My grandmother lived the life of a princess in Kashmir... before partition. She would reminiscence about the "Bals" a lot, (father and grandfather of the famous Indian designer- Rohit Bal") they were apparently great family friends! and also about the magnificent clothes she would wear, sometimes her dupattas had hand carved fishes set out in real gold, sewn on them, and all the great parties they would go to all the time, little did she know that it was all shortlived, and with the British Raj, all of this would also go away...
After partition the family fled Kashmir with whatever little they could carry, one of those things was a beautiful Teaset in pure silver, and with little money decided to start a new life.Her father soon met with simple young man hailing from Hoshiarpur (Punjab) who I am told had nothing to his credit but was hardworking which was the only quality seen and soon my grandmother was married off to him, after marriage the real struggles of life began and I am told that at times they had no money to eat also, and my nani would sell off her precious possessions one by one for the next meal.
Inspite of the trends of those times, she was well educated and a Dentist by profession, had done a number of courses specially in Food and preservation, and was a fabulous cook, her Chicken pulao was to die for!,some other things she used to make were not common in any Indian kitchen in those times, like her famous Brinjal sauce, Walnut cake, Caramel pudding and so on....my guess is that the influence of the British was apparent, but mind you her recipes were a closely guarded secret and one she would never like to disclose and alas!..have all gone with her, though otherwise she was kind, spent all her time in the kitchen and never scolded her two children!My family says I take after her where cooking is concerned..but I have tried to recreate her pulao hmmm with little success...
Time passed by and I think because of all that she went through my nani developed an Obsessive compulsive disorder and would never throw out even a piece of scrap, she also turned into a miser and a hoarder of mammoth proportions!, as my grandfather worked hard and was sucessful, my grandmother refused to budge and would always keep aside money in case bad times would befall upon them again, you will not believe me but when she passed away and we went through her stuff, it was heart wrenching to see that she had hoarded sugar, ghee, spices, dry fruits in her bedroom!, we also came across like a zillion metres of fabric, and atleast six pairs of the same design of shoes and sandals!
Well coming to the heirloom, more than a 100 year old pure silver teaset, I wonder how it never got sold off!, I guess so that I could blog about it here!!...
It is actually poetry in silver, with the signature "chinar" leaf , the beauty and spirit of Kashmir etched out by hand by a master craftsman...
so peaceful and serene hiding all the turmoil within, just like the Valley...
Savour the pictures...
If you are interested in Kashmir or in the cuisine of the Valley do read my previous posts- Wazwaan the heart and soul of Kashmir
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