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![]() (SANTA CLAUS) OF BHATTAS *-P.N.Ganjoo |
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![]() One such celebration takes place during mid-winter, when Chinars and other majestic trees in the Valley have shed their foliage and when there is freezing cold in the air. That would be in late December or early January and it is to placate the Deity of the clan (Yetch Devta) to bestow peace, prosperity and plenty on us in. In older times, back in our homeland Satisar we used to live in our spacious houses of clay, mortar, stones, bricks and timber. These would have three or more storeys, suited to changing moods of the seasons. The upper most storey (attic) was reserved for our Clan Deity where we would also store our essential provisions and valuable things which we needed in plenty to stave off severe, prolonged frozen winters when all links to the valley were snapped due to hailstorms, snowstorms, frost and nipping winds. On this particular day the BAUD MAUJ (the Lady of the house) and other womenfolk of the house would sweep clear the entire house and plaster the kitchen with water and alluvial clay. They would also scrub all utensils and crockery sparkling bright with ash and sand, as there were no chemical cleansers available those days. All this cleanliness was ensured to satiate the Clan God (YETCH DEVTA) with a fresh and palatable dinner in the late evening on this particular night. For this dinner Bhattas would stew quality, full grained, aromatic local rice mixed with full Moong, fatty bits of mutton, roasted in Ghee and spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and zeera. This dish (Khecheri) is a Kashmiri specialty which is rich in taste, aroma and nutrients. It is better than Polao and superior to Biryani and is a recipe Bhatta ladies guard with shrewdness and pass on only to the trusted ones to enable them to carry forward the family legacy. It would take hours to select and clean the ingredients and cook and simmer them in an alloy vessel on a dim flame of the earthen hearth in which only willow timber was burnt to transfix a special quality taste and fragrance to the Khecheri. It would be also supplemented by a dish of meat potato mix or meat turnip mix or meat knolkhol mix which would also simmer in an earthen ware on an earthen hearth. It would be a juicy-gravy with moderate spices, taste superb and salivate the taste buds in anticipation. This evening meal would not be complete without a garnish of self fermented pickles of knoll kohl dyed red with tangy chilly powder dripping with mustard oil and mustard seeds and other condiments, without the present day additive chemicals. This meal had yet to be topped with long slices of long juicy radish cut and dressed only from round white quality radish. As Yetch Devta is considered to be a benign Clan Deity, it was ensured that first portion of the dinner consisting of all ingredients listed above was offered to the Deity first of all. Since the Deity is considered to be divine, it was not allowed to serve the dinner in ordinary Thalis (plates) used by the household members. A special contrivance of dry paddy hay was devised by making a thick ring of hay. The bottom of this ring was meshed-layered with hay to make a sort of plate/platter. This platter was made of paddy hay as a mark of deep reverence to the Clan Deity because Bhattas hold paddy hay in high esteem. Consider that we are supposed to be born and laid to final rest on the same hay, which is held sacred by our scriptures. On this bottomed ring of hay, the first full portion of the delicious recipe would be laid out, with love, respect and even some awe. The male head of the family was chartered to take this hay plate out of the house in the dark night and keep it on the fence top outside the house. He was not supposed to make any sound while placing the plate on the fence top so as not to disturb the Clan Deity. After placing the Deity’s share on the fence top, the master of the house would come back in to the house and the Lady of the house would distribute the remaining portion of the Khichdi to all members of the family, withholding a small portion back as an augury for future plenty and prosperity. It was and still is a practice in Bhatta families to eat dinner in the same room, sitting on warm, furnished floors. The Lady of the house would distribute the food and other delicacies with affection and pleasure. It was a principle to eat Khichdi hot with out any water and cold drinks because it was feared that the throat and chest would be affected if one drank cold water with the food. Relishing pickles with the food, munching long slices of raw radish would create another special craving. That would be for the steaming jasmine Khawah tea, garnished with broken almonds, cardamoms, cinnamon and saffron in a golden colored alloy Khasoo(cup). The Kahwah would be steamed in a golden brass Samawar that used charcoal for heating. After the dinner was over, all the members of the family had to go for sleep in their rooms. No one was expected to come out of his room excepting one who dared and had the courage and the guts to spy on Yetch Devta while he was partaking the dinner. Legend has it that Yetch Devta has a treasure of wealth, good fortune and prosperity to share with one that had the knack to approach him stealthily and snatch his cap. But he had also to share it with other house mates and members of the clan as was the custom in the joint families then, if he could have the good fortune thus earned. It was believed by Bhattas, as they were told by their elders and their forefathers that Yetch Devta would roam around in a Pheron (a long woolen cape with tight sleeves, with a loose Jaguar (headgear), underneath of which he hid all riches, good fortune and magical powers. Anyone who dared to snatch the Jaguar (woolen headgear) of Yetch Devta which he was fond of, could ask him to fulfill his one and all desires and wishes which had only not to be carnal. So it was believed that only a chivalrous and daring person could venture out of the house in late freezing air, after all other housemates were asleep and stealthily snatch the cap of Yetch Devta while he was busy partaking of the dinner or was still roaming around the house. Usually it was believed that Yetch Devta would not even touch the dinner if he apprehended that it was not cooked with faith love and cleanliness. And so it was not frequent that he would touch and taste the food and some one would get a chance to snatch his cap. But myths were not far off to seek in which it was believed that some daring persons were able to obtain the boon from the Yetch Devta and hope and faith lingered that it was possible to obtain the boon due to above process of devotion of service and stealth by a bold honest soul. It would not be misplaced to compare the legend of Yetch Devta of Bhattas with Santa Claus of the Christian world. In case of the former our Yetch Devta was and is full of good fortune and prosperity and bliss for all those who sought and seek it. And dared and dare to snatch the cap of the Clan God. But in the case of the latter he is out on Christmas Eve to bestow gifts of his own to the children of the community. Legend has dressed Santa Claus in red costumes with a white fur cap. While Yetch Devta does put on any kind and color of robes befitting the surroundings he moves and lives in because he is supposed to change his shape and size as needed, to dodge his seekers. He shuns the use of fur because he is a nature and animal lover. While Yetch Devta is a Deity of the Bhatta clan, Santa Claus is the mythical Saint of Christian believers. All Bhattas have inculcated deep romance with all such folklore, legends, myths and mythologies. My romance with Yetch Devta is as old as my age. I learnt this story from my mother who had learnt it from hers; and she too from her own. So I always pondered over the opportunity to get all my wishes fulfilled which were vital and many by snatching the Jaguar of Yetch Devta during a cold frosty and nippy night of Amawasi. But I would get goose pimps when I imagined going out in the dark night with a howling wind to track and trace the fleeting Yetch Devta. I would therefore make resolutions on every Amawasi night to not get scared and go out in night while all others in the house were to be asleep. I believed that this would enable me to obtain all my toys and candies which those days were far and few. I also believed that it would also help me to pass my tests of which I was mortified and thereafter claim the pleasure of my soft widow mother and hard teachers. But by the time dusk would invite the darkness to shroud the night, my resolution would melt before the scare of the unknown and then freeze from the chill of the frosting night. I would take to my cozy pillow and start imagining my valor. In the process I would dose to sleep. On waking up in the next morning I would rush out of the house to see if some one else had done the valiant act. But on seeing that the Khechdi was intact, on the hay platter, I would be reassured that my chance for the valiant effort was yet intact for the next year. Who says that people are different? If legends, folklore, myths and the child are the same, then people are also the same and can jell well together. This is the great romance I have cherished all my life and will vanish with me into the alleys of the unknown when I depart. |
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Presently he is working on his varied interests besides being a consulting Director of a software services company. |
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This is interesting. Santa Claus of Kashmiri! Thank you for reviving my own childhood memories and explaining an important children where our children can be involved.
Added By Sanjay Kaul