82-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Wani from Namblabal, Pampore, in Pulwama district, is one of the last few keeping the tradition of ox-driven mills alive in Kashmir. Ghulam Mohammad Wani, known as Mum Wani, has been working in his mill for the last six decades, since he was in class 5, when he learnt it from his parents and grandparents, and maybe the last in the entire Valley who is working in an ox-driven mill.

People prefer to buy market oil and demand for manually extracted oil is very less but there are some customers who still prefer to use this extracted oil. It takes around 3-4 days to process 100 kg mustard. Wani barely earns 100-200 rupees after a full days work. The traditional mill which he operates is made of wood and is run by using bulls to extract oil from mustard seeds. The ox attached to a pole moves around the wooden scooped circular pit in the centre and as the ox moves around it the seeds are crushed due to pressure exerted in the pit. The ox used in the mill cannot be used for any other purpose.

The oil extracted through this process is considered superior to the packaged refined oil available in the market. According to Wani, the oil extractor (Taelwani) was once known as Khoje kaar (Royal Man’s art), but this traditional oil mill is now extinct in Kashmir.