LESSON - 7 GLIMPSES OF INDIA I - A BAKER FROM GOA

LESSON - 7 GLIMPSES OF INDIA I A BAKER FROM GOA Mp3

About the text:

            The chapter, 'A Baker From Goa', is a nostalgic trip to the journey of the Goan bakers, their contribution in Goan culture, and the memories the people of Goa (the narrator) have made with them. The chapter talks about Goan's love for bread (right from the times of Portuguese's invasion of Goa until now), the description of the lifestyle of these bakers, their daily schedule, and their inevitable contribution in making the Goan life exclusive.

Summary:

            It's been a long time since the Portuguese left Goa, but their love for bread, those old furnaces and the old-aged style paders have become an inseparable part of Goa.

            The pader would carry a bamboo in one hand and a big basket of bread on his head. He would place the basket on the vertical bamboo. His bamboo thudding would be a wake-up alarm for young children. Paskine or Baskine (the maidservant of the house) would bring the bread from the pader who would arrive at the house door. However, the bread bangles and sweet bread were special to the kids. The kids would be so excited to relish the bread that they would not brush their teeth.

            Goan marriages are meaningless without a special bread called 'bol'. On the daughter's engagement, the lady of the house would prepare sandwiches. Cakes and bolhinas for Christmas and other festivals are a must. Thus, the presence of the baker's furnace in the village is essential.

            In those days, the baker used to wear a special dress 'kabai' - a single-piece long frock reaching down to the knees. But in recent times, the bakers started wearing a shirt and three fourth sized trousers. Even now, anyone who wears such a trouser in Goa is funnily called pader.

            The monthly credit of the baker would be written with a pencil on the house wall, and the baker would collect his money by the end of the month. In the old days, baking was a profitable profession, and the baker and his family would look so plump that people would say that the bakers do not starve at all. Even today, any person with the jackfruit-like physique is compared to a baker.

Vocabulary:

§  Pader: It is a name given to the bakers to Goa. Bakers have been called as Pader since the time of the Portuguese rule in Goa.

§  Kabai: It is the peculiar dress the bread-seller of those days would wear. It was a single-piece long frock reaching down to the knees.

§  Bol: It is a special kind of sweet bread made as marriage gifts.

§  Bread-bangles: A round-shaped bread with a hole in the middle. It looks like a donut.

§  Bolhinas: The cookies

§  Jackfruit-like appearance: Fat, plump.

 LESSON - 7 GLIMPSES OF INDIA

I - A BAKER FROM GOA BY - LUCIO RODRIGUES

OPTIONAL - 1. What are the bakers known as in Goa?

a) Pader b) Portugese c) Pekar d) Baker

2. What did the children long for?

a) Loaves b) bread bangles c) banana bread d) all of the above

3. How many times did the baker come every day?

a) Once b) Twice c) Thrice d) varies daily

4. ____ was called Kabai.

a) Baker’s dress b) baker’s basket

c) baker’s bamboo d) baker’s song

5. Bread-making is popular in …………

(a) Mumbai (b) Delhi © Goa (d) Chennai

Ans. 1-a, 2-b, 3-b, 4-a, 5-c,

Questions and Answers

QUES.- 1. What are the elders in Goa nostalgic about?

Ans. They are nostalgic about their old Portuguese days.

2. What is the baker called in Goa? What did the bakers wear in Portuguese days?

Ans. The Baker is called 'pader' in Goa. They wore a peculiar dress called 'Kabai'.

3. Is bread an important part of Goa life? How do you know this?

Ans. Yes, bread is an important part of Goan life. It is essential for marriage gifts, to make sandwiches on the occasion of a girl's engagement and for all festivals.

4. Give a pen portrait of Goan village Baker.

Ans. The bakers used to be an essential part of the Gowns. The baker or bread seller had a peculier dress during the Portuguese days. The baker and his family always looked happy and prosperous in the good old days.

5. What does a ‘jackfruit-like appearance’ mean?

Ans. It means having a plump physique, like a jackfruit.