I was seven years old and watching three sari-clad ladies, each holding a tall, wooden pestle, adroitly throw their sticks into the center of a deep wooden vat. It was filled with dried chilies, which explained the pungent aroma in the air. Thump-thump-thump. The ladies’ synchronized pounding created a hypnotic beat.

What I witnessed that summer day in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, was the annual tradition of hand-making bottle masala—a fragrant, reddish-brown spice blend named for the darkly colored bottles it’s stored in. Crafted from 20 to more than 30 ingredients, the one-of-a-kind mix is synonymous with the East Indian community—descendants of people indigenous to the North Konkan region on India’s west coast who converted to Christianity. This minority was officially recognized as “East Indians” by the government in 1887.

Where does that nice smoky flavor come from? JUDE ALBUQUERQUE

“When the British took over Bombay, the city’s native Catholic population took up the moniker East Indian to differentiate us from the other Christians who had moved to the city,” explains Reena Pereira-Almeida, creator of the East India Memory Co., a project that documents the group’s history and culture. “Over time, our cuisine, language, clothing, music, etc. came to reflect a mixture of Maharashtrian, Portuguese, and British influences.”

The rusty-hued bottle masala exemplifies this unique amalgamation. Chef Michael Swamy traces its origins back to goda masala, a roughly 20-ingredient mélange made by Maharashtrians using the same hand-pounding procedure that so enthralled my younger self. “Dry blending of spices is a very Maharashtrian thing,” he says.

But this artisanal practice is slowly dwindling. Few families have the space for hired masalawaalis to pound out bottle masala now that Mumbai is a megacity. Instead, they are choosing the convenience of having their mixes made in mills, and some households have filed away their family recipe, reducing the wild, family-by-family diversity of masalas out there. Still, for East Indian home cooks, bottle masala remains at the heart of their kitchen’s spice collection.

The vessels that give the mix its name are often leftover beer bottles.

“It has an earthy, smoky flavor—very subtle,” says Verna Texeira, a Brooklyn resident who was raised in Bombay. “It’s also very versatile—used with meat, vegetables, or fish—and changes the taste of the dish according to what you are cooking.” In The East Indian Cookery Book, first published in 1981 by The Bombay East Indian Association, bottle masala is listed in 34 recipes, including dishes such as duck moile and prawn lonvas, which are celebrated within the community. It’s also the first recipe in Swamy’s tome, The East Indian Kitchen, in which he shares two versions of the blend.

“East Indian food is a mish-mash,” says Swamy. “You have the Indian side, which is very pure and holistic and includes no meat. Then the Portuguese came and introduced meat eating, like pork, and even bread.”

Sarpatel, made with cubed pork and bottle masala, perfectly represents this fusion. Due to the limited availability of the community’s spice blends, though, and scarcity of East Indian restaurants, the cuisine is a mystery to most of Mumbai. Swamy partly blames its underrepresentation on anecdotal evidence that East Indians are “secretive” and notorious for guarding their recipes.

“I got a lot of whiplash from my aunts for sharing our recipes publicly in my book,” he says. Verna’s mother, Georgina Texeira, admits she’s possessive about the bottle masala recipe she inherited from her grandmother. “I have shared it only with close family and friends,” she says.

In some villages, these okhli were built into the floor. JUDE ALBUQUERQUE

This helps make bottle masala, and East Indian cuisine, special: Each family’s recipe differs depending on the area and sub-group they belong to. “The taste and color of the bottle masala will be different for each home and from village to village,” explains my father, who grew up in the former East Indian stronghold of Mumbai’s Pali Village. Some families use a combination of chilies. Others favor the Kashmiri chili, which lends the mix its trademark maroon hue. Common additions include turmeric, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, wheat, nutmeg, cumin, mugwort … the list goes on.

Like my father, Texeira remembers the masalawaalis going house to house in her hamlet of Kalina to register families interested in having bottle masala or other spice blends made during the warm summer months. She also looked forward to the impending visit from the masalawallah (spice man). Like Santa Claus, he carried a large bag and delivered the pylee—all the spices each family required.

While this home-delivery service no longer exists, Texeira and others visit Mumbai’s larger markets to procure ingredients. Verna, whose mother has been making bottle masala for 30 years, fondly remembers this annual shopping spree and the two- or three-day process of sun drying the spices.

Thump. Thump. Thump. JUDE ALBUQUERQUE

“All the verandahs in the village would have the spices laid out on bedsheets or steel thalis,” she explains. “In the afternoons, my mother would send me to the terrace upstairs to turn the chilies in the sun. It was such a beautiful, sensory experience seeing the yellow turmeric, the round coriander seeds, the red crinkled chilies … ”

Marise Ann Lawrence likens the atmosphere of the masalawaallis’ arrival to a party. As the spice ladies removed the denkhas (stalks) from the chilies, or tossed ingredients in an earthenware dish over a wood fire, they’d chat with her aunts and mother and exchange family stories. “It wasn’t just about the work,” she says.

Depending on the quantity made, the procedure could take a day or a whole week. “It was like a picnic,” adds Texeira. “You’d have to provide them with tea, sugar, milk, and oil, and in the afternoon, they would cook their meal.” My father remembers the spice ladies preparing a dish with dried Bombay ducks, a fish found in the Arabian Sea, which they would char in the wood fire’s embers and smash together with raw onion to make a chutney.

Just as larger families band together for masala-making season, East Indians, as a minority group, unite for community celebrations, religious feasts, and weddings, says Pereira-Almeida, who grew up in India and now lives in Australia. 

“Those who have settled in other countries come together for occasions like Christmas and Easter,” she adds, referencing the sizeable East Indian diaspora. And traditional East Indian specialties, including those made with bottle masala, always play a starring role at these events.

Mixing and sifting. JUDE ALBUQUERQUE

Once the toasted spices cooled, the masalawaalis would start hand pounding. Standing around a chalice-like okhli—built into the floors of homes in some villages—they established their catchy rhythm, taking turns slamming the spices. “It is pound, sift, repeat. Pound, sift, repeat,” says Lawrence of the three- to four-hour operation.

“I remember their bangles clinking as they worked,” says Verna. Decades later, she remains fascinated by the ladies’ strength.

As mounds of vibrantly colored spices piled up, the masalawaalis gently combined the powders with deft circular hand movements. They then filled narrow-necked beer or whiskey bottles, patiently pushing down the masala with a wooden stick and sealing it with a cork and piece of cloth secured with string.

While many East Indians are nostalgic about the hand-pounding process, most find that making bottle masala—including sourcing and roasting the spices—is too much work, even though the mills have sped up the job. Still, a stubborn few do it themselves to ensure quality, and Swamy believes the traditional method releases the spices’ essential oils slowly, giving the blend a mellow flavor, while mechanical methods leave a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Laid-out ingredients can be a colorful sight. JUDE ALBUQUERQUE

The old-school procedure may soon be relegated to memories, but the love affair with bottle masala continues for this community dispersed around the world. “Other communities say everything we cook is always with bottle masala, that we can’t survive without it,” says Texeira. It’s not much of an exaggeration: On her yearly visits to see Verna in Brooklyn, she always has a packet or two of bottle masala stashed in her suitcase.

“If I call my Mom and ask her what to do if I’m stuck with adding flavor to a dish, she will say just put bottle masala,” says Verna, laughing.

(Source: Gastro Obscura)

How Manohar Parrikar became my friend over chats about a moped, red shirt & green tea

Reporter Rohini Swamy first met Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who passed away Sunday, at Panaji in 1999, when the Lok Sabha elections were underway. 

Chief minister Manohar “Bhai” Parrikar, who passed away Sunday, was a household name in Goa, a real “aam aadmi” politician.

Often, you would be discussing his politics and governance over tea and Goan pav bhaji at a restaurant, only to find him sitting at the next table, enjoying the chai and charcha (tea and discussion).

And if he met you once, he never forgot you.

On the streets of Panaji
This reporter first met him at Panaji in 1999. The Lok Sabha elections were underway and this reporter, fresh into adulthood and armed with her voter ID and first-ever driver’s licence, was set to ride her moped to cast her vote for the very first time.

One day, Parrikar, who was actively campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the time, stopped at a grocer’s in Dona Paula for a cold drink, just as I came in to purchase some household items.

While waiting at the counter, he started chatting with me in his typical composed manner.

“Are you going to be voting this time?” he asked. I nodded, telling him it would be my first time and admitting that I was confused about my choice.

“Don’t worry,” he replied.

“It’s easy. Just cast your vote, but don’t forget to think it through, as the person you vote for will change your life and make a difference,” he said.

He had seen me park my moped by the shop, because he pointed towards it and asked, “Do you have a licence for that?

“You are young now, don’t speed,” he added, smiling, before getting on a white Kinetic Honda and setting off, followed by a few BJP workers. Just as he was leaving, the local poder (breadman), passing by on a bicycle, waved at Parrikar. They exchanged pleasantries before parting ways.

File image of Manohar Parrikar | Praveen Jain/ThePrint

That image of Parrikar, sitting astride a two-wheeler in his signature half-sleeved shirt and open sandals, was a common sight in Panaji and Mapusa during his chief ministerial days.

During polling campaigns, he would ride pillion as party candidates rode across town, canvassing for support.

‘Moped girl’
The next meeting came a couple of years later, when this reporter started training as a cub with a local Goan English daily called The Navhind Times.

One day, the then chief reporter, Umesh Mhambre, suggested a joint assignment covering a midnight session of the Goa assembly. Parrikar was chief minister at the time.

After the session, just as we were leaving the assembly building, we saw Parrikar approach us. “I remember you,” he said, looking at me. “You are from Dona Paula, right?

“You have become a journalist? You have more responsibility than me now,” he added, laughing.

That day, he once again saw me mount my moped and, from then on, I became “moped girl” for him.

In the years to come, each time I visited Goa, we would meet for a short while because Parrikar wanted a youngster’s vision for how the state should be developed.

A leader of the people
Parrikar was a leader known for compassion. A young woman sexually harassed by a government official, discouraged by her family from filing a police complaint, once approached the CM for help.

She stood outside his official residence, Mahalakshmi, at Altinho in Panaji and waited for an appointment. When she was allowed to meet the CM, she found herself in a room full of people, unable to narrate her ordeal.

Quick to gauge the hesitation, Parrikar asked the room to be cleared of the public, letting just two of his staff members stay back, and asked her what the issue was.

When she revealed the incident, he stood up and said, “Do not worry. I will not let a beast remain in Goa. You do not need to go to police. I will ensure that he does not look at or touch a woman like this ever in his life.”

In a matter of days, the official was arrested.

A gift from his deeply-missed wife
In 2011, during a visit back home to Goa, we met near the BJP office. He was wearing a red shirt and the colour gave him a flushed appearance, which this reporter mistook for an allergy. I asked him if he was well.

“It’s the shirt that makes me look red,” he replied.

“This is one of my favourite shirts. I am very attached to it as my late wife bought it for me. I wear it almost every alternate day and it shows my true Goan blood,” he added.
Parrikar lost his wife Medha to cancer in 2000.

Years later, when he had assumed charge as defence minister and overseen India’s post-Uri-attack surgical strikes of September 2016, we chanced upon each other at Aero India. “Koshem Asa (how are you in Konkani)?” he said, walking up to me after spotting me from a distance. Parrikar spoke in Konkani every time we met. It was his way of keeping our Goan connection alive.

He invited me to his official residence for a chat, and began talking about how the political scenario in Goa had changed. However, the reporter in me was curious to know about the surgical strikes and he didn’t shy away from the query.

“It has taken me a long time to learn the ropes,” he said. “I know I will receive flak for everything I do. But as the Raksha Mantri, I will not allow a man with an AK-47 to walk onto our soil and cause bloodshed. We don’t want war, but if the enemy tries to incite one, we will tear into them, mercilessly,” he added.

We met again as he took oath as the CM for the fourth time. It was the last time I saw him in fine health.

“Why did you leave Delhi and come back to Goa?” I asked him. “I love my Xitt Kodi (fish curry rice) and nobody knows how to make it well there,” he added. “Don’t you miss it too?” he asked with a smile.

When tea arrived, he promptly took out a small bag of green tea from the pocket of his bush shirt and placed it in the cup of hot water kept in front of him.

“I carry these bags in my pocket these days,” he said.

“I cannot be having tea all the time. I don’t like the taste, but too much tea acidity. I should be healthy to be a CM, right?” he added.

Losing a friend
When a frail Parrikar, who had undergone several rounds of therapy by then, climbed the steps to inaugurate the Atal setu in Goa this January, the people who knew him recognised the familiar glint of confidence in his eyes.

He proved them right too when he asked the cheering crowd, “How’s the josh (spirit)?”

Clearly, it was his josh that always kept his spirits high. With his passing away, Goa has lost its “bhai” and I have lost a good friend.

(Source: The Print)

Astonishing Christmas-themed Mughal miniatures from the courts of Akbar and Jehangir

Jesuits came to the Mughal court hoping to convert the emperors. Instead, the Indian rulers used Christian images for their own royal propaganda.

When Mughal emperor Akbar invited Portuguese Jesuits from Goa to his court in 1579, they were elated. Converting Akbar to Christianity would be their biggest achievement outside the European world.

They sent excited reports back to their home country, saying that India's largest empire would soon be a part of the Christian world.

As it turned out, Akbar had other ideas. His court was in the midst of intense inter-religious discussions. At the time the Jesuits were sharing their art and discussing the Bible with scholars in the court, others were being directed to translate hundreds of Sanskrit and Arabic texts, including the Ramayana, into Persian.

Mughal Emperor Akbar holds a religious assembly in the Ibadat Khana
in Fatehpur Sikri; the two men dressed in black are the Jesuit missionaries
Rodolfo Acquaviva and Francisco Henriques, c. 1605.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Akbar directed court artists to use Christian imagery for his own royal propaganda but refused to commit any further.

The presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem, 40 days after
his birth, c. 1600-1610. Possibly painted in Bijapur.
hoto credit: Victoria and Albert Museum.

Christian iconography is unusually adaptive. When Christianity reached China, the Chinese portrayed Jesus Christ as one of their own. It's no wonder that Christ was Indianised when the Jesuits first came to India. But as artists, particularly four in Akbar and Jehangir’s reign, learned from and adapted to Western styles, their depictions of Christ and Mary became steadily more European.

If you do not look closely, some of the most striking Mughal art between 1580 and 1630 could be mistaken for belonging to European schools of art.

Mother and Child with a White Cat. Attributed to Manohar
(active ca. 1582–1624) or Basawan.
Photo credit: The San Diego Museum of Art.

Virgin and Child, c. 1625. Photo credit: Caravaggista.

Christian stories were also not entirely alien to the Mughals. Ninety verses of the Koran deal with Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad is said to have allowed the portraits of Jesus and Mary to be preserved when he ordered all other idolatrous images to be destroyed in the Kaaba.

Jesus was also popular among the Sufis as a sort of hermetic ascetic. Given Akbar’s strong endorsement of the Sufis, it is not surprising that the two figures were then steadily incorporated into royal commissions.

Akbar’s son Prince Salim, who would later become Jehangir, also did the same. Unlike his father, who encouraged depictions of Jesus and other saints in secular, royal and religious settings inspired only partly by European art, Jehangir seems to have insisted on a more strictly European approach, at least the saints.

Even so, propaganda is not to be sniffed at. One painting shows Jehangir as ruler of the world atop another image of Christ holding a cross. Another pair, also of Jehangir, shows him holding an image of his father Akbar and his spiritual mother, Mary.

Jehangir and Jesus. Hashim, Jehangir, c. 1615-1620. Abu'l-Hasan.
Photo credit: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.

If the Jesuits still retained any hope of converting either emperor, a painting by Bichitr would have snuffed that out. The painting, adorned with naked and clothed European cherubs  shows Jehangir snubbing King James I and VI of England in favour of a Sufi sheikh.

Jehangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings, from the St. Petersburg album,
c. 1615-1618. Bichitr. Photo credit: Freer Gallery of Art.

The influence of European art on Mughal miniatures continued well after Akbar and Jehangir, even in paintings that did not directly reference Christ. One of the later examples of this comes around a century later. The Birth of Christ with its title written in English is now at the National Museum in Delhi.

The Birth of Christ. Mid 18th century, late Mughal, Muhammad Shah period.
Photo credit: National Museum, New Delhi.

(Source: Scroll)

Madhav Gadgil, who predicted Kerala floods in 2011, says Goa is next if precautions aren't taken

Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil has warned Goa may face the same fate as the flood-battered Kerala if it does not take precautions on the environmental front. Like in some other states, Goa, too, is witnessing activities which are driven by greed for unlimited profits, said Gadgil, who headed a committee that authored a widely debated study on the Western Ghats a few years ago.

"Certainly all sorts of problems are beginning to surface on the environmental front in the Western Ghats. Goa, of course, does not have Western Ghats which are so high as in Kerala, but I am sure Goa will also experience all sorts of problems," he said, reacting to the worst-ever floods in the southern state. He said the reason for not taking any environmental precaution (in general) is purely greed for unlimited profits. "You have seen it in Goa too. The Union government-constituted Justice MB Shah commission has estimated illegal profits of Rs 35,000 crore from illegal mining," he said. "There is also enormous profit in the business of stone quarrying while there is very little investment," he added while talking about rampant hill in the Western Ghats. "The greed for enormous profits has been allowed to go on unchecked, which has actually worsened economic disparity in the society.

"So now those who are making money through these means are even more effective in getting the government allow this kind of rampant illegal behaviour," Gadgil said. The ecologist said governments have been lax on implementing environmental norms. "The central government is actually bending over backwards to make sure the National Green Tribunal does not function properly," he said.

Gadgil had done extensive study on Goa's environment based on the data provided by iron ore mining companies in their Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports in 2011. He had then said the mining companies submitted false information in their EIA reports. "In Goa, they had asked me to look into the impact of mining on environment. Every EIA suppressed fact about hydrological impact of mining," the 73-year-old expert said. "On `sadas' (plains) of Goa there are a lot of streams which are originating but they dont mention about them in their EIA reports. All kind of false statements are made in these reports," he said.

Gadgil had headed the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) set up by the government. The WGEEP, in its 2011 report, had recommended that several areas in Kerala which come under the Western Ghats be classified as ecologically sensitive. The panel had recommended strict curbs on mining and quarrying and on use of land for non-forest purposes.

(Source: First Post)

Nipah outbreak: Death toll rises in India as brain-damaging disease spreads

As the rare virus claims more lives in the Indian state of Kerala, concerns have been raised about the potential of Nipah to become a global health emergency, writes Dominique Mosbergen in HuffPo. Read on:

As health workers in India scramble to contain an ongoing outbreak of Nipah, a rare and deadly virus with no known cure, concerns have been raised about the disease’s potential to become the next global health emergency.

At least 13 people in the Indian state of Kerala have died from the Nipah virus in the recent outbreak. On Monday, The Hindu newspaper reported that a patient with Nipah-like symptoms was under observation in a hospital in Goa, a state in western India. If diagnosed with the disease, the patient — reportedly a 20-year-old man who’d traveled to Goa from Kerala — could be the first case of Nipah infection outside Kerala since the recent outbreak began earlier this month.

The Nipah virus, which was first identified in 1999 after an outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore, is a disease thought to be transmitted by bats, pigs or other animals to humans. The virus, which has a mortality rate of up to 70 percent, can cause encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, as well as severe respiratory symptoms, according to the World Health Organization. There is currently no cure or vaccine for Nipah, though research into a possible vaccine is reportedly underway.

Doctors and relatives wearing protective gear carry the body of a victim of the brain-damaging Nipah virus, during his funeral in Kozhikode, in the southern Indian state of Kerala, India, on May 24.

The current outbreak is believed to have originated with a family living in the coastal Kerala city of Kozhikode. India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said last week that public health workers had found several bats in a water well that had been used by three family members who died after contracting the Nipah virus. The Times of India reported, however, that samples taken from the bats tested negative for the virus.

Health officials said this week that they would ramp up testing of other animal samples from the region in an effort to pin down the origins of the current outbreak. Officials said they were particularly keen to test samples from fruit-eating bats, which are known carriers of the disease. The Times of India said the bats in the well were insect-eating bats, which are not known carriers.

Reuters reported Monday that a 26-year-old rickshaw driver from Kozhikode was the latest Nipah virus victim.

Last week, a nurse who treated Nipah victims perished from the disease.

“I think I am almost on my way. I may not be able to see you again. Sorry,” Lini Puthusheri wrote to her husband from her hospital bed, according to the Associated Press. “Take care of our children.”

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, people can be infected with the Nipah virus after direct contact with patients of the disease. “This is most commonly seen in the family and caregivers of Nipah virus-infected patients,” the CDC said.

Nurse Lini died in our battle against the Nipah virus. She died trying to save patients infected by it. She was just 31 & was a mother of two little kids. If she is not a martyr, I don't know who is. pic.twitter.com/xF2rZrtuRv

— Sasidharan Pazhoor (@inquestioner) May 22, 2018

The Nipah virus was listed this year on the WHO’s priority list of emerging diseases that could cause a global health emergency. Ebola and Zika were also on the 2018 list, which the WHO said identifies diseases that “pose a public health risk because of their epidemic potential and for which there are no, or insufficient, countermeasures.”

Stanford epidemiologist and Nipah expert Stephen Luby said recently that Nipah could conceivably become a “global pandemic threat” if there emerged a strain of the disease that could efficiently be transmitted from person to person.

“It is conceivable that there is currently a strain of Nipah virus circulating among bats that, if it infected people, would efficiently transmit from person to person,” Luby told the Stanford Report, though noting that “so far, we have not identified such a strain.”

“Characteristics that might increase the risk of person-to-person transmission would be a virus that has a stronger tendency to move to the respiratory tract in high numbers,” he said. “It is conceivable that the virus could acquire a mutation that would enhance this capacity. One concern is that anytime a virus infects a human, it is in an environment that selects for survival in that context.”

Royal Enfield opens Portuguese-styled Garage Cafe in Goa

Royal Enfield has opened its first ever Royal Enfield Garage Cafe in Arpora, Baga, Goa. This cafe is a massive 120-seater cafe and is also a Royal Enfield museum and exhibition area. The cafe has also got an exclusive gear store, motorcycle customisation area, and a service bay.

Royal Enfield states that the Garage Cafe is "a catalyst to deepen personal associations with Royal Enfield enthusiasts and customers." However, it is designed to be an inclusive and engaging space which is open to riders, non-riders, travellers and explorers, and their families.

"The ambience of the cafe is inspired by the Royal Enfield motorcycling way of life - laid-back, unpretentious and relaxed. The Garage Cafe is a celebration of exploration in a Royal Enfield way through food, beverage, music, entertainment, and personal expression," according to a statement from Royal Enfield adds. "The Garage Cafe is inspired by the central traditional Portuguese style structure which is reflected in the interiors of the cafe. In addition to that, the Cafe is built around the core values of Royal Enfield that are an expression of timelessness and craftsmanship and an unadulterated love for motorcycling."

(Source: India Today)

Goans decided to go organic, and grew a mini forest in their backyards!

In Goa, organic farming has caught people’s attention, who want to experience the satisfaction of growing their own food organically, writes Arti Das on The Better India. Read on:

As you walk into the kitchen garden of Peter Fernandes and Rosie Harding in Assagao, Goa, you realise that it’s no less than a forest, where the land is covered with mulch and the 700 square meters of area is covered with perennial greens. This 4-year-old kitchen garden is the perfect place to understand how you can grow your food without using chemicals and by following the permaculture method for farming.

Peter likes to describe it as an edible garden which provides health and nutrition. A few years ago, his garden was no more than a wasteland. Then, both of them worked on the soil fertility to grow their own food. Now, they grow vegetables and fruits, including a variety of spinach, red and green amaranth, a variety of gourd, herbs and beans among others.

“It’s really important that we produce what is safe and rich in nutrition. For us, growing our own food has led to substantial benefits. Given how easy it is to incorporate edible plants into your garden, there’s no reason why all of us can’t do it,” says Peter.

He adds that now they are focusing on perennial plants that are local and mostly considered as weeds.

Peter and Rosie at their farm. Image source: Hemant Parab

They have a total of around 150 species of plants that are edible. Also, in one small patch of land, he has 11 types of citrus fruits that include oranges, 13 varieties of mangoes and nine varieties of guava – like the rare black guava.

For Peter, this is where people can learn about farming and share the knowledge with others. “We started this because we wanted to eat healthy and nutritious food,” he says. He is on a sabbatical from his job of consultancy.

Another interesting aspect of their garden is that they do not sell their produce. “As our garden grew successfully in the past years, we started getting surplus produce. But, we don’t want to sell it. We give it to our friends, neighbours or just compost it,” says Peter, adding, “Some 30 years ago, most people in Goa had kitchen gardens, where they would grow their food – be it chillies, red amaranths, different types of gourds, cucumber and fruits like coconut, bananas, guavas, etc. But, now this concept is fading with time.”

Growing food organically, however, is catching people’s attention. All it needs is time and dedication. There are a lot people, who, in their own capacity, are building their own kitchen garden. Terency Luis from Verna has a garden with more than 60 vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices and medicinal plants. Terency does all the work on the 1,950 sq m property herself. She has also managed to encourage her neighbours to grow organic vegetables.

She makes compost using a tumbling composter that she has assembled.

Terency Luis at her farm in Verna.

Fish waste is dumped into a 200 litre plastic drum, where she mixes sawdust and uses the fish waste as a fertiliser for the plants. A traditional compost pit is also present, where leaves and other waste sit before they are transferred into the banana circle to fully decompose. Terency has created several raised beds using materials like wood, laterite stones, cement posts, bricks etc. Each of these are filled with soil that she makes on the property, using the various methods of composting that she employs.



If space is a problem for you to start a kitchen garden, then the solution is community farming. Abhay Kesarkar from Ponda is involved in community farming in a housing complex in Ponda – a town 30km from Panaji. They started their kitchen garden on a terrace of the building and four families are involved in this activity. They grow around 30 seasonal varieties of fruits and vegetables.

Yogita Mehra, who regularly conducts organic gardening workshops in Goa and Mumbai, has noticed a trend of growing your own food in Goa. They’re mostly urban dwellers who don’t want to compromise on the quality of the food and at the same time want to experience the satisfaction of growing it themselves.

She conducts workshops with her husband, Karan Manral, where they teach how, even a small verandah can be turned into a kitchen garden, provided that it receives at least five hours of sunlight for the plants to grow well.

People also like the idea of composting. Goa experiences an issue of waste management. So it’s great that there are people who compost at homes. A portable composting unit called Khamba, introduced by a Bangalore-based company Daily Dump, is quite popular in Goa. It not only gives the much required compost to the plants, but also solves the regular issue of wet waste (which is around 70 per cent of our total waste generated at home).

The government is also working on promoting organic farming in the state.

Vegetables that can be easily grown in a kitchen garden. Source: Green Essentials

The agriculture department recently launched a state sector scheme, under which, 50 per cent assistance will be given on the cost of organic inputs limited to ₹10,000 per hectare and maximum up to 2 hectares per beneficiary for all categories of farmers. These organic inputs are organic fertilisers, bio-fertilisers, bio-pesticides and bio-control agents. Farmers possessing a valid Krishi card and cultivating a minimum area of 0.1 hectare in the state are eligible for this scheme.

The Botanical Society of Goa started in 1990. Its annual Home Garden Competition began two years later and focused entirely on ornamental plants. In 1996, a component of Kitchen Gardening was introduced and in 1998, a component of composting of kitchen waste and garden clippings was introduced. In the next year, they introduced a component of waste/grey water reuse for irrigation.

In 2011, the Organic Farming Association of India (OFAI) held its national executive committee meeting in Goa.

The annual Konkan Fruit Fest held in the month of April in Goa

Taking advantage of the organic farming promoters coming to Goa, the Konkan Fruit Fest was pushed to April end and exhibition and sale of organic produce like fruits and vegetables was organised as part of the event. Now, this event is held every year in Goa focusing on a particular fruit or plant.

Another success story is the Chorao Farmers Club which was initiated in the year 2008 with a group of 22 farmers from the island village of Chorao. It was started by a retired school teacher Premanand Mhambre.

Today, it has around 100 members, 50 per cent of whom are women. They sell various produce like coconut oil, cashew nuts, etc., but their most famous products are the salt-tolerant, traditional variety of rice called Corgut, grown without using chemical fertilisers. It has high fibre content, essential oils, digestible protein as well as high levels of vitamin B complex.

They have other products like Mancurad Mango that sell like hot cakes in the month of April and May. All these initiatives in Goa in the last ten years or so, have helped people become more aware towards what they consume, and also become more environment conscious.

Women in a Goa village make eco-friendly sanitary pads that decompose in 8 days

We are all well aware about the issues related to waste management in our country. With rapid urbanisation we are consuming lot of disposal items which can’t be recycled or reused. One such item is the sanitary pad. These one-time use pads are made of plastic and hence are non-biodegradable. This menstrual waste lands in our landfills or worse in our water bodies, thus polluting our ecology.

According to a 2011 survey, only 12 per cent women in India use sanitary napkins which still makes for at least 9,000 tonnes of garbage and India produces over 1 billion non-compostable sanitary pads every month. And with modernisation this number is continuously increasing.

“Society in India still being largely conservative and patriarchal in nature, menstrual hygiene management has still not been planned well and women face issues in disposing sanitary pads in an appropriate manner,” says Sumit Singh, governance expert on Swachh Bharat Mission, Urban Development Department, Government of Goa. He further adds, “Sanitary pads are generally disposed with mixed waste or in dry waste bin category of door-to-door waste collection if the facility is available. This again poses problems to sanitation staff while segregating waste at processing plants. If the waste is simply dumped at a landfill site, it poses health hazards to waste pickers. In some of the progressive cities, municipal authorities raise awareness about wrapping the pad in old newspaper and marking it with a red cross before disposing it in dry waste bin. Some of the housing societies and girls schools have also started installing small incinerators to dispose sanitary pads. However, initiatives like this cover a miniscule portion of the population and all of the women living in urban and rural areas have to face the issue every month.”

However now there are few initiatives by individuals and groups to manufacture eco-friendly pads.

In collaboration with Aakar Innovations, The Better India is setting up a sanitary pad manufacturing unit in Ajmer, Rajasthan, that will not only produce eco-friendly or biodegradable sanitary pads, but will also employ women from rural communities around the area.

The Self Help Group (SHG) named Saheli in Pilgao village in Bicholim taluka of Goa is the first SHG in Goa to manufacture and sell eco-friendly sanitary pads.

Jayshree Parwar, with the help of three other women, has started this initiative around two years ago. These pads are manufactured at Jayshree’s home where utmost care is taken regarding hygiene and sanitation. Till now they have sold 1000 pads and they manufacture 50 packets in a day. One packet consists of eight pads and its retail cost is Rs 40. They sell it under the brand name ‘Sakhi’ bio-degradable sanitary pads. “We get all our raw material from Tamil Nadu. The main component of it is the pine wood paper. This pad when buried in mud gets degraded within eight days,” says Jayshree who has taken this initiative of making and selling these pads.

She was trained by Dr Subbu Nayak and is now confident of this product and has trained other women—Naseeen Shaikh, Sulaksha Tari and Revati Parwar, who hail from the same village of Pilgao.

Jayshree was the first who showed confidence in accepting this challenge of installing and running a unit for manufacturing sanitary pads in her house. “When the company, Teerathan Enterprises, had approached a federation of 48 SHGs in the Panchayat with the offer of installing the unit free of cost, most of the SHGs shied away from accepting the offer mainly out of a feeling of shame. Jayshree accepted the challenge and has been running the unit for the last two years,” says Singh.

These sanitary pads consist of pine wood paper, silicon paper, butter paper, non-woven paper and cotton. They are UV light radiated which helps kills germs.

“Sanitary napkins made from artificial fibres cause allergies and irritation to the delicate skin in the vaginal area.

These napkins made from pine fibre, as they are natural, will help prevent these,” says Dr Anita Dudhane, allergist and clinical immunologist, practicing in Goa.

Jayshree further informs that eco-friendly pads are a good option for village women. Most of them use cloth pads which may not be a hygienic option and those who use sanitary pads tend to burn them by making a hole in the ground. But this practice produces hazardous gases like dioxins.



Marketing and sale of eco-friendly pads

As there is no retail outlet of this SHG, they sell it at various cultural fests like Lokotsav (annual art and culture festival organised by Government of Goa in joint collaboration of West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur in Panaji, Goa) and also at a café like Saraya Art Café at Sangolda. But, this journey is not easy for Jayshree. “Many a time women are hesitant to talk about this issue. Also sometimes girls are hesitant to look at these products when I put up a stall at these events. At that time I try to convince them that it is not something to be shameful about. We all go through this every month and we need to talk about it,” says Jayshree who has her regular clientele from her village and she also supplies to women customers from Kerala, Mangalore and Kolhapur. She is also positive with the response she is getting from her customers and also from her two daughters. She states that now her daughters are more confident and feel comfortable while using this product.

Now due to this product this SHG has got its unique identity. It has also given confidence to Jayshree to go out and talk about this topic and taboo associated with it. Jayshree informs that till now she has 50-odd women customers who are using this product. Most of these customers are the village women of Pilgao. These women are not only choosing it compared to their cloth pads but at the same time educating young girls about it. This product gives them a sense of confidence and freedom to go out and achieve their goals. One such customer is Afroz Sheikh who is now happy with this product. “Its main advantage is that it is chemical free. Also it is very convenient to use especially when we are travelling. With cloth pads it was quite a hassle as one had to wash it, dry it. But, this is a one-time use and also easy to dispose off. I am now also telling school and college going girls to use it as it is very beneficial to them.”

Another customer Niyati Patre from Mapusa city also opted for this. “The main reason I bought it was because it was eco-friendly. It was nice to know that I am not adding to bio-medical waste as it is biodegradable. The only issue I have is with its size. I wish it could be little bigger so it would be more beneficial especially during heavy flow days,” says Niyati.

Jayshree in future also wants to manufacture eco-friendly diapers as they are also in demand.

Looking at the commitment of Jayshree and the SHG many individuals and organisations are coming forward to help them to market this product.

From left: Sulaksha Tari, Jayshree Parwar and Naseem Shaikh with their product which is manufactured at Jayshree’s house. Photo credit: Arti Das

One is the Goa Institute of Management (GIM).  “Goa Institute of Management, Sakhali with intension to help the helped ones, started an ABHIGYAN “GIVEGOA”. Under this all first year students have to learn more from the community. This year we would like to help this lady from Sakhali with her maiden venture of ‘Sakhi: Green pads’. We would brand them, promote them, and create a market place. As they are cost positive and nature friendly a big market is waiting for them,” says Prof Vithal Sukhathankar of GIM.

Jayshree also spoke and interacted with SHGs and citizens in Bicholim and Valpoi during the city stakeholders meet on Swachh Bharat Mission about this product.

Singh, who will help her marketing, adds, “I am planning to help her connect to the large network of SHGs working in urban areas. It will help Jayashree in getting a broad consumer base for her market without spending on marketing of the product, other SHGs will benefit in getting eco-friendly sanitary pads and it also provides them a potential livelihood opportunity to install and run similar plants.” He is also planning to introduce these eco-friendly sanitary pads to women in colonies selected for Smart Colony – Smart Ward initiative in all municipalities of Goa on pilot basis. He is hopeful that looking at Jayshree more SHGs from Goa will come forward. He has also received confirmation from one SHG to start the same. “If more SHGs start the unit, then raw material of sanitary pads which is currently brought through transport from Chennai can be manufactured by companies in Goa. This will further reduce the cost and make it more accessible in less privileged sections of society,” says Singh.

(Source: The Better India)