Q1 of 39 Page 88

In the extract, the author talks about traditional bread-baking during his childhood days. Complete the following table with the help of the clues on the left. Then write a paragraph about the author’s childhood days.



























Clues



Author’s childhood days



The way bread was baked




The way the pader sold bread




What the pader wore




When the pader was paid




How the pader looked






























Clues



Author’s childhood day’s



The way bread was baked



In the furnace as it is done today



The way the pader sold bread



Having the basket on the head and wandering around



What the pader wore



Shirt and half pants covering knees



When the pader was paid



At the end of the month



How the pader looked



Funny due to his peculiar dress








Paragraph about the author’s childhood



Baking and Bakery products have always been a part of the popular culture of the Goan society. When the author was a young child, he often heard his elders reminiscing nostalgically the famous loaves of bread. Although, the eaters of those loaves might have disappeared, the makers (paders) were still making those loaves in the same furnace following the similar processes. During his childhood, he and his family members were woken-up by the jingling thud of his bamboo and the children used to run to him after hearing the jhang-jhang sound. They loved to eat bread-bangles although his main servants used to take loaves. The baker was seen in a special dress (known as the Kabai) in which he moved around the entire village selling his bread. He had a monthly account and was paid at the end of every month. Thus, baking was a profitable profession and the baker’s family and his servants were often said to be having a jackfruit-like appearance.


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2

Is bread an important part of goan life? How do you now this?

 3

Tick the right answer. What is the tone of the author when he says the following?

(i) The thud and the jingle of the traditional baker’s bamboo can still be heard in some places. (Nostalgic, hopeful, sad)


(ii) Maybe the father is not alive but the son still carries on the family profession. (Nostalgic, hopeful, sad)


(iii) I still recall the typical fragrance of those loaves. (Nostalgic, hopeful, naughty)


(iv) The tiger never brushed his teeth. Hot tea could wash and clean up everything so nicely, after all. (Naughty, angry, funny)


(v) Cakes and bolinhas are a must for Christmas as well as other festivals.


(Sad, hopeful, matter-of-fact)


(vi) The baker and his family never starved. They always looked happy and prosperous. (Matter-of-fact, hopeful, sad)

 2

Compare the piece from the text (on the left below) with the other piece on Goan bakers (on the right). What makes the two texts so different? Are the facts the same? Do both writers give you a picture of the baker?

Our elders are often heard remniscing nostalgically about those good old Portuguese days, the Portuguese and their famous loaves of bread. Those eaters of loaves might have vanished but the makers are still there. We still have amongst us the mixers, the moulders and those who bake the loaves. Those age-old, time-tested furnaces still exist. The fire in the furnaces had not yet been extinguished. The thud and the jingle of the traditional baker’s bamboo, heralding his arrival in the morning, can still be heard in some places.


May be the father is not alive, but the son still carries on the family profession.

After Goa’s liberation, people used to say nostalgically that the Portuguese bread vanished with the paders. But the paders have managed to survive because they have perfected the art of door-to-door delivery service. The paders pick up the knowledge of bread making from traditions in the family. The leavened, oven-baked bread is a gift of the Portuguese to India.


[adapted from Nanda Kumar Kamat’s ‘The Unsung Lives of Gaon Paders’]
2

Now find a travel brochure about a place you have visited. Look at the description in the brochure. Then write your own account, adding details of your own experience, to give the reader a picture of the place, rather than an impersonal, factual description.