by MTA Intl.
Wandering around the different departments after Friday’s lunch, the Jalsa Connect team came across a unique sight- men dressed in yellow with jet washers in their hands.
It was the pot busters! (AND THE POT BUSTING MACHINE)
After discovering these men (dressed in yellow) we soon realised that it was the ‘pot washing’ department. Exactly! Brave young men who turn pots filled with leftover stubborn rice, into shiny, shimmering and sparkling pots, ready for the next fill of rice or daal.
We decided to find out what all the clattering of steel pots was all about.
Ali Bajwa – pot washer
“I am a manger of an appliance company. I started pot washing one week before Jalsa. Today is our first day of Jalsa. We washed 600-700 pots. We manually wash the pots and their lids and then jet wash them”.
When asked about the system of workflow, Bajwa sahib said,
“There are 3 main kitchens which we serve… for example, one kitchen may say they want 250 clean pots. We have to provide those pots .”
When asked about the toughest part of the process, the rather tired Bajwa sahib (who was on his well deserved 10 minute break) said passionately :
“Looking at us, some people think that using a jet washer means this job is easy…they are wrong… the hardest part is lifting these heavy pots with a jet washer in one hand and the pot in the other… they weigh a lot; the old pots weigh about 9-10kg each whereas the newer ones weigh 23kg! [Definitely a workout!]… so twisting and turning a pot is no easy task”
600 pots washed each day by hand… If these guys opened a car wash? They’d be millionaires!
Commenting about the intensity and blessings of the work he said :
“Sometimes we are so lost in washing pots that we have no clue what the time is…..there are so many blessings working for Jalsa pot washing, because this is where it all starts. If there are no clean pots , there is no food… so I purposely pick this duty, because many say that it’s the most difficult one as washing dirty pots is no easy task. I want the blessings of the Promised Messiah.”
The pots are around 10kg each. Transporting them from kitchens to washing areas requires trucks and a team of pot transporter commandos
‘Pot washing machine’ operator
“Alhumdolillah, this year we have a purpose built pot washing machine, which has come from the Germany jamaat [ that’s true brotherhood]… it makes our task much easier as it can clean up to 55 pots within one hour. Yesterday we managed to clean 360 pots and Jalsa hadn’t even started. At peak time the machine can clean 450-600 pots during jalsa”
The Pot-washinator. Cleans 55 pots in an hour. Every kitchen owner’s dream.“This pot washing machine has three different settings which makes it hugely efficient
1) 45 second clean
2) 1 minute clean, and
3) 1.30 minute clean”
Lifting all these pots and loading them into the machine was clearly taxing, so we asked why he did this duty.
“I really enjoy this…My heart and soul gets satisfied. Everyone, whether a man, woman or child is working for the sake of God. If God is happy with us, that’s the only reason we are working. I’m very grateful that God has given me the opportunity to serve, as there are many Ahmadis in the world who just don’t have the chance…”
45 seconds and you have the cleanest pot you can get!We found out that the pot washing machine was designed and made by an aeronautical engineer, Dr Manan Haq sahib, under the guidance of Huzoor (who has taken a keen interest in this machine).
Observing the passion and dedication with which these men worked with, was truly breath-taking. After all, who would clean pots with such commitment and joy without reward?
An Ahmadi pot washer would, for the sake of Allah.
