Kavitha Iyer

Priti David

Editor

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There are no idle hands at Krishnaji
Bharit Centre. 



Hours before lunch or dinner, and before
major long distance trains halt at Jalgaon railway station, roughly 300
kilograms of brinjal or eggplant bharit
are cooked, served, packed and despatched everyday. It’s a hole-in-the-wall
outlet in Jalgaon city’s old BJ Market area, and customers range from
industrialists to labourers, aspiring parliamentarians to weary party workers. 



Just before dinnertime on a hot weekday
evening, the interiors of Krishnaji Bharit are a blur of cleaning, chopping,
crushing, peeling, roasting, frying, stirring, serving and packing. Men queue
up outside the restaurant along three steel railings, a lot like the queue
management railings that old single-screen cinemas once had outside the box
office. 



The starring role here belongs to 14 women.

Courtesy: District Information Officer, Jalgaon

They are the backbone of the elaborate
preparation, cooking three quintals of brinjal every day into brinjal bharit, known elsewhere in the country as baingan ka bharta.  After the
Jalgaon district administration shot an election awareness video inside the
busy outlet, their faces are now widely recognisable. 



The video, aimed at improving women’s
voter turnout at the Jalgaon parliamentary constituency polls on 13
May, featured the women of Krishnaji Bharit discussing what they knew about
their rights, and what they learnt that day about the process of exercising
their franchise.             



“I learnt from the District Collector
that for that one moment, when we stand before the voting machine, our fingers
marked with ink, we are truly free,” says Mirabai Naral Konde, whose family
runs a tiny barbershop. Her salary from the restaurant is a critical addition
to the household income. “We can make our choice in front of the machine
without asking our husband or parent or boss or leader.” 


Production in Krishnaji Bharit’s kitchen
skyrockets to 500 kilos during peak season, from October through February, when
the best winter eggplants flood local markets. The taste of freshly ground and
fried chillies, coriander, roasted peanuts, garlic and coconut are one part of
the draw, say the women. The other half is the affordability of the fare. For
less than Rs. 300, families can take away a kilo of bharit and some add-ons.  



The 10 x 15 feet kitchen, a furnace when the
four stovetops are busy, produces a total of 34 items, including dal fry,
paneer-matar and other vegetarian items. The crown jewel of this product line,
however, is the bharit and the shev bhaji, a curried presentation of
deep-fried sev made of gram flour.

As the conversation shifts to
affordability and cost of living, the women are suddenly not shy. Pushpa
Raosaheb Patil, 46, could not avail the subsidised cooking gas cylinder under
the <a href="https://www.pmuy.gov.in">Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana</a>
for safe cooking fuel. There was a problem with the documents, she says. 



Ushabai Rama Sutar, who is over 60 years
old, does not have a home. “Lokanna
moolbhoot suvidha milayala havyet, naahi [People should get basic services,
right]?” says the widow who returned to her native hometown after losing her
husband several years ago. “All citizens should have houses to live in.”  



Most of the women live in rented
accommodation. Razia Patel, 55, says rent is Rs. 3,500, about a third of her
meagre monthly income. “Election after election, we hear the promises about mahangai [inflation],” she says. “After
the elections, prices of everything keep rising.”  



The women say they do this work in order
to remain independent, and because there is no alternative. Many have worked
here for many years — Sutar for 21 years, Sangita Narayan Shinde for 20 years,
Malubai Devidas Mahale for 17 years and Usha Bhimrao Dhangar for 14 years.         



Their day begins with preparing 40 to 50 kilos
of brinjals, the first batch of several that they will handle during the day.
The brinjals must be steamed, roasted, peeled, the fleshy insides then
carefully extracted and pulped by hand. Green chillies, by the kilo, will be
handpounded with garlic and peanuts. This thecha
(dry chutney of ground green chillies and peanuts) will be added to the hot oil
along with finely chopped coriander before the onions and brinjals. The women
also chop a few dozen kilos of onion everyday.

Krishnaji Bharit isn&#39;t just a local
favourite; it is a destination for people from distant towns and tehsils. Some of those eating an early
dinner at the nine plastic tables inside have come from as far as Pachora and
Bhusawal, located 25 km to 50 km away. 



Krishnaji Bharit also sends 1,000 parcels
everyday, including to places 450 km away, by train, including Dombivali,
Thane, Pune and Nashik.



Founded in 2003 by Ashok Motiram Bhole,
Krishnaji Bharit took its name from a local godman who told the owner that a
restaurant selling vegetarian food would prove to be profitable. The bharit here is an authentic traditional
homemade dish that is cooked best by the Leva Patil community, says Devendra
Kishore Bhole, the manager. 



The Leva-Patils, a socio-politically
prominent community in the Khandesh region of northern Maharashtra, are an
agrarian community with their own dialects and culinary and cultural roots. 



As the aroma of the brinjal curry
proceeds to permeate the restaurant, the women begin to roll out polis and bhakris for the dinner rush. The women make about 2,000 polis (chapatis, flatbread made of
wheat) everyday, and about 1,500 bhakris
(flatbread, made of millet, most commonly
bajra or pearl millet in Krishnaji Bharit). 




It will be dinner time soon and the women begin
to wind down as the day’s labours come to a close, one bharit parcel at a time.

Jalgaon’s women star in Krishnaji's bharit

جلگاؤں: کرشنا جی بھریت کی محنت کش خواتین

కృష్ణాజీవారి భరిత్‌ తయారీలో చేయి తిరిగిన జళగావ్ మహిళలు

ஜல்கான் பெண்கள் கிருஷ்ணா பரித்தின் நட்சத்திரங்கள்

ਕ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਨਾ ਭਰਿਤ ਵਿਖੇ ਨਾਇਕ ਭੂਮਿਕਾ ਵਿੱਚ ਜਲਗਾਓਂ ਦੀਆਂ ਔਰਤਾਂ

କୃଷ୍ଣା ଭରୀତରେ ଜଲଗାଓଁର ମହିଳାଙ୍କ କମାଲ୍‌

ജൽഗാവിലെ സ്ത്രീകൾ താരങ്ങളായ കൃഷ്ണ ഭരിത്ത്

ಜಲ್‌ಗಾಂವ್‌: ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಭರಿತ್‌ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ಲಿನ ಚುನಾವಣಾ ತಾರೆಗಳು

जलगांव के मशहूर रेस्तरां कृष्णा भरीत की मेहनतकश महिलाएं

કૃષ્ણા ભરીતમાં મુખ્ય ભૂમિકામાં જલગાંવની મહિલાઓ

जलगांव के नामी होटल कृष्णाजी भरीत के धुरी 14 महतारी

कृष्णा भरित में जलगांव के महिला स्टार लोगन के जलवा

কৃষ্ণজি ভারিত রেস্তোরাঁর মঞ্চ কাঁপাচ্ছেন ১৪ নারী তারকা

জালগাৱঁৰ মহিলাসমাজ তৰা হৈ উজলে কৃষ্ণা ভাৰিটত

जळगावच्या कृष्णाजी भरीतच्या 'स्टार' सुगरण

Jalgaon

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Jalgaon’s women star in Krishnaji's bharit

This special dish (bharit) is made with brinjals and is a local delicacy in this city in Maharashtra. The 14 women who cook upto 500 kilograms of it on some days, are taking centrestage during campaigning for General Elections 2024

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