Taints and stains are abhorred in most places except in politics (where they are often tolerated). This reminds me of the stains and grime that I and my householders have tried over years to get rid of. For example, we have been taken for a ride several times in acquiring a liquid to clean the most untidy places in our house. The soiled seats in the loo, especially the ancient one, pose a permanent problem to the mistress of the house (no one is available to do the job) because even if the prescribed liquid is sprinkled liberally, there is no sign of perfection except when extraordinary force or tactics are employed. Sometimes you come to the conclusion that the liquid is spurious and another perhaps will do wonders. So you move to another store to ask for another product, but soon discover there is no difference. The old brass and bronze vessels in the house become black if unused for a long time, and any attempt to clean them with a salt and tamarind mixture yields limited success. So we look for a special powder or liquid to wash them for a new look. Again, what we have with us is insufficient and we no longer depend only on our hands but look for scrubber, metal spring, etc., to put extra pressure on the surface. Oily vessels offer another formidable challenge in the sink area.
Therefore, one day the captains of the house decide to get rid of the utensils that are perhaps tainted by some devils residing in them when left unused for long periods. They go to a shop that is ready to take old wares in exchange for new light and sleek ones. Though the price that is given for the old scrap metal per kilo appears to be luring, you end up paying a big sum using your plastic card and come home with stainless ware. For a moment, everyone is in cloud nine because they are “stainless” or “ever-silver” as they used to be called once. You think it is a very good bargain. Very soon, these articles, get twisted out of shape or suffer dents easily or get torn in the rim, cutting your finger if you are careless. The heat from the gas stove also increases damage to the bottom of the vessel. A realisation dawns that you must go back to nature, acquire earthen ware as food is tastier. But you are prone to break the pot the very next time you touch it.
I reflect on the times when we never went to shops to buy stainless vessels but relied on the tender mercies of the cycle merchant who would keep a big, broad bamboo basket of vessels of various kinds covered by some old cloth. He used to shout, leading or pedalling his cycle at minimum speed. His strategy was to get old silk clothes and other worn-out or torn garments in exchange for the vessels. But not without a lot of haggling. My elders used to talk to him about the original prices or the foreign origin of the material now at his disposal or how they have become under-sized but not torn.
But he would always keep looking for silver that he can melt from the border of a saree. He will glance at the heap of clothes before him, separate the simple ones as having zero value and look at zari-lined cloth. Seeing your face, he would guess that you are in two minds about the stock you have: could be the sarees or the shirts or a pair of pants of the menfolk. His persuasive skill will ultimately get him more than what he was offered at first. If you are keen on a bigger/fancy utensil, he will quote an additional sum to be paid apart from the bundle that you don’t like to take back.
After a few days and comparisons with neighbours, the mistress will discover the deal was not the best and will start looking for the chap for a slanging match. But before that she has to face the man of the house when he searches for his valuable pair of clothes that has disappeared from the shelf. He has great attachment to his stock and will display his lung power without reconciling himself to the addition in the kitchen. Now that many stores have come up and there are new and attractive substitutes and perhaps because big apartments have deployed securitymen and bungalows have canine guards, the tribe of ever-silver dabbawallahs has dwindled. Like the lead coaters for brass vessels since brass is out of reach and out of fashion. Stainless steel micro utensils were extremely popular sometime back at marriage as return gifts, extensively appreciated by the guests of the fair sex. But as rust marks started appearing in some of them, the hosts started despising what they liked sometime back.