Olden time

By Faqiha Abbas

In olden days when children came out in the streets to play together, also came the people who would
offer them candy-floss, ice-candy, just prepared pop-corn, toffee candy or gatta for little money that all
children managed to have.
The candy-floss man or Ôlachhay walaÕ would come with a bell and the children would know he was
there. ÔLachhayÕ is a large soft mass of pink or white sugar threads which is put on a stick and eaten,
usually out of doors. It is also called hawaiaan because of its light weight. It dissolves in the mouth
immediately. Children relish it and ask for money from their parents on hearing the bells of candy-floss
man. They are still there but sellers of such things now stroll the streets of old mohallas and the old city.
Our new generation living in the more posh areas does not know about these traditional sellers.
Women selling bangles in baskets are also seen no more. Door-to-door bangle sellers, always women,
were allowed to enter home. When people mostly lived in joint families and there would be girls and
women belonging to every age group in a household, these bangles sold well. We donÕt see them
roaming in residential areas, though they can be seen selling bangles here and there at stalls in bazaars.
When a bangles woman laid down her basket, she opened a myriad of colours in the compound of a
house. Young girls would select fancy, shining bangles and match them with their dresses. Old women
liked to buy simple bangles. Housewives would be kind to bangles woman as they knew that the poor
woman was working for her family.
Another woman worker was popcorn woman who would sit by the roadside with a little //kiln Ñ fire burning
beneath a large metal pan. She roasted grains with the help of a bundle of straws. She would also use a
small cauldron to press grains. Tempting smell of roasted grains would invite people to her small business
place, specially in the dull winter afternoons.
Tonga, a traditional conveyance, is being used in this region for many centuries. Its shape has changed
but the basic unit, a horse a cart and a driver, is constant. Modern automobiles have replaced this
cavalcade. They are not seen in most parts of the city because they have been restricted to the old parts
of Lahore. Bride and groom sit in the gig though to commemorate ÔghoriÕ and ÔdoliÕ tradition.
Who has seen the man with the ÔmushkÕ (water sprinkler)? They would fill the big water coolers placed
in a corner of every classroom during recess for children to empty it just after that. But that cooler would
always have water in it, the mushki ensured. This was before the electric coolers came to school.
Toffee candy man or Ôgatta walaÕ also sold his sweet gatta by wandering here and there. He was expert
in preparing any image with toffee candy in a few seconds. A little girl demanded a horse and he began to
show his magic with fingers by pulling, twisting and gently shaping the soft strip of candy.
Tin plating was necessary when people used brass utensils which became black with constant use. A
voice Ôbhanday qalai karaloÕ made housewives attentive. This person would make any utensil look new
with his ÔqalaiÕ.
Ice candy man or Ôgolay ganday walaÕ would sell his product by playing a musical tune on a copper or
brass bell. Coloured syrups decorated on his push cart looked very inviting. Block of ice was moved back
and forth over a grater, shaped by hands into a ball, and a small stick placed inside. Some coloured
syrups were then poured onto the ball, making it colourful and tasty.
Trends change, services come in new packages. Nobody hears of a hairdresser coming home now. Most
people drop and pick their clothes from washermen themselves. Likewise, tailors and cobblers also donÕt
come home to take measurements.
Like many old traditions of this historic city, these voices are disappearing or have disappeared but those
who have known them feel nostalgic about them.