On a recent trip through Punjab, I had the opportunity to witness the production of gur (unprocessed sugar), which I found to be fascinating. Here's how the process goes: a crusher presses raw sugar cane to squeeze out its juice. The yellowish juice is then 'piped' into a huge vat, where it is boiled until it thickens. The thickened, coagulated juice floating on top is then scooped into a boiling vat next door, where it is further thickened. By this time, the juice is a dark green and is thick and syrupy. The process is again repeated in a final vat, where the coagulated syrup turns brown and thick. The thick, caramel-like paste is then scooped onto a gigantic flat-pan, where it is cooled, and beaten with a shovel-like instrument. The cooled mass of gur is then packed like blocks of stones into squares of cloth.It was almost like being in an Indian-village version of Willy Wonka's chocoloate factory. The gooey mess looked so good I felt like jumping into it. Seriously.
Also en route was a Jain mandir in the making. Interestingly, alot of modern-day religious sculptors - like the ones in these pictures - are hired laborers from poor states like Orissa, where the backbreaking job of stone-cutting is the only kind of work they can get. Well, on the brighter side, they are probably raking in good karma.
