Baking bread in Goa was an art quite alien to the non- Goan. From crisp katreache unde, to the softer pau or the poie made out of wheat husk, there were Goan podder- families who specialized and excelled at it. But with Goan lads turning to easier options to make more money, it is non- Goans who are entering the trade. Smitha Venkateswaran finds out
A cold December morning.
The chilling weather, strong winds, come with the familiar hooting of the podder’s horn… I scramble up to the balcony and shout… “ teen pau aadd re”. The podder a young lad, barely out of his teens gives me a toothy grin… “ abhi laya” he replies in perfect Hindi.
As I have my breakfast, I am struck by the irony… A traditional Goan custom of delivering fresh bakes home… now served by a complete non- Goan.
I dug a little deeper and found out that even the boys baking the bread are Goans no more.
In the past couple of years some twenty- odd bakers in South Goa are said to have shut shop, while the ones in North Goa; especially along the beach belt have let it out to others.
Lack of cheap wood, escalating costs of inputs, competition from factory- made sliced bread, are among the reasons cited for the decline of traditional bakeries here.
“ Our profit margins have dropped.
The biggest problem is lack of labour, we just do not get boys to work for us,” said Salom who owns a bakery at Britonna and has been delivering freshly baked pau for over twenty years now.
With six hands to help… all people from neighbouring Karnataka, Salom rues that manpower costs along with inflationary prices is ruining business.
Add to this the lack of skill up gradation and we have a perfect recipe for age old traditions to meet a slow and painful end.
An average podder is paid a monthly Rs 2,000 plus a 50 paise incentive on every sale. This is in addition to food and stay costs. The average monthyl profit for a bakery owner ranges between Rs 8,000 – Rs 10,000 per month adds Salon.
But today Goan lads with their fluency in English get paid better working as drivers, waiters at restaurants DYING ART: One of the last standing Goan podder or stewarding on ships. “ So who wants to be seen as a podder?” asks De Souza a senior member of the All Goa Bakers Association.
More than 1000 tonnes of bakers’ yeast is annually sold in Goa. It is a vast quantity for a small population.
But it shows the high consumption of bread in Goa.
But, as competition rises, Goa’s podders are likely to be affected. Some traditional bakers already complain about facing excessive competition, shrinking markets and losses “ making Pau is very easy, anyone can learn it.
As our markets shrink it is becoming difficult for podders to peddle long distances for want of consumers” said Malcom from Thivim.
It may not be a staple food but the pau is an essential item in many households. Many items like the Chicken Xacuti, Caefreal will not be as tasty, if not without local pau.
For some time now Goan podders have been sounding the warning bell… if ignored, this unique cyclemounted boys tooting their horn at the break of dawn could be a story of the ‘ good old days’.