Soop

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We are seeing the new generation being so tech savvy. They know everything to do with gadgets and are so good at adapting to newer versions of gadgets and apps. I have that kind of adaptability to kitchens. I can cook comfortably in any kitchen. It has to do with me visiting relatives as a child with my Dadi, Grandmother. When we visited people, it was natural to help them in the kitchen or in chopping vegetables or folding clothes or cleaning wheat and rice. Yes, we had unpolished grains which were not branded as 'organic' and we had to remove little mud and small stones from the grains. First the lady of the house used a tray called ' Soop' pronounced as 'soup', to clean the grains. Around half kilograms was taken in the 'soop' and the grain was thrown up in the air and collected back in the soop. This helped in removing the dirt from the grains. The dirt fell back from the air in the front portion of the 'soop' and the grains came back. Women were very good at cleaning the grains in this manner. The 'soop' was made of a jute like bark..a tray with edgings on three sides. The back edging of the 'soop' was higher and the two sides were in a sloping fashion, high to low and ended at the open side of the tray. This also helped remove any insects from the grains. Then we took the rice/ wheat/ dal in big steel 'Thali' or plates with edging around and cleaned it in some portions. When the new grains were bought, people stocked up for the year after cleaning them. Neighbours went to each others house to help clean the grains. This activity was done in the afternoons where sunlight was at its best. Ladies talked and laughed around as they cleaned sacks of grains. Sometimes, they sang 'Bhajans' or prayer songs as they did this task. Bhajans are celebratory in most cases. There is no significance about them. Anyone can sing and it need not be in a serious manner. I don't think tea was offered after this. Milk was considered a sacred commodity. Tea for guests was always watery compared to the tea for the home owners. People ran back home to make tea for their old parents, in laws or for their husbands. 
Women wore their 'ghar ka saree' or home clothes to come to help for this task.  When I was really young, we were the only two Gujarati families to own a car in Fatehpur Lane. Gauri Bai went to a far off place near Barvadda where there was a wholesale grain market, to stock up for the year. A lot of her friends or relatives would accompany her for this trip. I remember going with my Dadi, some eight ten women in the sturdy Ambassador car along with the driver, to choose and book our sacks of grains. It was such an exciting outing. Open air market and some godowns to store the grains. My Grandmother knew her grains and masalas very well. I always feel that I did not even learn one percent from her. She had so much knowledge to share. 
Now when guests come home, be it friends or family, the appropriate conduct is to sit on the sofa in the living room, as the hostess goes to prepare tea or instruct her staff. People do not walk into anyone's house easily. Everyone values their privacy. Now no one wants to share the secret of their glowing skin or the price at which they buy tomatoes. Everything has become about giving each other space and valuing privacy. Am I the only one feeling that the distances are increasing? 
'Soop' had a sacred meaning in Jharia and Dhanbad. Being a part of Bihar, Chhath Puja celebration was the biggest in our town. Offering to Adit Baba or Sun God or Surya Bhagwan was made in a 'Soop'.  Soop was the vessel used to keep the fruits, sugarcane, grapefruit and 'Thekua'. Thekua is the Prasaad made by ladies at home who are fasting for Chhath. It is a pattice of wheat, jaggery and some spice which is deep fried. It tastes divine. Women offered many 'soop' or one 'soop' for Chhath. Then this 'prasaad' was distributed among all. In Mumbai, this year for Chhath, I saw people had kept 'sukha chana' ie 'black chana ki sukhi sabji' as offering. The women use  'soop' made of 'brass' for the Puja. In India, the vessels of each region are so distinct from another and are used in the kitchen. in interesting ways. There is a museum of vessels in Ahmedabad at Vishala. I was the only one excited seeing the utensils as my family walked with me.  
In Mumbai, most grains are sold clean. We don't use 'soop' to clean. It is buy and use policy for all the things. 



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