KASHMIRIS AND WILD PEAR ( PYRUS PASHIA ) OR TAANCHI

                                                                               

TAANCH’I OR WILD PEAR ( PYRUS PASHIA )..

“Yim Chha tung ? .. Kyaah chho’th chhuthh Onamutt.. Yim Gayii Taanchi . Yiman Kheyvaan Chha Paenz Jangalun Munz “

“ Are these Pears ? What filth have you have brought ? These are wild Pears . These are consumed by Monkeys in Jungles “

That is what my mother told to Zoona Ded who sold cheap fruits in exchange for Broken rice ( Seur ). She sat just opposite to Ram Joo Handoo’s chemist shop near Jogi Lanker bridge in Rainawari as and when she had some cheap fruit stock to sell. People would buy sour apples ( for cooking as vegetable ) from her in exchange of broken rice . The word Taanchi amused me . What could be a wild Pear ?

It was only in Thathri ( Kishtwar ) that I came face to face with Taanchi or wild Himalayan Pear . The tree as well as the fruit is Smaller in size, has Lesser juice and is Hard and sweet to taste when ripe.

This fruit can be found in jungles located at an altitude ranging between 2000 to 7000 feet.I found it almost everywhere in the hills of western Himalayas . In our state , I found this fruit in Rajouri and Poonch .I also observed that generally this fruit was insect free.

In Upper areas of Garhwal and Kumaon Hills , this wild Himalayan pear is dried and crushed to powder . It is then mixed with wheat flour for making chapatis . Hakeems in Kashmir also prescribed crushed dry Powder of wild Himalayan Pears as a medicine to stop diarrhoea . It also contains minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, calcium and iron. Many people in the Himalayan region use this fruit for the management of gastrointestinal and respiratory complications.

Sheep and goats also feed on leaves of this wild fruit tree. The wood of this tree is hard and its wood is used as timber or for making walking sticks .

( Autar Mota )

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