MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
In this post I shall not say anything about indigenous Kashmiri items like Kangri , Pheran , Fruits , Boats , Rivers ,Lakes ,Hills, Chinars , Tourist Places etc. I intend to convey that contrary to popular belief , kashmiris were accustomed to Modern Products and had good reading habits .Advertisements also influenced their decision to Buy a product. From My childhood memories I have drawn a list of some items that were popular in Kashmir..Here i present some products and Brands That were popular in my childhood and youth .
Anacin was a trusted medicine for all types of Headaches . I believe it has not lost its relevance and utility even now.
Vaseline Hair Cream or Tonic was Much in demand . This demand has almost died down though the product is still in the market.
Every kitchen had great utility for VIM powder . Now we have VIM BARS.
Bournvita was equally Popular . Mixed with Milk , it was good to taste .
And BATA shoes enjoyed complete Monopoly in the market though FLEX brand had equally good shoes.
Charminar was a Popular Brand . Smokers said that it was a HEAVY Cigarette . It was also known as Intellectual's Brand .
TINOPAL AND THEN RANIPAL for whitening your clothes after soap washing washing .
BRYLCREEM for your hair . Not so popular now but it still has some committed users .
In suiting and shirting, a new Brand had arrived VIMAL... Only VIMAL was the caption of the Advertisement .
LUX BEAUTY SOAP was sold
with visible advertisements . It was Marketed as a Luxury soap of Indian Film stars.
NO MATCH FOR THE MURPHY RADIO / TRANSISTOR .
The WILLS NAVY CUT Ad attracted many towards smoking..
POOJA NEEL ( INDIGO ) . A FAVOURITE OF MY MOTHER ..
THE GREAT AMBASSADOR CAR FROM HINDUSTAN MOTORS was seen everywhere on Roads .
After Ambassador ,
one could also see FIAT Brand Cars
plying on Roads .
BOROLINE OINTMENT
From Calcutta was a cure all household cream .
THE BISCUIT ....THE AD CARRIED A CAPTION GABBAR KI PASAND..
A pride of every kitchen...DALDA VANASPATI GHEE...
We had Kiwi, Mansion and Billi shoe polish But Cherry Blossom was a trusted name.
ZAALIM LOTION..Never tried it but it was widely advertised during my childhood days ..
No Ariel,Rin, Rin supreme, Wheel, Garhi, Fenna ,Surf or surf ultra to wash your clothes. Only Desi soap that used to be known as Narol or 501 or 555 .Many shops in Jammu and srinagâr city sold this home made washing soap that used to be cut into small cakes with a knife.
A favorite of our mothers and sisters in Every family.. Afghan Snow facial cream.
HMT…The watch that decorated every wrist. I vividly
remember, the tag line of HMT watches
was 'If you have the inclination, we have the time'. And when they introduced
their first Quartz watches, the tag line changed to 'If you have the
inclination, we have the time. The exact time'. And at the bottom of it all was
'Timekeepers to the Nation'.
This is what our Baigash Mama ( Janki Tikoo) would bring from Mumbai for his nephews and nieces.I was one nephew.JB Mangharam sweets in Tin packs. sometimes he would bring Biscuits of JB Mangharam brand.I vividly remember that these boxes carried location ò sale outlets of the company in Bombay.These locations were Worli naka, Dadar TT, Akbar Ali and The Fort.We had long preserved one such old J B Mangharam small Tin box that was used for keeping pins, needles, buttons and threads by my mother.
These were in great demand.we bought cheaper versions of Ashoka, president, Chelpark and waterman pens to write with.
The Ink that we filled in our fountain pens. We also used Waterman brand.Then came Quink with an aggressive Ad.... Don't say ink say Quink.
My Childhood medicine for Throat infection and tonsillitis..I too gave to my children. Would buy from Al Kauser near Broca Press Lal chowk Srinagar .
Beeswin sadi was another Urdu magazine that was popular with Kashmiris interested in literature.I would buy it from Abdullah News Agency Amirakadal.
Shama Urdu magazine was equally popular in Kashmir.
Sushma, a film magazine in Hindi was also popular in Kashmir.
Gushan Nanda novels were widely read.A new novel would cost you Rs5/- while rentals were twenty five paisa per day.
There were some committed readers for Karanjia's BLITZ..Its last page by K A Abbas was popular.. Sham Lal's column in Times Of India had many readers in Kashmir . Film Tabloid Screen, Communist magazine Link and Hindi Magazine Dharmyug also had readers in Kashmir.
This brand of Mustard oil has earned trust of every kashmiri .It was popular in our childhood and so does it continue to be.
Agfa click III camera was quite popular in Kashmir .In early early seventies of last century, you could buy it for Rs100/-.The click III film gave you twelve photographs.
A sewing machine was a
popular Household item. It was also a part of the marriage dowry in Kashmir.To
this day as well, Kashmiris continue to be Tailors of perfection .
In our childhood, Ceiling and pedestal fans were unknown in kashmir but many families had table fans. USHA table fan was quite popular.It used to be a part of the marriage dowry .
No kashmiri can say that he is not familiar with this utility item .As a matter of fact all of us in J&k state stole electric power to cook food and heat water.
The king that ruled our
kitchen..Kerosene stove. The king that ruled our
kitchen. You had the pins to remove blocks from the nozzle. The burner used to
be replaced if adequate pressure was not maintained even after pumping air..
Every family in Kashmir had this charcoal
iron.Quite often one would see it's use in families . Dhobi households put it
to extensive use.
Barbers and tailors in Kashmir used scissors
from Meerut only. A household scissor would also come from Meerut. And the
trusted, durable , heavy brass locks that we had in Kashmir, were made in
Aligarh. Heavy Brass locks from Cox And Co Aligarh were also sold in Kashmir.
Every kashmiri kitchen had this high utility
Wooden churner. Buy 250 gms of Curd and serve Lassi ( gulla karithh zaamut
doa'dh in kashmiri) to even 6 persons. Thanks to this magic appliance. And then
for making yakhni, mix Curd and saunf powder properly with this appliance. Kashmiris
call it Chhonff .Madaani in Punjab. Still popular. Still relevant.
This
hand held device was always used to start trucks , Buses and even cars. during
morning hours. They called it Crank handle . You could see a driver's helper in
Lal chowk putting this crank handle into the engine segment and then rotating
it powerfully to let the engine start. The driver would remain seated at the
steering .Once the engine started, the driver would slowly and skillfully press
the accelerator paddle to maintain the ignition.
This shoe horn was seen in every household in
Kashmir .Initially used for putting the backside of the foot inside a shoe,
this device gained more acceptability once kashmiris started using it as
Tchaalan ( a hanging tied to kangri for regular stir of the burning charcoal
and ash.)...
A few copies of Magazines like JS and Sun were also brought to Kashmir by Abdullah News
Agency Amirakadal .
( To Be continued .......)
( Autar Mota )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
Hello, Thanks for your great tips. We all appreciate your tips. Keep posting these kind of nice blogs.
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