Vironi Ouso Manayath was a young widow in our
locality. She was an enterprising lady. In 1970s she started a bakery business.
Her bread and cookies were popular in all the nearby Islands. Her second son,
Thomas, was a member of the public library and was an avid reader. He helped
his mother by supplying the baked goods she made to her varied customers in all
the Islands. Vironi also installed a Ratt, a spinning wheel, to make coir yarn,
which kept her children engaged. It helped them to eke out their living. Later
her eldest son, Antony, got a job in the Cochin Port Trust. This was a great relief as he could take care
of the affairs of the family well.
It
is amazing to observe the changes in the eating hsbits of the Islanders. Unlike
in the earlier days, there are ten bakeries now; some of them are well
furnished with clean glass cupboards. By around half past ten in the mornings,
a lot of delicious snacks and varied chips fried in ghee or coconut oil,
certain snacks with varied fillings, puffs and sandwiches with varied fillings,
cake, halwa, other sweets, pastries with cocoa toppings, cookies and bread would
be put on display. These would disappear in an hour or two. These bakeries too
offer beverages and fresh juices.
“Globalization” has
improved job prospects and prosperity in countries like India. The apparent
improvement in the diets of people in India especially in Kerala, the domain of
Malayalis, is, no doubt, a healthy
trend in our economy. I have noted that health and physique especially the
height and weight of the new generation are improving. The increasing demand for
better nutrition and better food has to be met and the central and state governments
have to focus their attention on better production in agriculture, animal
husbandry, fishing, poultry and farming to avert a food crisis. Quality control is another significant factor to be looked into. We have
to improve our ware-houses, transport system and distribution system to make agricultural
and other products reach the ultimate consumer at affordable prices. There
should be adequate supply of food grains, vegetables and other gooddies commensurate
with the demand. This would enable the
government to arrest the spiraling prices. If there is shortage
of an item of food, necessary quantity of such item should be imported to
maintain the price in the market. With the surplus produced, if any, we should
be able to help the poorer nations in the world.
Excerpts from
MEMOIRS
An autobiography
by
Joseph J. Thayamkeril
Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.
josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com
josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com
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