Kulhar

Possible origins

Kulhars may have been in use in the region for the past 5,000 years, since the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Effects on taste

Since kulhars are unglazed, a hot drink such as tea partially soaks into the interior wall of the kulhar in which it being served. This has an enhancing effect on the beverage's taste and fragrance, which is sometimes described as "earthy" (सौंधी ख़ुशबू, sondhi khushboo). Although kulhars have been losing ground to synthetic cups due to cost and efficiency reasons, higher-end restaurants often serve kulhar-waali chai (tea in kulhars) to their customers.

Revival efforts by Indian Railways and criticism

In 2004, the Indian Railways (then under the leadership of minister Laloo Prasad Yadav) attempted to revive the use of kulhars for tea and other beverages sold at railway stations and aboard trains. It was argued that this was more hygienic than plastic, and also more environmentally friendly because kulhars are made exclusively from clay. It was also assumed that, since kulhars are manufactured by small operations, this would assist in boosting rural employment.

Critics countered that the railways would need to dispense about 1.8 billion kulhars a year, which would mean heavy fuel consumption in the kilns with associated pollution. Kulhars were claimed to take up to a decade to degrade, however the discovery of thousands of years old shards from Indus Valley ruins was used as evidence to challenge that assertion and that they are environmentally superior. Fears were also expressed that a kulhar revival might result in topsoil depletion at the rate of 100 acre per state per day and that the economic gains to rural artisans would be minimal.

Although alternatives to topsoil are available and kulhars can be made at lower temperatures to save fuel and make them more rapidly degradable, by 2008 the effort to revive kulhar use on the railways was being considered a failure with the continuing widespread use of plastic and coated-paper cups. The primary reasons were the weight of kulhars and the higher per-unit cost. One estimate claimed procurement costs to be 140 paisas per kulhar and 7–10 paisas for coated-paper cups. There were also some vendor complaints that, because kulhars absorb liquids to some extent, buyers have to be given more tea per serving in a kulhar than in a disposable plastic cup.

References

References

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2. Nigel B. Hankin. (1997). "Hanklyn-janklin: a stranger's rumble-tumble guide to some words, customs, and quiddities, Indian and Indo-British". Banyan Books.
3. (2 August 2004). "Storm In A Kulhar". Outlook India.
4. "Cakes and Desserts". Bittersweet NYC.
5. Sonu Jain. (6 July 2004). "Why Laloo's kulhad isn't as green as he makes it out to be". Indian Express.
6. Venkatesh Dutta. (4 September 2010). "कुल्हड़ में चाय और लस्सी नहीं चली लालू की रेल में (Kulhars for tea and lassi are a flop on Laloo's Railway)". Live Hindustan.
7. M. Rajendran. (14 June 2004). "Pots of money for tea in pot - Laloo's experiment with earthen cups comes at high price". [[The Telegraph (Calcutta).
8. Badiuzzaman. "अन्तिम इच्छा (Final wish)". Hindi Samay.
9. The Guide Team. (16 July 2010). "Must catch events this weekend in Delhi". Mid Day.
10. Palash Kumar. (9 June 2004). "Potters' luck!". Rediff.com.
11. Venkatesh Dutta. (6 July 2004). "A clay pot dictatorship". Indian Express.
12. (12 May 2008). "رےلوے اسٹےشنوں پر کلہڑ مےں چائے نہےں فروخت کی جا رہی ہے (Tea is not being sold in kulhars on railway stations)". Urdutimes.