Lessons from the Humble Mumbai Pav
- TalkingCircles
- Jun 3
- 5 min read
The teen members at the Young Writers' Club catch up with the latest news every week to analyze real life challenging situations, discover new perspectives and strive to find ways to solve a real life problem. In this process, they look at the big picture rather than restrict themselves one or two points of view. Recently, Mumbai's Legendary Mumbai Pav, appeared on our news radar. Mumbai Pav Bread owes its exquisite taste to the wood fired ovens that are somewhat of a legacy in Mumbai. But they contribute to pollution too. Should these banned? A Debate
The iconic Pav Bread which almost all of us relish with either a vada, bhajji or keema, even more so for Mumbaites, is in trouble. Pav Bread, a daily staple for especially the working class, was brought to Mumbai by the Portuguese. Their exquisite taste comes on account baking the dough in wood fired stoves. But these tend to contribute their bit to the heavily polluted air of Mumbai.
1000- odd wood fired bakeries over a year contribute a lot of pollution. The harm to every resident is equivalent to smoking 400 cigarettes.
Clean air is priority. Cutting down on sources of pollution is paramount. While this appears to be the most obvious course of action, the reality isn’t as simple as that.
Pav is a staple food for the working class. One of the major reasons is its affordability as well as versatile nature. It can go with a number of side dishes. This is a food that is also highly price sensitive. An increase in the price of ingredients pushed up the price of pav by Rs.3 for instance and the bakery owner found his regular customers complaining. For the working class for whom income is tight, a small rise in price of food can hurt considerably.
Who said anything about banning pav? Why not use cleaner ovens? Why not switch to electric ovens?
Yet another obvious course of action but reality is different. While electric ovens do not deliver on the same taste, the price of the final product tends to be higher. This will hurt the working class that forms a significant proportion of the population.
But, why something as small as these bakeries? Why not attack the larger contributors such as the construction sites, vehicles and infrastructure?
Hema Ramani, an environmental consultant who works on legal and policy issues says, that those are bigger contributors and hence more complex. Exact quote: "That's why we said let's look at faster, quicker, smaller transitions that can happen. Then you move on to the bigger ones."
Isn’t this move asking to eliminate a cultural heritage?
Pav is such an integral part of what Mumbai is.
Teens at the Young Writers’ Club weigh in on the matter…
As always, the teen members of the club, dived into to the crux of the matter. This time they first chose their stand on the matter and worked on finding information to back up their arguments. What followed was an intense debate. Which side is more convincing? That was hard one to decide.
Read on…
Against the ban of wood fired ovens in bakeries- opening arguments
Impacts small businesses in a big way.
Raises prices for a staple food of the masses.
Bakeries must organize themselves together to fight against the ban to mutually support one another’s businesses.
For the ban - opening arguments
Being small cannot be an excuse for small businesses to pollute their neighborhoods.
They must be helped to transition to cleaner baking methods.
This transition might actually work in their favor as it could facilitate expansion- no regulatory worries about adhering to measures to prevent pollution. This is a win win situation.
The Government of India has schemes in place to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Grants could be arranged to be of support to these small businesses. They aren’t being attacked.
Pollution is serious problem, no matter what the size of business.
This is a pollution source that can be easily controlled unlike nature induced landfill fires that are far harder to prevent as they can occur at any time. Take the example of one of Mumbai’s largest dumping grounds, Deonar. Sometimes, natural processes result in fires. The result was toxic smoke that covered a 5 km radius causing several health problems amongst people who live in the vicinity. The pollution caused is far more then 400 cigarettes. There is little than can be done to prevent natural processes that lead to fires in landfills. But small businesses such as bakeries can be controlled and monitored from time to time. Transitioning to cleaner means will eventually lead to lesser need for monitoring. Start with what you can control. Start small, make a difference!
Start with what you can control. Start small, make a difference!
Clash!
Bakeries that have been baking these Pav Breads for generations aren’t small. They feed a large working class. They are integral to the Mumbai heritage and is not something that can be changed overnight.
While it is true that Pav Breads have been made this way for generations, so has child labor and open defecation been around for generations, why even centuries. Haven’t we taken steps to abolish these practices for the well being of the society? By banning wood fired ovens, we are helping the bakers as well as the common population to have access to better health and lower medical bills. Isn’t that a step in the right direction?
Why should the poor be expected to carry the weight of climate action? How is this fair?
Why not attack the larger contributors first? Why the smaller businesses? Simply because they are easier to control?
Since electric ovens hamper with taste, why not use other means such as filter gauze (Smoke Zapper) that can filter the soot? Cut down on wood as fuel and instead use bio bricks which are environment friendly? Why does it have to boil down to eliminating a particular method that has proven to be good to deliver delicious Pav Bread?
Whether these alternative solutions will work or not? Only time can tell. For now, this is an interesting space to watch…
Previously published on the Musings from the Young Writers' Club, magazine, a Talking Circles Publication.
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The Young Readers' Club is a book club for the 8-12 age group. We also do vocabulary building activities and mini writing lessons for a little variety!
Writing programs for the 9-12 age group- Young Writers' Club Jr.
The Young Writers' Club program for the 13-16 age group offers a weekly platform to read and discuss curated articles from the news, observe writing approaches and practise one's writing skills.
NEW! Tween Tribune is an online magazine for the Young Writers' Club (Jr.) program for tweens. Weekly updates of our discussions are published. Once in 6 months, the best of writing by the tween members is made available to read.
NEW! Musings from the Young Writers' Club is an online magazine showcasing the work we do at the Young Writers' Club.
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