Aimai’s Star

You strive to give us a good picture of the endeavors and success of members of our community staying in all parts of the world.

I have already congratulated the Atash paste manufacturers (see "Adding spice to life,” Parsiana, February, 2003). I do hope in future more youngsters would try to do their own thing and not rely on bank jobs, etc for their livelihood.

Thinking of free enterprise brought to my mind the success story of my mother’s aunt. I have tried to remember her guts, hard work and enterprise in an age when women hardly worked outside their homes. I believe she was mentioned in the book Parsi Luminaries. I regret I have not seen the book, nor do I have any photo of Aimai kaki. Your parents’ generation must remember Star Bakery.

I remember her as the grand old lady of our family. We never hesitated when mummy asked if we would like to visit Aimai Ghamat. Though small in stature she was mighty in deeds and to us children she was great as the sole owner of the famous Star Bakery.

Her interests were varied and not restricted to her very successful Bakery business. She always found time to ask us about what we were doing and what we would like to eat at tea-time.

She always welcomed visitors and would listen with great interest to all the gossip. Many times while others were chatting she would take a short nap. It was well known that she never slept at night, while the bread was being prepared. After it was put in the big oven she would take her 40 winks.

According to my mother, Aimai married my mother’s kaka Jehangirji Commesariat late in life and became a widow soon. She always wanted to do things, so accompanied by her two brothers she went to England in the 1930s, to learn the basic details of preparing good quality bread, cakes and biscuits. She was an efficient and quick learner and on her return to Bombay, rented the ground and first floor of a chawl-like structure at Dadar belonging maybe to her family, as it was next to her family house and started her Bakery. She lived on the first floor and had the bakery, oven and shops on the ground floor.

Soon she started making pastries and other tasty items. I still remember the taste of her mince meat for the patties and rolls. It was cooked in the first floor kitchen and kept covered in the dining room. We as children loved to poke and taste it everytime we passed the room. In the vegetable patties rolls, she used to add boiled eggs, which had a special taste. Her mutton pies were delicious.

She later started making Indian sweetmeats. One lady would be sitting on the back verandah, cutting almonds and pistachios as decoration to the sweetmeats. They became other items to snack on whilst playing.

Aimai kaki was the daughter of Edulji Ghamat. She had six sisters and three brothers. She had several nieces and nephews and kept a close link with all. She even knew us by name along with our likes and dislikes.

Aimai kaki was a giver. She would send a small packet of biscuits to each niece and nephew’s home for us children to nibble at after our return from school.

One Navroz she called her favorite jeweller to make pearl studs for all her nieces and grand nieces.

After completing school we used to go on camps and outings, sure enough she would send a big box full of cakes and biscuits in case we were kept hungry and not fed well!

I had never seen her wear any jewelry or fashionable clothes, yet she was always interested in clothes and jewelry.

Her staff, right from the bakers, shopkeepers, clerks, accountants loved and respected and admired her. She was afraid of no one and would not tolerate any shortcuts or disobedience. Though small in stature, she was tough, and would not hesitate to slap her employees if she found them not working efficiently. She was over 60 years old when I came to know her, yet she would go up and down the stairs several times to supervise the staff.

The biscuits, which I loved to eat from her bakery, were wine biscuits, khari biscuits and khatai. All time favorites with all of us were her Xmas cakes and jam tarts.

Unfortunately, in spite of having dozens of nieces and nephews,none of them continued her work and the Star Bakery passed away into oblivion.

S. J. IRANI