Paan has come a long way

In days gone by, very few homes had bread for a meal. It was usually three meals of rice. Of course, the dishes of curry varied from one meal to another. Then, in some homes, they had something made out of grains and pulses, such as chickpeas or green gram, for breakfast. Bread was rarely eaten at most homes, especially in villages. But, the daily wage earner, at that time, who had to have their meals in a boutique, had roast bread with a little bit of any gravy available at the time, and topped it with a plain tea. This would have cost the person between eight to ten cents. But, today this roast bread is so expensive that even people who have a little money would think twice before buying one.

At first, bread was sold by weight. People asked for a pound of bread (paan raathalak). And it was really a pound or a little more, but nothing less. The pound of bread was not sliced, as you get some bread today. Now, we ask for a loaf of bread. Of course, it is less than a pound or its equivalent in grammes. And, now we have different types of bread, such as kurakkan mixed bread, French bread, garlic bread, sandwich bread, whole wheat bread, etc.

As there were no supermarkets, or large stores, where one could buy the bread, bread was available in some small boutiques to which the bakeries had delivered it. However, there were people who used to carry a large black bin on their heads, with all the products of the bakery. They used to walk all the way selling bakery items from house to house. Later, some of the bakeries had tricycles, with a large bin to carry the bakery products. In both these cases, the people who wanted to purchase something had to hail the bread man. Unlike in the case of the tricycle, the person who hailed the bread man, with the big container on his head, had to help him to put the bin down on the ground, till the purchases were done, and then again he had to be given a helping hand to get the bin back on his head; as the bin was rather heavy, when full with bakery items – from bread to tea buns, kimbula buns, hulang biscuits, rusks and other savouries.

At present, anyone who requires bread has to wend his way to a supermarket to purchase his requirements. But, any variety of bread is available if you have the wherewithal to purchase what you need.

Bread is now used in homes for various things. If a household is entertaining guests, they would use the bread to make sandwiches, the sandwiches varying from vegetable, chicken, meat or egg. In homes where they use bread for breakfast, it could be in the form of plain toast or egg, vegetable or cheese toast.

It is interesting to see how the use of bread has had varied uses during our lifetime, and how it has now become the main item in meals at most homes.

H M NISSANKA WARAKAULLE