Some memories give away the heart’s longing for a bygone time. It is not so much about the desire to turn back the clock as it is about finding beauty in a knowledge that, derided as “primitive,” could forever be lost. “The pada” of her youth, the entrepreneur recalled, “looked so different than it does today. There were leaves on the roofs of houses everywhere. Elder men from the pada wove them so beautifully.” “Parshachi ... kosambichi ... leaves were used,” the grandmother interjected authoritatively, “We used to dry them first. Place grass and hay on them. Using bamboo, tie them together. Then apply pressure for some time,” she gestured with her hands and feet, “Not a single drop of water or air could pass” through the roof! “During those times,” the entrepreneur continued, “We used to peel branches from the Dhaman tree to use as ropes. But now,” she lamented, “money is used to purchase everything. We simply had to walk into the jungle, bring what we required or liked to build. It was nice to live in those houses,” her tone and eyes giving away her momentary longing. Transposed magically from the verandah where the conversation was taking place, she remembered kaarvi houses existed “until the shooting of Jaagruti,” a Bollywood film, “which took place for almost two to three months in our pada. Naming, “Salman Khan, Salman Khan ...," the heartthrob actor, she winked and blushed. Jaagruti released in India on 3rd July 1992.
