When I was a child in the decade of 1970’s, in my village of Utorda, there was no electricity, no refrigerators, no supermarkets, no LPG gas connections, and no fast food eat outs. Provisioning for monsoon was a mammoth task. Come monsoons, the local fishermen of that times would simply refuse to cast their nets even if the sea was calm and favorable, thus respecting the fish breeding season and the law of procreation. I can recollect how my grandmother would start making provisions for the monsoons.
The activity would start at the beginning of April and end in the month of May. The first task was to parboil the rice in the copper alloy container (Modki) followed by the rice being sun-dried to desired brittleness and hardness, it should be neither too hard nor too soft but just the desired hardness that was the skill, which the present local generation must have forgotten. After husking, it was stored in an earthen container (Dondd) in a special provision room called Kudd. It was a semi-dark room, poorly ventilated and had a wooden attic which could be accessed by a bamboo ladder. The room had a small ventilator (Zoddonem) which was always open. The attic served the dual purpose, primarily for storing the wares and secondary the wooden planks served as a barrier to prevent the monsoon dampness reaching the provisions. The rule of provisioning for monsoons was anything that can be preserved was stored and the only available preservatives of the times were common salt and vinegar prepared from coconut toddy.
All locally grown pulses such as “Orsande, Kudid, Udid, chirghe“ were stored for the rainy day. A good source of amino acids. Papads were made from udid and chillies for monsoon consumptions. Aroma of making mango pickles would engulf the surrounding in May. After sun drying, the sausages were hanged on bamboo stick in the kitchen for smoke preservation.
The surplus fish available in the summer was sundried and some quantities were pickled with masala and vinegar popularly knowm as “Para”. A good quantity of feni was stored in “Garafao” to revive the dampened spirits in rains. Fire woods required for three months requirement was stored in the special place called “Khup” . Various species and the shortages were procured at “Prumentache feast” in Margao. Apart from the above, a provision of good supply of local ayurvedic medicines in the form of dried leaves, seeds and plant skin was stored as a part of contingency medical plan.
After completing the process of provisioning, the village elders would eagerly wait for the arrival of rains which would arrive with full fury on the day of “MIRG” (5th or 7th June).The earth would be soaked with water and it was time to grow vegetables and flowering plants at the backyard and paddy in the fields . The edible mushrooms would herald the arrival of rain.
