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The baker usually collected his bills at the end of the month. Monthly accounts used to be recorded on some wall in pencil. Baking was indeed a profitable profession in the old days. The baker and his family never starved. He, his family and his servants always looked happy and prosperous. Their plump physique was an open testimony to this. Even today any person with a jackfruit-like physical appearance is easily compared to a baker.
The author explained how Goan bakers would collect their bills in this paragraph. Every month, in the end, bakers would collect payment from customers, and women at home would write on their walls the specifics of the money they had spent on items from the baker.
According to the narrator, a baker and his family would never go hungry because baking was one of the most lucrative professions in Goa in the past. This might be the result of various factors, including
- Since there were no alternative items like microwaves or ovens back then, a baker used his furnace to make bread, which he then marketed all over the world.
- At the time, bread was perceived to be the most popular food.
The narrator claims that the baker's family, including the servants, kept their bodies in good shape because baking was a thriving business in those days. Therefore, even today, someone would be compared to a baker if they appeared chubby like a jackfruit.
Meaning of difficult words:
S.No
|
Words
|
Meaning
|
1.
|
Prosperous | Characterised by success and good fortune |
2.
|
Physique | Form or structure of a human body |
3.
|
Testimony | Evidence or proof of something |
4.
|
Plump | Refers to overweight |
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2007). Glimpses of India - A Baker from Goa - Lucio Rodrigues (pp 85-89). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.