THE SMILER

THE SMILER AND THE BAKER's DOZEN

(BHISTI'S  BUN TIKKIS)

(THE BAKERY NEXT DOOR)

As & when I and my wife visited our son  in the Horseman Wing, we came to know about so many people/names that were prevalent in his School.Like the Bun Tikkis of Bhisti ( Bisht ) & pastries of the Smiler not forgetting shop of Maudy ( Modern Book Depot) in the town.The Smiler - a middle aged fellow who had literally no teeth but he smiled all the while ! It was like Dev Anand's toothless smile. He carried a huge box of tin carrying pastries on his head. While one hand supported the box, the other kept on playing a brass bell. 

He definitely brought smiles in the faces of all hostelers who were hungry 24x7. All of them were toddlers, young,energetic & were running up & down all the time.He came thrice  a week exactly at  3 PM.No sooner his bell rang, everyone ran towards him leaving everything behind.

First come - first serve, he used to say.Within minutes his box was empty.

Later, he started getting another box full of pastries.His son followed on his father's footsteps.

We ensured that we took along some of our son's friends whose parents could not visit their children once in a fortnight or so ,or even more, also to the Bhisti's Shop.

The Bun Tikki sessions were endless. These were tasty indeed !

Even when I was a child, I used to walk down to the Bakery next door & eat pastries, cream rolls, buns & patties.

I recall that the first time I ate a muffin was at the Nightingale Motel that was run by a British lady.She rode in a 'buggi' wearing typical British Mem Sab's dresses sporting a huge hat.She being 6 feet plus  was an imposing personality.Extremely well built, she carried her weight majestically.Someone had told us that she ate a twelve eggs omelette daily  in her breakfast besides a loaf of bread, butter,jam, ham & sausages, etc.

We did not know as to what all she ate in her lunch & dinner.

Things were very cheap then.One Rupee had sixteen 'annas'. Most of the items  in the bakery were an 'anna' each. One Rupee could get you twelve double cream biscuits, twelve sweet buns & twelve cream rolls.The best thing was -that whenever you asked for these items for one Rupee & above, the Proprietor of the Bakery added an extra one with no additional cost.So it was thirteen in a dozen !

As I grew up I realized that this was part  of 'consumer protection'.My Grandpa told me that this practice was known as Baker's Dozen & had come to stay over the years.He told me that the extra one ensured that there were no underweight rolls of loaf/biscuits, as otherwise the Cantonment authorities would come down heavily & impose  penalties.

This practice helped even those small time tea vendors who purchased in bulk from the Bakery.In such instances, the Proprietor gave them an additional of two biscuits/buns/cream rolls per dozen provided the purchase was above five rupees. Concessions for loaves of bread were separate.

I do visit the same bakery often . Although I know the Proprietor pretty well & he  wishes me whenever I go there but  the concept of " BAKER'S DOZEN" has disappeared.

Were we 'big - hearted ' earlier ?