Saqlain Jobair, Comilla
There is only one day left before the holy month of Ramadan begins. Ahead of Ramadan, the villages of Comilla are holding a festival of muri frying. Employees are producing muri day and night at the BSCIC muri mills in Comilla and various nearby mills.
Since ancient times, muri has been one of the foods included in the Ramadan iftar menu, so its demand increases during the fasting month. Workers engaged in this profession are spending their time busy meeting the demand for muri.
A festival of hand-fried tapi rice muri is underway in various villages including Bagmara, Chandina, Palpara, Beltoli in Comilla. The muri from these villages is being sold in various markets including Chawkbazar, Rajganj, Badshamia, Balutupa Bazar in Comilla city. In every house of various villages including Bagmara, Chandina, Palpara, Beltoli, workers work from morning till late at night to fry the hand-fried desi muri.
Talking to people from Bagmar and Palpara villages, it is known that they earn their living by frying muri in two ways. Those who are financially well-off buy paddy from the market, process it and fry it. They earn around 500 taka per maund. And those who are not so financially well-off are given it for free by the shopkeepers. An adult can fry an average of 2 maunds per day. Young and old, men and women, all take turns frying muri. However, they said that women spend more time on this work than men. Because of frying muri, they have to stay near their burning stove for a long time, their skin color is black and copper. They said that they earn a little more money during the month of Ramadan compared to other times. Most of the people in those areas fry thick muri by hand, fried desi muri. Tapi rice rolls, ghee-gaj rice rolls, BSCIC B-R 11, Swarna, and Achia rice rolls are fried.
Yesterday, a crowd of buyers was seen at the market stalls in Chawkbazar, Rajnagar and Badshamia Bazaar in the city. After visiting some market stalls including Mamnun Store, Kalipada Store and Shantar Market in Chawkbazar, it was learned that Swarna is being sold at Tk 85 to Tk 90, Asia market at Tk 110 to Tk 120 per kg depending on the type, Rajni market at Tk 100, Tapi paddy country market at Tk 160 and Tk 170, and Ghee-Gaj market at Tk 140 to Tk 150.
Anwar Hossain, a shopkeeper, said that the price of muri has increased slightly due to rice, a daily necessity during Ramadan, and the mill owners.
Entering the market through gate number one of Teripatti, the big wholesale market in Comilla, we spoke to GSM Mamnun, the owner of the wholesale market Mamnun Store. He said, we three brothers have been doing business in this shop for 20 years. Two of us are masters graduates and the other is SSC. We use the chemical hydrose at a slightly lower price than the mill to make those markets, even though they are 40 to 50 taka less per bag, we do not sell them to the shops. We sell the best markets to the shops.
With Mostaq Mia, who came to buy muri in Chawkbazar, Comilla. He said, I buy wholesale muri from Chawkbazar for my shop. Since the demand for muri is a little higher during the month of Ramadan, the muri sells better this month than other months.
