Village grocery shops of the past
By: K S S Pillai
The news of John Chettan’s death reached me immediately after coming to know about the closure of another grocery shop in our area due to the paucity of customers. Large industrial houses had started shopping malls everywhere, selling things much cheaper and offering several schemes. That reminded me of the old days when grocery shops played a prominent role in all villages.
John Chettan was the lone employee in the biggest shop in our village. My father, like many others, used to buy bulk items from that shop. It was the usual practice to have a credit account with the shopkeepers. Goods would be purchased on credit often when customers did not have cash. A part of the outstanding amount would be paid to the shopkeepers at intervals.
All small shops would buy their requirements from the wholesale market that assembled twice a week at Chengannur, about ten kilometres away. It was also the place where farmers of nearby areas sold their produce. When the purchasing was over, a few shopkeepers would jointly hire a country boat to transport their purchases to their shops. Large boats were navigated by two people with bamboo poles. Where it was deep, they used oars. As the river flowed westwards, the boats moved quickly without much effort.
As there was no dam across it, the Pamba River, full of fresh water from the mountains most of the year, flowed fast. A large number of fish and other creatures lived in the river. Most people living near the river had fishing nets, and their evening meals usually contained fish caught from the river.
Travelling by boat was quicker during those days as bus services were infrequent and took longer to reach the destination in the absence of bridges. Buses and other vehicles crossed rivers and canals in ferries.
The shop’s owner would reach his shop before the arrival of the boat and wait at the riverbank. Some boys also would assemble there to carry the goods to shops on their heads. There would always be raw and ripe jackfruits, dry and fresh tapioca, bunches of bananas and such items of daily use to be transported. The jute bags with tapioca, rice of different varieties and similar heavy items would be carried by professional load-carriers.
Boys would usually carry only a single jackfruit on their heads. Bigger boys would manage two, keeping one over the other. As no one would lie about the goods they carried, the shopkeeper would pay them as demanded. The boys would leave after getting their wages, munching small pieces of tapiocas taken before the owner, who did not object.
On the market days, all villagers knew that fresh items had come from the wholesale market and would proceed to the nearest shop for purchase, forming a large crowd there.
Bigger shops, like the one where John worked, would purchase goods from wholesalers at the district headquarters Alappuzha. Two or more traders would go to the shops together so that the items they bought could be transported in a single boat. Among other things, they would purchase tins of kerosene, coconut oil, and other bulk items. They would be carried from the river bank by men on their heads.
The erstwhile kings knew the hardship faced by the head loaders. At regular intervals, they installed ‘Chumaduthangis’ or load-relieving stone structures at the average height of men to which heavy loads could be transported so that the carriers could take rest.
Everything was packed in old newspapers. Subscribers sold the papers to grocery shops at the beginning of every month. They would use jute strings to tie the packets. The customers would go to the shops with bamboo baskets, into which they would load their purchases. Poor people would bring bottles and kerosene lamps to buy small quantities of oil.
After sunset, the small shops would be illuminated with kerosene lamps and bigger ones with petromaxes that would consume more kerosene but emit brighter light.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in various national and international publications)
KV News
