Manoush Yeghishyan has been kneading dough and baking lavash for residents of the Janfida village in Armavir Marz for twenty one years.

Manoush first acquired her baking skills simply to put fresh bread on the table for her children. She gradually got hooked on making the Armenian traditional staple and says she won’t give up even if she strikes it rich.

She says that her craft has brought her many friends and a sense of pride and respect.

Manoush says lavash making is a profession like any other and that it should be marked by a holiday like other professions – teachers, soldiers, doctors. She says she’ll march to the parliament to urge MP’s to pass such a bill if they don’t on their own.

She currently takes orders from the villages 88 families and says that a computer would really make the process that much easier.

“Now, people have to walk to our house to place their orders. If there was a special holiday for us bread bakers, the villagers might get up a collection and buy me a computer. I could converse with people, check to see if the weather will be good for making lavash and many other things. Having a computer is a dream of mine,” Manoush says.

Using a computer for her business isn’t the only novel idea that Manoush has come up with. She recently decided to put up a notice on her house that in the event of a heavy snow those women in the village who want bread should send their husbands on a sled to pick her up.

Manoush changed her mind after having second thoughts about the risks involved. “I could fall off the sled and get hurt,” she said.

When we arrived, Manoush was at the house of a neighbour, baking bread. We heard the loud laughter of the women from afar. As residents put it, Manoush’s tongue ‘has no bones’ and she like to tell barbed jokes that put all around in stitches.

But the bread baker’s smiling face conceals a host of problems she faces and would rather not talk about.

The family house is unsafe; the outside walls on the verge of collapsing. Manoush says that a village neighbour helped them to buy construction material to build a new house. The family has already laid a new foundation close by but need funds to proceed.

Manoush lives with her husband, his mother and their three children. The only bread winners are her and a son who works on a nearby fish farm.

After a day’s work, Manoush brings home 2-3,000 AMD and ten lavash. When she goes to a village home to bake bread, Manoush sets her rates based on the customer’s nature.

“I charge good folk 2,000 and the grumpy ones, 3000. I also take home ten pieces. Maybe Indira Gandhi never ate fresh bread every day, but we do,” Maroush notes.

She says that what gets her ire is when townsfolk start to make jokes and ridicule people from the villages. Maroush frowns and says that you can even see this attitude on TV.

“There are villagers today who live better than city people. They have the kitchens, shower and everything. Conditions are good in the village. We can afford to get all dressed up and look spiffy like anyone else. I can get all duded up so that even my neighbours wouldn’t recognize me,” Maroush says, adding that village life is much more interesting than the city.

In addition to a bread baker, Maroush is also something of the village match-maker. Her skills in pairing up village lovers once got her into trouble. The mother of a girl found out what Maroush was up to and gave her a good thrashing.

Right now, the number one issue for the family is building the new house.

This past summer, Manoush took part in a culinary exhibition in Baghramyan and garnered much attention. She’s even been offered a few movie roles; and one from London. She hasn’t made up her mind and must talk it over with the family.

“Things are different in the village. A woman just can’t get up and leave, especially to go so far. People are much more jealous. A man will not let his wife take off like that alone,” is how Manoush describes the situation.

The famed lavash maker has also become particular regarding the reporters she’ll consent to see.

She’ll no longer meet with this or that reporter for an interview. Prospective reporters must look the part and be recognized in their field; just like Manoush is in hers.

Taking this into consideration, I requested that some people intercede with Manoush on my behalf. Luckily, I made the grade.