{"id":33391,"date":"2020-09-21T08:06:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T02:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmir.today\/?p=33391"},"modified":"2020-09-21T08:06:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T02:36:06","slug":"covid-19-and-the-big-fat-kashmiri-weddings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=33391","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 and the Big Fat Kashmiri Weddings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In \u2018trami\u2019, four guests join in simultaneously to have their portion of food from around a circular 2X2 ft decorated copper plate.<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which is wreaking havoc the world over, has hit the Kashmir Valley\u2019s centuries-old culinary tradition of \u2018trami\u2019 \u2014 eating together from one plate during weddings. But Kashmiris have learnt to adapt to the situation, understanding what social distancing means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ChangingChanging times: People eating from separate vessels at a wedding in Srinagar | Photo Credit: Peerzada Ashiq (TH)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which is wreaking havoc the world over, has hit the Kashmir Valley\u2019s centuries-old culinary tradition of \u2018trami\u2019 \u2014 eating together from one plate during weddings. But Kashmiris have learnt to adapt to the situation, understanding what social distancing means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u2018trami\u2019, four guests join in simultaneously to have their portion of food from around a circular 2X2 ft decorated copper plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Zahoor Zargar, a resident of Srinagar\u2019s Lal Bazaar area, was in a fix about his daughter\u2019s wedding in August as COVID-19 cases peaked in the Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had already postponed the marriage twice since August last year due to the tumultuous situation. This time, the challenge was COVID-19. We decided to go ahead and ensure that the guests maintain social distancing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

And replacing \u2018trami\u2019 with individual copper utensils was the only option, he noted. \u201cIt was praised by the guests as it reduced their close contact with each other,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trend seems to be picking up fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nazeer Shah, a resident of Peerbagh, ensured that the invitation card of his son\u2019s wedding had a line on serving the lunch: \u201cNo \u2018trami\u2019, the lunch will be served separately on copper plates,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were instances where guests would enquire about how the food will be served. If it was a \u2018trami\u2019, people would avoid the function for obvious reasons,\u201d Mr. Shah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Azi Aziza, a college student, finds the new trend more comfortable. \u201cA guest is bound by the \u2018trami\u2019 culture to start at a particular time. Anyone who misses a \u2018trami\u2019 is supposed to wait. However, the copper utensil gives flexibility. In COVID-19 crisis, it is a healthy alternative too,\u201d Ms. Aziza said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Rare scenes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In rare scenes in Kashmiri weddings this year, the \u2018dastarkhan\u2019 (long cloth spread on the floor), saw guests with face-shields and masks holding their own copper utensils around three metres away, as seven dishes were served by \u2018Wazas\u2019 (chef) from one utensil to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Many feel the new culture forced by the pandemic poses a threat to the ancient \u2018Trami\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAffluence attained by locals during the Sultan period, especially during eighth Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, between 1418 and 1470, saw popularization of \u2018Trami\u2019. Since then, it has become central to weddings, with very minor changes in the sequencing of dishes over the centuries,\u201d Zareef Ahmad Zareef, 73, the Valley\u2019s well-known poet and writer, told The Hindu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Serving of \u2018Wazwan\u2019 (array of meat dishes) on \u2018Trami\u2019 during weddings was adopted increasingly by the local population during the Sultan period in the 14th century and it became a unique feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Zareef fears that the pandemic may wipe off this slice of culture from Kashmir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the Afghan rule, people of Kashmir saw Muslims switching from daytime weddings to late-night weddings to escape raids by the unbridled sepoys of the rulers. Eventually, weddings became a silent late-night affair. This pandemic is now threatening to take off \u2018Trami\u2019 from the \u2018dastarkhan\u2019,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis prolonged pandemic in fact has threatened cultural moorings across the globe and Kashmir is not immune,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

For Mr. Zareef, \u2018Trami\u2019 epitomised a unique space, which brought down the walls of class and caste divide in society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a wedding, \u2018Trami\u2019 sees people sitting around and eating from one plate irrespective of their class and caste. It symbolised brotherhood and sharing. It also created intimate spaces where people discussed politics, social issues and religion as the \u2018Waza\u2019 served the elaborate dishes,\u201d Mr. Zareef said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

With inputs from The Hindu<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In \u2018trami\u2019, four guests join in simultaneously to have their portion of food from around a circular 2X2 ft decorated copper plate. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which is wreaking havoc the world over, has hit the Kashmir Valley\u2019s centuries-old culinary tradition of \u2018trami\u2019 \u2014 eating together from one plate during weddings. But Kashmiris have learnt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-union-territory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}