Page 3 - Module

 In this story, the author recalls his childhood days and their excitement on seeing the
baker.
 They were enthusiastic to the point that they would run to him as soon as they woke up
without even brushing their teeth.
 They talk how the importance of bakers is still maintained in their villages even after the
Portuguese have left. They are known as ‘Paders’ in Goa.
 The mixers, moulders and their time-tested furnaces continue to serve the people of Goa
with their famous bread loaves.
 It was the maid-servant of the house who collected the loaves while children sorted out
the bread bangles for themselves.
 Bakery products have importance in the culture and traditions of Goa.
 Bol or sweet bread is a part of marriage gifts, cakes and Bolinhas or coconut cookies are
eaten at every festival and the lady of the house prepares sandwiches at her daughter’s
engagement.
 Earlier bakers wore a unique frock of knee-length known as ‘kabai’ but during the
narrator’s childhood days, they wore a shirt and trousers of length slightly shorter than
the usual ones.
 They generally collected their bills at the end of every month.
 Bakery has continued to be a profitable profession, managing to keep their families
joyous and prosperous.

summary

This lesson is a pen portrait of a traditional Goan village beaker that still has unimportant place
in his vicinity. Goa is the place which has the varied culture of French, English and Portuguese.
Here in this lesson the description of a village hacker reminds us of the Old Portuguese days.

The beaker comes with the jhang - jhang sound—a sound of his bamboo stuff. His one hand
supports the basket of his head and the other hand the bamboo on the ground. The baker places
the basket and the imploring children surround him to look into the basket what verities of
eatables he carries. They buy the loves and even eat without brushing.

The sells are so importantly intertwined with the social custom with Goan people that their
presence is inevitable. Marriage gifts are meaningless without the sweet bread called “bol”.
Cakes and bolinhas are a must for festival. Their peculiar dress is known as “kabai” as they
themselves are known as “pader”. They have a joyful life as they earn profitably well. Their plum
physique is the testimony to this.

Q1. What are the elders in Goa nostalgic about?
Q2. Is bread-making still popular in Goa? How do you know?
Q3. What is the baker called?