Lesson 7 - Glimpses of India 1. A Baker from Goa - Lucio Rodrigu Glossary - 1. reminiscing nostalgically - thinking fondly of the past. 2....
Lesson 7 - Glimpses of India
1. A Baker from Goa - Lucio Rodrigu
Glossary -
1. reminiscing nostalgically - thinking fondly of the past.
2. loaves - a piece of bread can be cut into pieces.
3. thud and jingle - heavy sound of an object falling on the ground.
4. heralding - announcing.
5. Paskine or Bastine - maidservants.
6. pader - bakers of Goa.
7. rebuke - an expression of disapproval, a scolding.
8. fragrance - scent.
9. bol - sweet bread of Goa.
10. Bolinas - bread sandwiches.
11. kabai - a peculiar dress of a baker of Goa.
12. plump physique - pleasantly fat body.
13. open testimony - a public statement about a character or quality.
14. nostalgic - feeling happy and also slightly sad when you think about things that happened in the past.
Oral Comprehension Check -
1. What are the elders in Goa nostalgic about?
Ans - The elders in Goa are nostalgic about those good old Portuguese days and their famous loaves of bread.
2. Is breadmaking still popular in Goa? How do you know?
Ans - Yes, breadmaking is still popular in Goa, because every morning we could hear the thud and jingle sound of bakers, and the furnaces where the bread is being made are not extinguished, so we can say that breadmaking is still popular in Goa.
3. What is the baker called?
Ans - The baker of Goa is called "Pader".
4. When would the baker come every day? Why did the children run to meet him?
Ans - The baker would come twice a day. The children ran to meet him for the bread bangles.
5. Match the following.
Ans -
1. as marriage gifts - sweet bread called bol.
2. for a party or a feast - sweet bread called bol.
3. for a daughter's engagement - bread sandwiches.
4. for Christmas - cakes and bolinhas.
2. What did the bakers wear-
1. in the Portuguese days.
Ans - They wore the long " Kabai " dress, a single-piece long frock reaching down to the knees.
2. when the author was young.
Ans - They wore shirts and trousers which were up to knee length.
3. Who invites the comment- he is dressed like a pader? why?
Ans - During the narrator's childhood days, the bakers had unique dresses, shirts, and knee-length pants, thus if anyone is seen wearing such pants, people invite the comment- "he is dressed like a pader".
4. Where were the monthly accounts of the baker recorded?
Ans - The monthly accounts of the baker were recorded on the house's walls with a pencil.
5. What does a "jackfruit-like appearance " mean?
Ans - " Jackfruit-like appearance" means a very healthy, fat, and plump personality.
Thinking about Language -
1. Which of these statements is correct?
1. The pader was an important person in the village in old times - correct.
2. Paders still exist in Goan villages - correct.
3. The paders went away with the Portuguese - incorrect.
4. The paders continue to wear a single-piece long frock -incorrect.
5. Bread and cakes were an integral part of Goan life in the old days - correct.
6. Traditional bread-baking is still a very profitable business - correct.
7. Paders and their families starve in the present times - incorrect.
2. Is bread an important part of Goan life? How do you know this?
Ans - Yes, bread is an important part of Goan life, and I know this because in present times it is enjoyed on every occasion like marriages, engagement parties, and Christmas.
3. Tick the right answer. What is the tone of the author when he says the following?
1. The thud and the jingle of the traditional baker's bamboo can still be heard in some places.
Ans - Nostalgic
2. Maybe the father is not alive but the son still carries on the family profession.
Ans - Hopeful
3. I still recall the typical fragrance of those loaves.
Ans - Nostalgic
4. The tiger never brushed his teeth. Hot tea could wash and clean up so nicely, after all.
Ans- Naughty/ Funny
5. Cakes and bolinhas are a must for Christmas as well as other festivals.
Ans - Matter-of-fact
6. The baker and his family never starved. They always looked happy and prosperous.
Ans -Matter-of-fact
Group Discussion-
2. Several craft-based professions are dying out. Pick one of the crafts below. Make a group presentation to the class about the skills required, and the possible reasons for the decline of the craft. Can you think of ways to revive these crafts?
1. Pottery
2. Batik Work
3. Dhurri(rug) weaving
4. Embroidery
5. Carpentry
6. Bamboo weaving
7. Making jute products
8. Handloom
Ans - Yes, most of the above crafts are indeed dying out, out of the crafts mentioned above, I know a few like pottery and carpentry, and the reason behind this is very interesting. I was born in a small village in Maharashtra State, and I did my schooling at the village school. In front of my home in the village, there was a house of a carpenter uncle and he used to do all the essential repairs of wooden farming tools like a plow, seed sowing tools, weed control tools and he was a very hardworking carpenter and whenever I would get a free time, I used to watch him continuously for hours and he was always involved in his job, I have never seen a person like him who did his job with that involvement and devotion, even at that point of time I decided to become an excellent carpenter like him, and only because of my love to the carpentry I am writing this paragraph or I could have ignored this question because I wanted to share this story to my readers. I always respected and admired his carpentry skills and his hardworking quality, I used to call him a carpenter uncle, and whenever I used to wish him," Namaste Uncle", in reply he used to say with a smile," Sab thik hai beta, Padai karo nahi to yeh kam karna padega", meaning study well otherwise you will have to work as a carpenter.
So this was a little story about carpentry, now let us come to the question, yes most of the above skills are dying, say for example about carpentry, earlier all the devices and tools required for agriculture were made of wood, but with time, it has been replaced by metallic tools and currently maximum tools are being used are of plastic.
The secondary use of carpentry craft is in the field of furniture. Still, nowadays most parts of household furniture are made in wooden factories or sawmills where as per the required designs and shapes, different parts of furniture are produced in a minimum time and then assembled as per the requirement.
The third reason is that nobody wants to become a carpenter, but earlier this was not the case, the son of a carpenter will definitely be a carpenter, it was a kind of inherited business, and carried through the generations but today even a son of a carpenter don't want to be a carpenter. Earlier it was supposed to be an essential profession in the town, but today's youth of the modern generation thinks that it is a low business.
Forth reason may be the lack of accessibility to a block of raw wood and the strict policy of the government regarding cutting trees for the wood to save the environment, so this beautiful craft is at the edge of dying.
If the govt takes little initiative regarding easy access to raw wood, provision of skilled carpenters, and required tools for carpentry craft, then definitely youth would be attracted to it, because the demand for an excellent handicraft always lies in the market, so it would generate an attractive source of revenue for the government as well as for the people. This is not only for carpentry but for all the crafts mentioned above.
I think, today the country of Japan is doing an excellent job in Bamboo crafts, and it is exporting large volumes of bamboo crafts all over the world, not only these crafts are cheaper but very eco-friendly too!
India is a big country, and it has great potential regarding all the above crafts, only a strong will of the government, good infrastructure, and creative contribution of the people would be able to give enough oxygen to these beautiful craftmanship businesses.
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