Deepak Kumar

Ramjas College (2018/25/6)

History of Science and Technology, HSM -12

Migration and Food Culture

(Garhwali Food: Journey from Hills to Plains)

Abstract:
Migration is as old as the history or even older than history, multiple definitions as been put
forwarded by academicians and scholars of the process of migration according to UN (1958) ‘it is a
form of geographical or spatial mobility between one geographical unit and another’. India is a
country with great diversities in terms of its geography, culture, having extreme diverse features and
a range of climates comprising rivers, delta, islands, mountains, and plains. Inter-state and inter-
region migration is common in India. The process of migration have many significant feature
associated with its own, changing food culture is one such aspect, with the new places, new region ,
new climate food habits tends to be affected due to migration. In this paper an effort is been put
forward to analyze the plight of migration and change in dietary habits and food culture of Garhwali
people who have migrated to Delhi due to various reasons focusing upon the nostalgia through food,
synthesis of food different food cultures adaption, assimilation and puritan concepts. For the purpose
the relation of these changed and continued tradition with the migration will be traced based on the
interviews of migrant families living in Delhi who came from Uttarakhand specially Garhwal area.

Introduction
Food is one of the basic needs of human life, it is necessary to keep a human being fit and sustain
active living. In India there are thousands of varied culture and hundreds of language and
geographical, religion and cultural diversity with varied tastes and preferences in food also which
differ vastly from place to place1. Food of any region is based on largely based on place’s climatic
conditions, availability of types of vegetation, animals, type of land along with basic topography i.e.
plains, mountains, coastal area, plateau all of these along with specific culture and tradition makes for
the food culture of any particular region.

1
Tripathi A, Srivastava S. Ecol Food Nutr.2011 Sep-oct;50(5):410-28.doi:10.1080/03670244.2011.604586.
Here an effort is put forward to trace the continuity and change in Garhwali food culture regarding
people who have migrated from hills to plains like in Delhi with addressing larger question of
migration along with, nostalgia of native place through food, synthesis and assimilation with or into
new culture as migrated people tend to or have to adapt the dietary habits of the new region to which
they have been shifted to.

Migration and Uttarakhand

Migration is a general process in the state of Uttarakhand tracing a long history we find ‘the districts
of Tehri, Pauri and Almorha had a trend of out migration since 1870 mainly due to job created in
British Indian Army2, with the setting up of Garhwal and Kumaon regiment young males were put up
on temporary migration where they would return after serving for certain time period. The
introduction of Forest Acts impacted the people’s life terribly in hilly region stripping them of their
livelihood and basic things procured from forests .The migration after independence have seen a
different trend more of a permanent one with large number of population shifting their base
permanently along with their families in search of mainly better educational opportunities,
employment and better future for their children. According to census of India nearly 18.3 percent of
total population have out migrated from Garhwal region in last decade (2001-2011), around 7.7
percent of villages have been totally deserted now termed as ‘ghost villages’, around 9 percent are
left with less than 10 percent of population. The population growth of Pauri and Tehri districts is in
negative as found in census. Why so many people leaving? Garhwal’s economy is based on
practising subsistence agriculture where the production is generally low, Forest Act 1980 has further
minimised the rights of people to use substantial forest product mainly fodder and fuel wood3.
Limited arable land, various geo-physical constraints seriously inadequate infrastructural facilities,
industrial backwardness, unemployment were the major push factors for the out migration from the
hills. For the most people interviewed job and employment reason for coming out of hills, ‘Rajesh
Bhandari’ from Pauri, ‘Yashwant Singh Negi’ from Chamoli, ‘Pramila Kala’ along with her
husband from Asingi in Pauri district all came to Delhi in search of Job and employment
opportunities now lives in Sangam vihar colony of Delhi. .........”namak kharidne ke liye paise to
chahiye...” says Rajesh Bhandari. Another saying describing plight of migration ....”Paharon ki
jawani and Pani Dono maidano main beh gyi”. So in migration from hills voluntary migration is
been nearly minimal while economic factor leads the cause for leaving ancestral lands and exodus to
plains which they are deeply nostalgic about. Both food and migration have interdependence and
connection between different regions and different cultures, We can see in each region some cultural
and traditional foods, dishes, food habits comprising larger food culture specific to that place
similarly in hilly Garhwali region the food culture was specifically consist of diverse local dishes
drinks and various ingredients like Jhakhya, Kandali ki sabzi, Arse, Roth, Thichoni, Mandwa,
Jhangura, Madua, Gith, Swala, Fannah, singori etc. Some of which continue to exist salvaged in
migrant households even in plains while many of them lost also lost with them is the traditional ways

2
Sati V.P. (2016): Patterns and Implications of Rural-Urban Migration in the Uttarakhand Himalaya,

India. Annals of Natural Sciences, Vol. 2[1]: March, 2016: 26-37

3
Sati, Vishwambhar. (2017). Socio-Economic Implications of Out-migration in Garhwal Himalaya.
of making them, traditional utensils like Bhaddu, Digche, and the specific food for specific occasions
made by particular group of people like Sarole.

Garhwali Food in Hills and in Delhi

“Melu ghingora ki dani khe ja chhuhiyan donnu ko Pani Pee jaa

Daandiyun ka din chauams ayegeni sansa lagi chh prani ayeja...”

This is a song where one’s husband is far away and she is asking her husband to come to have local
fruit i.e. ‘Ghingora’as in chaumasa (rainy season) in which all the fruits have ripe like this many
songs are there which shows the plights of migration where they ask for migrants to come back and
have traditional regional foods.

“Abari da tu lambi chutti leki ayyi, aege wakat najdeek

Tehri dubein lagiyyo chh beta dam ka khatir ...”

Here a father is asking his son to come back in the background of building of Tehri Dam where plight
is being shown when the havoc from the creation of dam is destroying Tehri.

“Behna re bajara behna aa re behna

Jara chuda –bukhna chakhi ja, chuda-bukhna

rot-arsa chakhi ja, rott-arsa”

Here sister’s husband is called to taste the traditional sweet that is rott and arse.

As we see in all these folk Garhwali songs food comprises the central theme migrants and people
living far away being called by the natives to taste and have their native food, fruits, sweets in the
rich folklore the pain of leaving ones home and living at distance from original place is evident.

In talking with the migrants from the Garhwali region who mostly now have settled in Delhi we
could see that there’s definitely a process of adaptation and assimilation still people tend to show
great nostalgia and missing of their traditional set up like Dakeshwari Devi aged 59 years says food
cooked in traditional utensils like Digche and Bhaddu used to be more tasty and nutritious while the
pressure cookers of cities have corrupted the food and culture. In the hills wheat was not readily
available as it is in the plains so the Garhwali used to make rotis of jaw (barley) and ‘Maunda’locally
available grain which is extinct in their diet of plains. These people talks at length of local vegetables
and fruits like limba, timla, hiswal, kilmoda, karunda, which they do not find in Delhi hence misses a
great deal manier times during visit to their native place they brings these things with them share with
their neighbours tries to make them in same way. Meat which have been a important part of their diet
in hills is now reduced as in part of diet, in the hills wild pig used to caught and being shared all over
the village, apart from this wild chicken, sae, and roasted mutton is dearly missed by people Vinod
Bisht one of Garhwali migrants says ‘you can’t find the same quality roasted mutton here anywhere
in Delhi’, here people are mostly sorted to chicken which is no-where near ‘pahadi’ mutton and fish.
the tells now people here mostly shifting to vegetarianism.
Special lament can ke bee seen in use of spices we can find ‘jhakiya’ a Garhwali spice like mustard
to be used in every Garhwali dish in the hills spices were self made i.e. ‘khada masala’ now in Delhi
the powdered masala is used which doesn’t always produce the same taste they claims their original
food is more healthy and the can consume double of food on hills of what they eat here.

Festive occasions are known to be occasions of feast, Marriage is on such occasion where one can
see the rich varied food items prepared for the feast this is tricky aspect for the people who have
migrated which types of dish they prepare in their feasts we find the process of synthesisation here
mostly the plain food is made for the common feast as many peoples of plain being invited with
panner dishes we can see the rice, Chole, Naan, and various popular food of plains while the sweet
items are mostly Garhwali i.e. arse and rott with Bal mithai at times. While in the feasts of
households they prefer only Garhwali food items with special occasions like in one of the days of
marriage special peoples called Saroles prepare particular type of dal and bhat (rice) which these
people found extremely tasty and part of their special culture the tries to keep this tradition in Delhi
though with new generations who being born in Delhi the custom is losing its vigour now the
marriage is limited to single day affair so all of this is not possible.

On the gender part of who make the food like in many societies women been held with the
responsibility of making food in households even in Garhwal region though with migration and
advent of cosmopolitan culture males too have started to spend time in kitchen as their wives
sometimes get buy in jobs and business says Pramila Kala. Caste boundaries have been shaked a little
according to these people as in villages in hills they were more rigid than in singe colony of Garhwali
people in a large city people are more affined to region though even in cities the rigid boundaries
hasn’t all dissolved still persists in some way or the other but in feasts they say the invite peoples
whom they would have never thought of inviting (statements of upper caste Brahmin Garhwali
people)

In daily diet the mix of Garhwali food and plain food could be seen where Paneer and Thichoni is
made equal no. of times within a week, Chole have become part of even Garhwali household as they
were of any Punjabi family, the ‘Sama k Chawal’ is replaced by long ‘Basmati Chawal’ these days.
This process of mix heterogeneous food culture is need of the circumstances and the new region,
climate and culture these people have migrated to

Conclusion
Food is one of the central aspect of human live and it is deeply connected to the climatic conditions
in which we live as we have seen. In the process of migration it is imperative to encounter the
changes associated with the dietary habits and food type according to the new conditions in the case
of Garhwali migrants we have seen the great affinity to food and how they miss their traditional
culture through food is quite visible in the current survey they had to migrate because of various eco-
geographic factors they have kept alive basic essence of their food habits and culture even with the
process of assimilation and synthesis, we can go to any Garhwali home in Sangam vihar and ask
about any Garhwali food the spark and charm can be seen in their eyes when they talk about their
food.
Glossary: Name and type of some Garhwali Food
Grains

1. Kauda – Brown coloured grain used for flour making

2. Jhangora – Type of Rice
3. Sama ke Chawal – Type of Rice.
4. Jaw – Barley

Vegetables

1. Thichoni – Mix of Potato and Reddish.

2. Jholi – A kind of Curry(made with curd and besan)
3. Bedu – Type of Leaves.
4. Kandali ka Saag – Made of Kandali( hilly vegetation) leaves
5. Meetha Karela – A type of Beans
6. Urad dal

Sweets

1. Arse
2. Rott
3. Badi
4. Prasad
5. Kushka(sweet rice)
6. Gulgule
7. Swala
8. Bukhana
9. Singori

Drinks

1. Chhach(buttermilk)
2. Buransh
3. Kachhi Daru(alcohol drink made by fruits)
4. Chawal ka Mand
5. Chachanda.

(This work is based on the information provided by the Garhwali migrant people living in Sangam
Vihar colony of New Delhi through interviews.)