| Kalu (oil presser)
specialised people engaged in extracting edible oils from oilseeds.
Pressing oil by indigenous technology is an old tradition in Bengal. About
2,300 years ago there was a terrible famine at pundravardhana
and to tackle the situation, the Maurya Emperor released from
the state store paddy and oilseeds of til (sesame) and mustard
for distribution among the people. People pressed oilseeds at their own
homes to make oil. The word kalu is derived from a Hindi word kalhu.
In Birbhum and Nadia districts of West Bengal and the natore
region of Bangladesh kalus are called khalus. The lexical
meaning of the word is 'a community' of Hindu and Muslim oilmen.
Their life revolves round extraction and sale of edible oils.
According to the popular belief, kalu and teli (tili
or tailik) have the same meaning. However, the kalus extract
oil by pressing oilseeds while telis specialise in selling oil.
At present, indigenous technology of pressing oil is replaced
by wooden mills and mechanical mills.
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A traditional oil presser |
Kalus use a variety of devices to extract oils. At Saraikala
in northern Orissa 3 different mills or presses are used. These are: a
wooden press without an oil hole pulled by two bulls; a wooden press with
an oil hole but pulled by one bull; and a 2-piece wooden press with an
oil hole pulled by one bull. The first type of press is made of one piece
of strong wood and the major part of it is buried in the soil; the remaining
part is above the soil. Its top is hollow to receive the seeds, which
are pressed by a hefty stick. This press is called ghani.
When its top is worn out it is cut off. In the second type of press, a
pair of bulls is tied to a piece of timber called panjari. A piece
of wood with cloth tied to it is placed inside to absorb oil. The mill
that uses 2 bulls is called ghana and has a long piece of wood
as against the shorter piece of wood used by the one-bull mill, which
is installed within the house. The 2-bull mill is installed outside. The
community of people pressing oil by using two-bull mills is known as tailis
and called porihari. The brahmans
and the Vaishnavs do not accept water from them. The 3rd category of ghani
is run by one bull. It is also called ghana and is made of strong sal
wood.
Ghanis drawn by one bull or two bulls are in use in different parts of the subcontinent including Bangladesh. In the southern part of Bangladesh the people generally use one bull for drawing the ghani. Ghanis having no holes and drawn by 2 bulls are seen in Orissa and Andhra states of India. Such ghanis are also used in Midnapore and Hughli of West Bengal and in Gujrat. The ghanis in Bangladesh are usually drawn by bulls or horses. The local ghanis are six cubits in height and about a half of it is buried in the soil to make it firm. At times the driver of the ghani sits on a plank at its top to add weight for better pressing of the oil seeds. Oil siphons out through a pipe. The chief of the kalu community is called paramanik. At the end of their names they use Bepari or Chowdhury as surnames. In some areas of mymensingh ghanis are drawn by men. Kalus make all kinds of edible oils and sell oilcakes. The oilcake of til seeds is used as manure. Most kalus in Bangladesh are Muslims. Hindu kalus are a few in number. Although kalus are regarded as a low class among both Muslims and Hindus, Muslim kalus perform religious rites together with other Muslims and also attend the same mosques for prayer. But Hindu kalus live a relatively more secluded life and confine their social activities within their own community. Usually, 5-7 kalu families live at one place. Once upon a time all kalus, like the rest of the people, were Hindus and used to have caste distinctions. This has not gone away even after their conversion to islam. The kalus marry among themselves.
Kalus are now finding it difficult to maintain their
trade, especially in areas where mechanised oil mills have been established.
A wooden ghani drawn by an animal can at best press 20 kg of seeds a day
while a mechanised mill can press 100 kg of seeds. The animals used at
the ghanis have to be retired from time to time for rest. These days,
kalus cannot earn more than Tk 25-30 a day. There is also the shortage
of oil seeds in the market. Thousands of ghanis have already disappeared,
especially in areas where electricity has made it easy for mechanised
mills to be set up. Mustard oil is expensive now and cannot compete with
cheaper soybean
and palm oil. More and more people of the country are switching over to
soybean and palm oil for cooking. This is how the profession of kalus
has been hit hard. [Amjad Hossain]
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