In this age of disposable wares, mostly of various forms of plastic, the people the world over are rethinking the cause of trash being generated. We too have to dig into history when all the kitchen and table wares were reusable right from the days of Indus Valley and Gandhara and the Moghuls and, in fact, the recent past and present.

Old, damaged and discarded wares could be exchanged with cookies or sold to the vendors who would make rounds in the localities offering ‘new’ for the old. In the transactions, many prized antique wares were lost as these were melted to make new ones.

Every household used to have a collection of utensils handed down from generation to generation. Even the names of original ancestors were etched on them. Sparkling like gold, plates, bowls, spoons big and small, cooking pots in various sizes, vessels for drinking water or milk or lassi, and large hamams for heating water for bathing during the short winters were all part of house items. The cooking pots included degchis in various sizes and degs meant for cooking rice on ceremonial occasions. The word deg seems to have been derived from a very large vessel from China called ding. The typical cooking pot has a round base that allows the contents to be stirred while being cooked. Since the liquid maintains some depth when it’s taken out, there is less likelihood of the gravy being burnt. Moreover, it was convenient to rotate the round pot while cooking or dishing out the food. A large handled metal spoon was used to stir or dish out the food.

Bronze, used since the Indus Valley days, as found in the dancing girl which is older than the Shang vessels, is an alloy of copper and tin and has a lower melting point. All bronze sculptures are still cast through the Lost Wax method developed by the Indus Valley people. It, however, is not used for cooking because it can develop cracks.

Copper utensils remained preferred pots for cooking. However, they get easily oxidised. The insides of such pots were therefore coated with tin. The man offering the service to tin such pots was called a kalei gar. He would regularly visit the neighbourhood with his paraphernalia that included various chemicals, wood coal and a bellow to force air into the small kiln he’d set up. The womenfolk would bring him all the utensils to be coated with tin. Rates would be negotiated for each pot. Even the smallest of items such as forks and spoons were lined up.

After washing all the utensils with some acid, the kalei gar would set up his kiln, light coals by sprinkling some kerosene oil and forcing air onto it with the bellows that consisted of a leather bag. As soon as the heated pot was covered with glistening tin, he would apply some chemical rubbing it with a cotton pad to give out very pleasant white fumes to the delight of the children. The outside of these cooking vessels was usually covered with the alluvial clay from the Ravi brought by donkey men.

Gradually, with the arrival of aluminum and stainless steel, the hand-beaten copper utensils fell out of favour. The kalei gar no longer frequents the neighbourhoods. There are a couple of shops that offer the service in Qila Gujjar Singh and Kasaira Bazaar, but charge a fortune. But they eagerly buy old copper wares. The degs are still a favourite for cooking rice at weddings except that these are now mostly in aluminum.

The new ones are fancy items, suitable for display only.

Another prized item remains the large copper or bronze plates with floral designs painstakingly etched into them. My late friend, Yunus Butt, used to deal in these expensive display items.

Back in the day, the milkmen would bring you milk in large, round vessels (or waltoia) made of brass, on rairrhas (horse carriages). As they struggled to compete with the multi-national milk packaging companies, they had to switch over to cylindrical galvanised vessels to be hauled over motorbikes for door-to-door delivery. My friends Signor Jack and Irene Mosser, after retiring from a renowned multi-national, took a couple of these brass milk containers to Switzerland.

The new is always cheaper and more convenient. The hassle and cost of getting it tin coated phased out the once prized family metal wares. The new wares appeared to be more convenient to be dish washed. But the material was very thin. The food being cooked had to be stirred regularly or it would get burnt. The flame had to be kept low. The alluvial clay, traditionally applied to its outer base, was no longer available because the Ravi had turned into a stinking sewer.

The handis (terra cotta pots), especially those got from Mianwali, were very popular with the grandmothers. The food cooked slowly in these pots was really tempting. These have seen a resurgence, and many expensive food outlets now have a handi on their menu. The Chinioti dish, kunnha, cooked in a terra cotta vessel, is also growing in popularity. The ‘pressure cooker’ became immensely popular with the ladies as soon as it was introduced. Some restaurants offering ‘live’ kitchen use this marvel of a cooking gadget.

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Older folks would remember that all handles of pots as well as teapots were made of animal horns. They were replaced by black plastic (or bakelite) handles and knobs. Then came tam-cheeni cooking vessels and mugs. The whole dinner sets, made of plastic, were imported from Iran and became a popular item.

Gradually, all the kitchen wares were in plastic. Plates, dishes, spoons big and small were all made of plastic or at least the handles of all spoons and knifes were in plastic. China ware porcelains still kept in fancy show cases are for the special guests only.

Traditionally, milk and yogurt were brought in small pales or bowls. The crackdown on the use of the harmful forms of plastics had little or no effect. Awareness is stronger than the law, they say. Going back to the Nature isn’t easy or convenient. The days when food items were served in bowls made out of dried banyan leaves pinned together or meat or poultry packed in bags made out of some kind of dried shrubs cannot be brought back. The idea of serving rice on banana leaves, as is done in India, has not been taken seriously here. Moreover, we have very little local leafy trees.

Copper being a great conductor of heat and electricity is the most sought after reusable item, ending in it being made into armatures for electric items such as fans.

The Zamzama canon parked in front of the Lahore Museum was manufactured in Lahore by smelting hundreds of cooking pots contributed by the citizens. It was used in 1757 in the third battle of Panipat by Ahmad Shah Abdaali against the Maratthas.

(This dispatch is dedicated to Yunus Butt from Kasaira bazaar)

The writer is a painter, a founding member of Lahore Conservation Society and Punjab Artists Association, and a former director of NCA Art Gallery. He can be reached at ajazart@brain.net.pk