For more than six decades, Ghulan Mohammad Wani guided oxen around a circular track, driving the wooden oil press that generations of his family have operated in the town of Pampore for more than 200 years.
At 82 years old, Wani has no known plans to retire. But whenever that day comes, it will bring the curtain down on the last manually operated seed oil mill in the Kashmir Valley and the age-old skills required to run it.
That day will mark more than a quaint historical milestone. For Ghulam’s loyal customers, it will mean the loss of a source of exceptional quality cooking oil, unmatched by commercially available alternatives.
The popularity of Wani’s product is such that customers leave their empty containers at the mill, often waiting patiently for weeks to have them filled with a few liters of oil. Other customers bring their own seeds to Wani, expecting a better quality of oil than they would get from a commercial miller.
Wani told VOA that his wooden oil press was constructed by his great grandfather more than 200 years ago and that he has been operating it with only “some minor repairs” since the early 1960s.
Remaining true to the practices he learned from his father, Wani crushes several kilos of mustard seeds with a spinning log beam while sitting cross-legged and putting pressure on the mortar with his aging body. The process takes a long time and a lot of patience, but Wani is determined to keep going as long as his health permits.
The health of his two well-trained oxen is also a concern. He alternates them every three hours to avoid overtiring them.
Despite the popularity of his oil, the process of producing it is much slower than that of machine presses. Wani is able to earn no more than 100 to 150 rupees ($1.22 to $1.83) a day, but he says he is committed to serving his community and resists the temptation to raise his prices.
Looking back, Wani recalls a time when his mill was more profitable. He saw his children married and was able to build a modest house. But today he is happy just to know he is preserving a dying custom.
Mustard oil is a very important part of Kashmiri cooking, rendering a unique heat, brightness and flavor to the food. It is no accident that his mill is located in Pampore, a town noted for its golden flowers and mustard blooms.
Wani’s home is known not only for his mustard oil but also for the soothing melodies of Kashmiri songs enjoyed by visitors like Adil Shabir Ashai, director of Marvel Technology Services and Information Systems, a Bahrain-based IT company with Kashmiri roots.
Stepping into Wani’s mud and wood house “becomes a source of spiritual rejuvenation, a reminder of the values that truly matter in life,” Ashai said in an interview.
Wani always has a smile on his face and sings Kashmiri folk songs. Every day at 9 a.m., he climbs the worn wooden stairs to the attic, where he sets up the mill and ties an ox to the wooden crank. Only time can tell how much longer that regimen will continue.
