I don't typically have a computer at home, and so don't have access to the wonderful sport of "web surfing"'. Yet it's quite frustrating. I've now spent over an hour trying to find something on a Bister! I thought it would be nice to have one to carry my bedding on the train to move up north. Surely I could find one on e-Bay or something! But first I didn't even know the spelling, or if there is an English equivalent. I did find the word a couple of times usually as "bistar", which is Hindi for mattress. I was terribly sidetracked by Bicester that is pronounced bister, but it appears to be a town in the UK, that has a train station and has a few luggage stores. Two other words that I connected in my google search to try to help hunt down the word.
It appears that a standard item of one's travel luggage from my youth growing up in India is no longer in vogue, and perhaps has become extinct! How very very sad! From what I can tell there are still bundles and tin trunks, but the bedding roll, or bistar is nowhere to be found.
The bistar that I remember having was a green canvas. When laid out it was only about 4 ft with two pockets on either end. You would lay your bedding in and the pillows in each pocket and then roll it up and leather straps would tie it up. So you could really stuff it if you wanted to. When traveling on the train, you would open the bistar up and have a soft something to lie on, your pillow and a blanket (if needed). It was quite wonderful. It was common to have to wait for the train on the platform and the rolled up bedding was a great soft seat! I suppose it was not too comfortable to carry, but koolies would carry all your bags on their heads and get you to your compartment on the train
koolies click on box
So has ANYONE seen a bistar any where? Now I just want one for pure nastolgia's sake. How could I have just left my bistar and not kept it for ever? If you know where I can find one, please do tell!
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