Gone are the days when cooking gas was new to Indian customers. They were apprehensive about keeping a gas cylinder in their kitchens, perceiving it as unsafe and a potential hazard like a live bomb.
Nowadays, the headlines in almost all newspapers and electronic media are often grabbed by the price hike in different categories of cooking gas. There would be editorials, cartoons, and angry letters to editors. Social media also would have several posts about the hike, and the main topic of discussion among housewives and commuters would be the same. The exercise is repeated often, but treating it as a natural reaction, the government continues to do so.
Some are happy that the prime minister’s pet theory of ‘one nation, one election’ has not found many takers, and elections are always going on in some parts of the country, during which no hike in the price is usually announced. The strange part is that reduction in the gas price is also announced now and then, but it does not get that much publicity.
That reminds me of my childhood when no one had heard of cooking gas. Food was cooked over earthen hearths, making the womenfolk in the kitchen red-eyed and people in other parts of the house waving away the fumes between coughs. Columns of smoke rose from the roofs of the neighbouring houses, often thatched with coconut leaves, early in the morning.
The usual fuel for cooking was split wood, dried in the sun, and stored in a separate building. Some were also kept over the hearth to make them dry soon. Since there were several trees in the compound, we would always have a sufficient stock of dry leaves and twigs for use in the hearth.
We in Kerala had many coconut trees, called the ‘kalpavrikshas’ as all parts of the trees were useful. Those that had grown too tall and old to bear many fruits and were leaning dangerously towards buildings would be cut down and used
as fuel.
The traditional tree climber of the village came at an interval of a month or so, carrying a heavy bamboo ladder on his shoulder. He would pluck ripe coconuts and a few tender ones for the children and dry leaves. He would also cut down other parts of the tree that could be used as fuel in the hearth. As coconut was an integral ingredient of most dishes, every house would have several coconut shells, an excellent
source of fuel. Husks were dried and kept as extra fuel.
Most houses had thatched roofs that were changed every year with the enthusiastic participation of neighbours. New coconut leaves, woven after seasoning them in the nearby river, were laid as the
new roof, and the old ones removed and stored to be used as fuel in the hearth for many days.
Every household would have a compound with several trees. Immediately after the season, trees would be pruned, and the branches dried and stored. Almost every house had bullocks for use on the farm and some cows. The dry dung of these animals also provided fuel to the kitchens.
Politicians had one issue less to attack the government as cooking gas was non-existent.
