Golden days of Woolen

My son recently needed some woolen yarn for his school project. Not many stores carry them, so finally managed to locate those in Wal Mart. it left me wondering who ever uses them to knit sweaters in an age when mass  machine produced woollen garments rule the roost.

End of the month of KARTIKA (lunar month back home in India) is the harbinger of the short, cold season in Odisha. And it is the Fall (Autumn) time during my Childhood days, when women were seen knitting sweaters using a pair of sticks in an artistic way to weave magic out of bundles of wool. Mid afternoon, they would assemble in groups as gossips sweet and sour rule the air, often over hot PAKODAs (fritters) and Teas prepared by the host.

As they say in Odia, NANA BAHAGHARA RU NANI BAHAGHARA PATYANTA - everything happening under the Sun from father's marriage to sister's marriage was discussed with intermittent twitting sound of the knitting needles. ( Twitting should not be consfused with twitting as it was an era when internet and social media was strictly fantasy). If the topic is as hot as the UPURI (extra income through means of corruption) or a local affair between so and so 's son and daughter, the knitting stops temporarily as the ears of the ladies get elongated like an antenna to pick on the rumor mill. Instant verdict is delivered without the accused even having a chance to defend themselves.

Now a days made in China and Bangladesh garments flood the market, making knitting redundant, unless someone has taken it up as a hobby or a past time. The last hand knitted woolen garment I wore was gifted to me by my Mausi (aunt), until I turned I outgrew it. It was well made enough to withstand sands of time over  half a decade.

But as far as gossips go - nothing has changed. Only the platform has. Gossips gone high tech. Whats App and smart phones have made the iGossips and eGossips viral. Charles' law from High school Chemistry says:  the temperature of gas is directly proportional to the volume, the pressure remaining constant. Similarly, the knitting is replaced by weekend potluck parties, with gossips remaining constant. Extinct are those woolen days, a la the Woolly Mammoths of the pre-history.