Srinagar: Mid October snowfall in his foothill Kashmir hamlet has alerted Sul Kaka, 58, to hasten his winter preparations.
Situated 50 kilometres from Srinagar city on the foothills of a mountain, Chatergul is a sleepy Kashmir village.
Thanks to the Centre’s flagship programmes, a macadamised road, a health centre, a school and a bank exist in this village, but the 400 odd human beings forming the population of this hamlet live an essentially rural life.
Sul Kaka owns a small Paddy field, a small flock of sheep, a milch cow, 20 chickens and a small kitchen garden where he grows his annual requirement of vegetables, pulses and chillies.
Thursday’s snowfall alerted him. He realises that most of his stock building for this winter is still to be done.
He has harvested the Paddy crop, but it has to be milled so that he gets rice for the family and fodder for his cow. His flock of sheep has come down from the highland pasture where it grazed during the summer months.
He has to get corn feed, dried willow twigs, annual dosing medicines, vaccines, etc., for his sheep.
Most importantly, he must repair his sheep shed to protect it from predators.
Leopards and bears often descend on his village to lift sheep and cattle during winters.
Sul Kaka has to fortify both his sheep and cowshed for the coming winter.
He must get feed and grains for his small poultry. During the summer months, his chicken would fend for themselves as these roamed freely in the village.
This cannot be allowed in the winter because jackals and foxes make visits to his village during winters.
He is yet to buy warm woollen clothes, including the traditional local over garment called the ‘Pheran’ for himself, his wife and two daughters.
A new stock of ‘Kangris’ (Earthen fire-pots woven in a willow wicker basket) has also to be purchased.
Last years Kangris have broken and worn out.
A Kangri filled with charcoal from his hearth remains the best bet for Sul Kaka and his family to keep body and soul together.
Electric supply remains erratic and undependable during the winter months. Heavy snowfall in his village uproots the electric poles and the supply remains disrupted for many days.
Sul Kaka’s family cooks its food on a hearth fired by firewood from the nearby forest.
He has to collect his stock of dead and fallen wood from the Pine forest to make enough stock of firewood to keep the family’s hearth and Kangris working during the cold winter days and nights.
He has already prepared his winter stock of dried vegetables, including tomatoes, brinjals, pumpkins, etc., those are used during the winter months when fresh vegetables vanish from the local markets.
Sul Kaka does not have a son, but his two daughters have never let him feel the absence of a helping hand to do agricultural activities and household chores.
They work alongside their father and more than make up the absence of another male member in the family.
Food is cooked and served by his wife as the family gathers around the hearth for lunch and dinner.
Mother has always been the World’s best cook and this is also true for Sul Kaka’s small family.
She has special recipes to keep the family warm and healthy during the cold winters.
A rooster cooked with turnips, an occasional mutton dish cooked with dried tomatoes and pumpkin scalings. Eggs from their poultry cooked with pulses. A yummy dish of homegrown ‘Rajma’ beans, etc.
All of these, together with morning and afternoon salt tea make the perfect blend for the winter.
Mother keeps salt tea called the ‘Noon Chai’ boiling in a copper ‘Samovar’ that is plated with nickel.
Sul Kaka is now waiting for the weather to improve so that he moves out to make up for the lost time.
He is hopeful that before the next snowfall, he would have enough stocks to welcome this year’s winter with a smile.
The good news is that the Meteorological office has forecast mainly dry weather till the month end now.
Would he be able to complete his winter stocking on time? Well, hardy souls like him never fail.
