On The Scent Of A Laddu

It should have been much easier to find this farsan maker's premises given the number of two-wheelers that stream up to this address the day before Ganesh Chaturthi to collect armfuls of bags of laddus, chuda and other kind of chatpata namkeen stuff.

In parts of the rural Raigad district of Maharashtra, closer to Mumbai, celebrations of Ganpati Puja are refreshingly simple and charming.

There are no sarvajanik neighbourhood celebrations. Families and small businesses bring home Ganpatis no larger than three or four feet, do their puja and immerse them in nearby talabs (ponds), many after one-and-a-half days.

Sweets are usually made at home, but the various kirana (provision) shops start stocking varieties of popular laddus, some of them the giant 1 kilo variety.

Who makes these giant balls that are roughly the size of grapefruits?

Enquiries lead to a drive on a bumpy, bouncy, road to Satghar, about 28 km away from Kihim, through shiny green, misty countryside, past palms, banana groves, tidy, brightly-painted village homes, little bazaars to a tiny farsan 'factory'.

There is no board or sign and we receive vague directions. Everyone in the locality knows of this famous laddu place and you can actually smell elaichi (cardamom) in the air. But directions are not precise and we shuttle between two or three pretty villages, until a local tells us to go to the electricity kambha (cement pole) in the bend in the road between Satghar and Longhar.

Off the side of the road is a lane leading up to a rambling Maharashtrian style bungalow and behind that is a large workshop that had several tempos parked in front.

It should have been much easier to find this farsan maker's premises given the number of two-wheelers that stream up to this address the day before Ganesh Chaturthi to collect armfuls of bags of laddus, chuda and other kind of chatpata namkeen stuff.

The owners of Jay Jalaram Farsan stand in front of the godown of stacked festive goodies, handing out packet after packet to buyers.

A lazy cat sits watching the commotion. It has been some hectic few days of laddu and namkeen-making and a band of village women are washing up huge vats, hulks of kadhais and sev-press type equipment.

The owners flatly refuse entry into their kitchen and say all the cooking is done and they would be on holiday for the next two days.

But Kirti Shah chats a bit about their business. Originally from Gujarat, he says his father moved to this sleepy locality nearly 50 years ago.

"My father was 45 years in service in this area and he opened our farsan mart and it has been running for 34 years."

Shah is not sure why his father felt starting up a farsan business was the need of the day, but profitable it certainly has been.

During this season their bestsellers are the kadak laddus and 400 to 500 kilos worth are sold over the few days of Ganesh Puja.

The enterprise is run by nine members of the Shah family aided by six workers. Indeed, all the Shahs are bustling about, speaking rapid-fire Marathi amongst themselves -- wives, teenagers, uncles, aunts -- processing orders. And Shah's cell rings non-stop. They supply sweets and salties in this 70 km-80 km radius.

The recipes they follow are not handed-down-over-the-generations family secrets but seem to have a Gujarati touch to them.

Shah doesn't take special orders for those large, beachball-size laddus -- the 50 kg and upwards ilk. But he says their 1 kilo laddus are popular as bhog to be placed in front of the God of New Beginnings.

You couldn't come away from Longhar without picking up a few of the 1 kilo numbers -- that make lovely gifts -- from a Gujarati farsan-maker deep in the Maharashtrian countryside.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com