A Reuters file photo
This seemingly useless material is still a main source of fuel in many villages of the country.
Dung cakes, a by-product of animal husbandry, are traditionally used as fuel for cooking food in a domestic hearth.
These dung cakes are handmade and are prepared by village women from cow or buffalo dung. In Sargodha, dung cakes are known as pathis. The most common term used in the region is uple.
Even in today’s world, while in certain villages access to gas is available, wood is used in others to ignite fire. There are also two to three months in a year when there is a shortage of wood for fuel. In such times, these uple meet the energy needs of the villagers.
These are dung cakes from cows that are moulded with bare hands with a curvature to be able to stick them to the walls. The dung cakes are left to dry for two to four days after which they are put in a pile, covered with thatch and used when needed.
Ghulam Fatima, a resident from a village, told The Express Tribune of three different ways for making uple. One of the most used and beneficial methods to prepare uple is one in which the dung is moulded by hands with a curvature and whipped to the walls.
The other types of dung cakes that are prepared include dome-shaped uple which are placed in a circular form to dry on the ground. Another type is the smaller uple which are made by fists. This type is also dried on the ground.
Fatima said that the benefit of the uple planted on the wall is that they do not take up much space and remain relatively better protected in case of rain. “Other types of uple can take up much space at home and are also damaged in case of rain.”
It is also a skill to attach dung to the wall in the form of uple, she added. “The uple are placed above the ground on the wall in a format to dry maximum number while maintaining their shape.”
This way, there is no space between the uple and the pieces do not overlap each other, she further said. “Women can apply the uple by throwing them three to four feet higher than their own height.”
In addition to being burnt for cooking in the absence of wood and gas, in the countryside dried cow dung has more importance as it is used in boiling milk and kindling ‘hookah’, a pipe traditionally used for smoking flavoured tobacco. It is believed that burning uple placed in hookah adds more quality to smoking.
Rana Abdul Waheed Khan, a landlord of Chak 126 who uses uple in hookah, said that although any type of coal can be used in hookah, uple burn for a much longer time
In the countryside, uple made from cow dung are economically beneficial too as women store them after drying and sell them by weight.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2020.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ