The Brass Beauties

S Balakrishnan *

Brass beauties

Is it possible to make at least our kitchens free of plastic? It may not be possible 100% but one must try to achieve the maximum. This idea may sound impractical when micro plastic has entered human blood and heart. It is for this very reason that we should make an urgent beginning from our kitchen.

We should begin by avoiding plastic storage containers though they may be space-saving, cheap and easy to maintain. I got wise after reading a news item about micro plastic’s entry into human blood; so I decided to make a beginning by ‘downloading’ old brass utensils from the laptop. Oh, sorry, from the loft.

There was another reason also; the antique brass utensils were occupying 1/4th space of our showcase, thus ‘uploading’ trunk-loads of other items to the loft. So I thought of putting these age-old vessels to use in the kitchen, thus striking two fruits with one stone. Of course, one can’t use them daily for routine cooking because they are so heavy and unwieldy for the modern gas stoves.

Some vessels need a weightlifter to lift them! So I requested for my wife’s kind permission to using them as storage containers. ‘Your kitchen would look classic with these brass beauties’, I enticed her.

‘Now that you have retired from service, I have also decided to retire from the kitchen. The kitchen is now all yours – not only for arranging but also for cooking. So you can do whatever you want’, she replied coolly. I got trapped unwittingly. ‘Taking risk is like eating rusk’, I proclaimed boldly and got down to redo the kitchen.

Of course, these vessels occupied more space than the slim & sleek plastic containers and not transparent, and not air-tight. This problem was solved by writing with a marker pen the first letter of what was stored inside – ‘thu’ in Tamil for arhar/toor dhal, ‘paa’ for moong dhal, ‘ka’ for gram dhal, so on & so forth in my beautiful handwriting.

The next issue was the smart ants that entered even screw lids to plunder sugar, sooji, etc. Well, I had no other way but to use thin plastic carry bags (that are said to be banned but in realty widely in use by small vendors. I am shocked to see people buying boiling hot tea/sambhar/sabji in plastic covers!) with the threaded lids to make them air-tight. ‘If you have a will, you have a way’, I patted my back.

Here I must very gratefully remember an acquaintance, Mr. Venkataraman (A.G.’s Office, Chennai), who handed over many of these old treasures. He was moving to a smaller bachelor accommodation from his big ancestral house. Knowing my interest in antiques, one of his colleagues and my relative, Mr. Elangovan, told me to go and see if I would like to collect some of those ‘unwanted’ items.

Seeing my madness, Mr. Venkat was only too happy to give many of his antiques – a sack full of brass/bronze vessels, a teapoy made of Chinar wood of Kashmir, a clay dog doll that he played with as a child (some 50 years ago), etc. I went empty-handed and returned with an auto rickshaw load of antiques ... and all without him accepting even one rupee!

Because he knew that all his loved treasures would be preserved and protected by me. Maybe had I not been hesitant I could have got even the wooden swing that he was disposing of. If I were him I would have carried all my treasures to my grave, like Egyptian Pharaohs! So, once again my deep gratitude to Mr. Venkataraman’s generosity.

Spoon-knife holders

Some other vessels were in use in our house long back, before the stainless steel (we call it ‘eversilver’ in Tamil Nadu because it shines forever like silver) became popular. The copper pot was once used for heating water for bathing, because copper is a good conductor of heat.

Now it stores idli/dosa rice. The small pot on top of it is urad dhal container, as we have to add urad dhal also for grinding rice/dosa batter. Another heavy bronze pot now stores the para-boiled rice that we daily use; I guess this pot alone would weigh 5 kilos; so heavy! Two smaller vessels earlier used for preparing sambhar and rasam now store onion and garlic.

One of these utensils, the 2nd from left at the bottom row, has on it embossed thus “Sri Rama Vilas, Karamana, Trivandrum-2”. I wonder if that shop still exists! The subji-cooking vessels now hold loose packets of miscellaneous ingredients. I have converted the kettle that once boiled water to storing gingili (sesame) oil!

The four small pots at the bottom row (‘sombhu’ in Tamil) that were used while bathing are now containers for moong dhal, gram dhal, chilli, etc. Plastic mugs replaced the sombhu in the bathrooms. The ‘kooja’ (the water bottle of those days with a tumbler that fits inside just below the screw lid) stores dhania. The tiffin box with a handle that school-going children used for carrying lunch has sooji now.

The ‘kudam’ (water vessel) (with an earthen lid) is now a pride show piece placed upon the Chinar teapoy (see above) in the hall. Old measuring devices now stand converted as spoon / knife stands.

We used to hunt for brass curios and antique items at vessels’ mart when we visit various places; the spices-box was purchased as a second-hand item during one such hunting expedition. Possessed of the brass beauties, I also used to beg and literally steal from relatives’ houses, besides buying.

But I cannot forget or forgive one of my cousins (Smt. Meenakshi) who told me that she disposed of a mini load van full of such items! She has such a big house that even if she had placed each of those old vessels in each corner there would still be empty corners. I was so dismayed.

Now that I have put these Brass Beauties to good use, my wife proudly shows them to all those who visit our house. The beautiful and useful arrangement is now Owner’s Pride, Neighbours’ Envy!