BUCKET-VAALI-THOTTI Dear friends,
Yesterday night Iwas thinking why the Aswamedham fame G S Pramod was not appearing in TVprograms. What a coincidence – he appeared yesterday in the Flowers TVprogramme, “Flowers Orukoti”. On talks he said, he was about to kick the bucket and hadnear death experience, but survived. For all members from Kerala, GS Promod isa familiar person. For the information to others- He is one of the topmost intelligent and knowledgeablepersons in India. In computerlanguage there is a usage- Leaky bucket. But this write upof mine is about the ordinary bucket, used to draw up water from wells. Nowbucket is made of different materials and it has a wide range of uses. Aninteresting look about buckets. No serious matter in this writing. Sincerely, Gopalakrishnan 27-12-2021 1 Galvanised iron bucket In my boyhood days,water from the well (in the North East area of my home), was drawn up using mediumsize bucket tied to a coir rope and put through a pulley fitted to a beam.Other end of pulley was tied to the beam to ensure even ifrope slipped from hand it might not fall in to well. In temples copper pots with small neck wasused to draw up water. Even now at Kollur Mookambikai temple for abhishekamwater is drawn up using a copper pot from the well closed to sanctum. Periodically therope was replaced with new one due to wear and tear. Bucket was replaced afterholes appeared in the bottom and sides. Though not so popular, some homes had rubber ropes. Evenafter pump set became common, in public wells rope and buckets could be seen inmy home. Two persons could draw water from a well at the same time. Most of the wellshad raised walls and the beam rested on two pillars on opposite sides. Aplatform was there to stand and fetch water. Buckets of large size were used inbuilding work. Small size bucket was used to carry water to toilet, away fromhome in a corner of the compound. Later period, toilet was built close to home.Now we have toilets attached or semi attached, with in home. 2. Copper, brass and stainless steel buckets For serving water,dishes, buttermilk etc. on those days tinned brass and copper buckets were used. Using a thava the itemswere served. Water was served using a glass with a handle. Now instead ofcopper/brass, stainless steel buckets and thava are used. If one peep in to caterer’stable, one can see at least 15 buckets filled with dishes and other items toserve. Now most of the serving staff are uniformed and serve things havinggloves in the hand. In olden days limited quantity was served. If asked moreadditional quantity was served. Now hostpays for full serving. I have no recollection of aluminium buckets used forkeeping and serving dishes. Today I was in afamous restaurant for tiffin in late evening with my daughter and grandson. Iwanted more coconut chutney. But the server brought coconut chutney and otherchutnies in a medium thookku, served to all the three coconut chutney, alongwith other chutnies. He is so busy, better he thought to serve all chutnies to all!!! 3 Stainless steel bucket incident Often when we wereout of station from our Chennai home, the lady servant exhausted water fromoverhead tank by watering plants. It wasbefore 5 years. My wife suggested just sliding the cover a little; she may drawwater from sump and close the cover. I went to vessels shop for a small bucket.Stainless steel cost a little more than GI bucket. I purchased stainless steel. My wife exclaimed- Get a good plastic bucket toher. Stainless steel bucket to lady servant for lifting water from a 5 feetdepth sump? Now the glittering bucket makes it’s appearance during functions. Tocut short I got a good plastic bucket for her. 4 Aluminium buckets. Aluminium Buckets startedappearing by 1985’s in shops. The first attraction was that it had lesserweight. Galvanised buckets gave way to them. However it had no glitteringappearance. But aluminium had resale value. Old and damaged buckets could be returnedand new ones could be purchased, paying about 70% of cost. It was big on thosedays. 5. Plastic buckets. After theappearance of plastic buckets and pots in different sizes, except for drawingwater from well, plastic buckets found it’s use in other places. It took moretime to get it filled since they floated in water. In catering to keep cut vegetables, to keepwater etc., plastic buckets found their place. For serving dishes stainless steel buckets continue tilltoday. But servants use plastic buckets to remove the used leaf after mealsetc. They were deposited in large wastebins of plastic to collect by municipal Lorries. 5 Different uses of plastic buckets Small size plastic bucketis used in work area and kitchen. Medium size is used in bath rooms and smallsize in toilets. Medium size plastic bucket and mug is used for wateringplants. Large mugs with tail and handle are available in foreign countries towater plants. My son brought such a one, before two years which I use with cautionto avoid breaking. Scrap merchantscollect broken buckets for small value. Within store room, rice etc. are keptplastic buckets with lid. For various uses like tank and sump cleaning workersprefer medium and small size buckets. Slightly modified buckets are kept as dustbins.They may have fixed or not fixed cover. Re used plastic items are alsoavailable now. But their life period is less, but priced lesser. 6. Square buckets. 95% buckets areconical with large mouth and a flat bottom. Conical but rectangular top andbottom buckets appeared at one time. But it was not pleasing. I purchased onewhen it appeared, still in use to collect waste water from RO machine. Wastewater from RO machine can be used for cleaning portico, entrance, gate areaetc. 7. Bath and plastic bucket. When the plasticbuckets appeared medium sized one was carried by all while going to bath. Allbath items, clothes to be washed etc. was carried in it. Elders used the bucketwith a mug to bathe kids. Kids were placed on a higher step from water level inthe Ghat, water from river was taken in bucket and using mug, they were bathed.I recollect a film in which actor Late Nagesh taking bath on the banks of theriver collecting water from river for fear of getting in to river, in picture Shanti Nilayam. Now we have cleanedsteps in Varanasi to get in to river Ganga. Those who visit Banaras at leasttake bath once in river Ganga. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/462115083.1356349.1640600607601%40mail.yahoo.com.
