beingdesh

Category: Travel

  • अमृतसरी प्रेम कहानी, जो हो न सकी…

    निकला था मैं देश देखने,
    खाने पीने, और कुछ अच्छा लिखने.
    क्या पता था यह सफ़र मेरा दिल तोड़ देगा,
    ग़म भरे मोड़ पर ला कर मुझे छोड़ देगा.

    भरवान दा ढाबा के वोह करारे कुलचे
    मदमस्त चने और खिलखिलाती लस्सी.
    फिरनी जैसी आपने कभी न खायी,
    नरम पनीर की बाहों में संतुष्टी पायी.

    चटोरेपन का अध्याय पूर्ण कर,
    जब निकल रहा था उदर से डकारो का स्वर.
    तभी आई पीछे से एक मधुर वाणी
    “Excuse Me”

    सुन के लगा यह तो है कोई अपनी,
    कानो में घुल सी गयी जैसे फिर वही मलाईदार फिरनी.
    लम्बा कद, गोरा रंग, हलके हरे नयन,
    पहली नज़र में ही मेरे दिल ने कर लिया उसका चयन.

    उत्सुकता से भरी, हलकी सकपकाई, हलकी चकराई,
    करना चाहती थी भारतीय खाने की पढाई.
    मैंने कहा मैं समझाता आपको क्या मक्खन क्या मलाई,
    मन ही मन कहा वाह कन्या तूने क्या किस्मत है पायी.

    बातो ही बातो में पता पड़ा घूम रही वोह अपना ७१वा देश,
    थी पत्रकार, करती खबरों से प्यार और गर्मी से क्लेष.
    वार्तालाप आगे बढ़ा, जन्मा प्रेम का नवंकुर,
    उन आँखों में भी दिखा बढ़ता लगाव क्षणभंगुर.

    उसने कहा कल कल दिन “साथ” करीबी गाँव है घूमते,
    अमृतसर की गलियों के स्वादों को चखते.
    दिल गया धड़क और बढ़ी मेरी आशा,
    पर पेट में हो रही थी गुडगुड और सिर में घनघोर तमाशा.

    इन सबके ऊपर आधे घंटे में थी मेरी बस,
    प्रेम और पेट के बीच हुआ मैं बेबस.
    मैंने सोचा यही थी अपनी कहानी,
    अलविदा कहते हुए आखों में आ गया पानी.

    जाते जाते मिला मुझे एक दोस्ताना आलिंगन,
    जिसकी यादो के सहारे कटेगा मेरा जीवन.
    माहौल तो पका, पर प्यार की फिरनी न पक सकी,
    अमृतसरी प्रेम कहानी, जो हो न सकी, जो हो न सकी…

    -अभिषेक ‘देसी’ देशपांडे

  • A Walk through Misty-cal Shimla

    It is still early in the morning and Shimla is slowly waking up to the misty morning chill and steaming tea vessels. The bus stop seems quite unprepared for 7AM in the morning, with newspaper vendors still unwrapping the Punjab Kesaris, and the bus windows being cleaned of dried vomit from yesterday’s torrid journeys. I walk towards a stall and ask for a cup of tea, sweetness much more than the heat of the first sip hits me. But I guess I require a sugar rush, for the long and tiring walk ahead.

    Walking through Shimla is as much an exercise as it’s an experience. I climb towards the mall, the city center so beautifully built by the British that you tend to forget the puffed up breath and tiredness. There is beauty all over, the old Victorian structures and wooden buildings, the cutest of school kids in their bright uniforms and toned blazers, beautiful people with an amazing Himachali sheen on their skin, and above all the mist filled scenery one can enjoy all year-round.

    Its around 8 AM now and the shops have started cleaning up for another day, I chuck the shops, shoo away the monkeys and walk towards the ridge after crossing scandal point. I buy a newspaper and sit on the old colonial style benches. Slowly the town seems to be waking up from its sleep. There is an extra-tone of brightness the sun has added to it, discussions are picking up all around, school kids are flocking the ridge area, and travel agents have started chasing the few tourists around.

    I walk down towards the Indian Coffee House, a century old institution serving Filter Coffee and breakfast to the mall’s flockers. I enter the coffee house, take a window view and order a coffee. As I look out of the window I feel a sense of completeness, it has been a morning well spent, observing people, being on the sidelines of active discussions, and just soaking in the fresh air. Well a lot of calories have been burnt, time to eat something now!

  • Episode I: What to eat in Varanasi?

    Episode I: What to eat in Varanasi?

    Anything. Simply, anything.

    Amidst all the chaos and confusion of Varanasi, food is one thing which instills some sense of order, with its simple yet mouthwatering flavors dominating a lot of other experiences one has in the city. Varanasi’s food is defined by its place in Hindu culture and tradition, its regional influences (Eastern Uttar Pradesh and proximity to Bihar), the influx of foreign visitors and their will to explore its cultural nuances, and above all its relationship with the river Ganga.

    I got an opportunity to taste some incredible food on my visit to Varanasi in July, and have some insightful conversations on the cuisine, preparations, and its fusion with external influences. Hope some of my experiences help you make a decision on What and Where to eat in Varanasi.

    Given there is a lot to talk about, I will put a follow-up post. In the second part I will share insights about the evolution of Italian food in Varanasi, Cafes, and much more.

    A couple of key points before I start:

    • When it comes to cleanliness, Varanasi is quite sad. Look around for clean surroundings, check if the stuff is being freshly prepared in front of you, and as a rule avoid drinking water at any place. You can’t run away from flies at any place but ensure that stuff you eat was well covered.
    • I am not liable for any stomach upsets 🙂
    Kachoris, chaats and all the fried delicacies you can think of. Kachori-subzi is the city’s stand out breakfast item. Remember you can have three variants of kachoris (fried snack usually filled with a spicy mix of pulses) :
    1. Simple puris served with aloo rassa (potato gravy) usually only served during breakfast;
    2. The regular kachoris stuffed with moong-daal served with aloo rassa or chutney;
    3. The mini-kachoris you will find on the ghaats served with aloo-rassa.

    There is no place in particular which you can choose and pinpoint on for having the best kachori in Varanasi, but MadhurMilan near Dashashwamedh is particularly famous. I ended up having it at a local sweet-vendor and was served 6 puris and subzi for 15 Rs. The small kachoris are mildly spiced and one can gobble up half a dozen easily without much hustle. Although all of them tend to be a bit greasy depending on the amount of oil which has been mixed with the crust. The aloo rassa has a strong presence of Hing (Asafoetida), but it tastes quite like the one at home. And yes do combine it with a plate of sweet-syrupy Jalebis.

    Kachori-subzi is the best consumed in morning after the famous Varanasi sunrise and a Holy Dip in Ganges (if you muster the courage to do it with the filth around).

    When it comes to chaat you will get all the usual variations ranging from Tikkis (potato patty served with chick-pea gravy), paani-puris and dahi-vadas. Again there are a million places to choose from but when it comes to chaats, Kashi Chaat Bhandaar is an institution in itself. Located close to Dashashwamedh, this small shop run by KeshriJi and the family serves all the popular chaat items. I got a chance to taste the Tikki (mildly flavored made in Ghee), Dahi-Puri and Pani Puri here.

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    But the clear winner is the Tamatar Chaat (Tomato Chaat). A cross between Maharashtrian Pav-Bhaji and a Kathiawadi Sev-Tamatar, this seamlessly fuses the spicy with sweet and sour, complete with a helpful dashing of crunchy Boondi Sev.

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    Your body might attain salvation through a dip in Ganga, but your stomach won’t attain the same unless you have the Tamatar Chaat at Kashi Chaat Bhandaar.

    Interacting with Rajesh KeshariJi was quite an interesting experience, his family has served chaats for three generations now, and as he gleefully boasted about famous people visiting the shop he couldn’t stop smiling through his Paan-stained teeth.

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     He claims Tamatar Chaat to be the family’s original (and proudest) invention and he will ensure that you don’t leave without tasting his bomb-sized Gulabjaamuns (Fried Mawa balls soaked in sugar syrup) or the Malaidaar (super creamy) Kulfi-Falooda.

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    Ok and apart from Kachoris and Chaats there are tonnes of things you will find walking on the ghaats, like these awesome pakodis we had near Assi.

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    Litti-Chokha.  A popular dish from the Eastern U.P. / Bihar region, Litti Chokha represents how simple and delightful Indian food can be. Littis are charcoal-baked wheat balls, stuffed with a Bhojpuri staple ingredient Sattu. Sattu is gram flour prepared by roasting gram in hot sand.

    So what is so unique about the Sattu in Varanasi which makes its Littis so flavorful? If one has to believe the locals, the sand comes from the beds of River Ganga, and adds a unique taste to the Sattu. Maybe this was too far fetched a connect for me, but if you ta
    ste the simple Lahi-Chana (Puffed Rice and Grams) cracked in hot sand and sold on the shores of Ganga, you will somewhat agree with theory.

    Chokha is a mix of mashed Roasted Brinjal (Baingan Bhartain India, and similar to Baba Ghanoush minus the Tahini), mashed potatoes, lightly spiced with a dash of freshly chopped tomatoes, onions  and cucumber for crunchiness.

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    You can have this dish at multiple locations in the city, but I recommend the restaurant Baati Chokha (close to the Railway Station at Teliabagh). You can enjoy this delicacy at a neat and clean place and they have fancier variations like the Paneer stuffed Litti, and a variety of other Indian dishes to choose from.

    Dairy products- Sweets, Lassi and Thandai.When it comes to high-quality dairy products Mathura leads the popularity charts, but I don’t think Varanasi will be anywhere behind.

    I got addicted to this LassiWaala’s Lassi near Assi Ghaat (well that rhymes!). Lassi is served in Kulhad (small earthen cups), with a heavy helping of cream on top, and a few drops of rose-water on top. I can’t articulate the goodness of Lassi in Varanasi, for me it is better than the one I have had in Amritsar, or in Indore. It is much more creamier in consistency, and I think is blessed by the River Ganga herself.

    Again there is no particular place to have a Lassi or Thandai in the city but you can trust Raju KeshariJi sitting right at the Dashashwamedh Square for an amazingly refreshing Thandai.

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    When Raju Keshariji (not related to Rajesh Keshariji from Kashi Chaat) started talking about the mix of Thandai and the spices which go into the making of it, he was hardly comprehensible through his paan-stuffed mouth. Then he popped in a pouch of Gutkha and still managed to gulp in half of glass of Thandai at the same time!!! (One of the most shocking image I carried back from my trip). When I offered him advice on how eating so much Paan can lead to health issues, he replied:

    BhaiSahab, Saccha Banarasikhaana chodd sakta hai, Paan nahi. (A true Banarasi can leave food, but can’t leave Paan)

    By the way for a Bhang infused Thandai, move to the Government Approved Bhangshops near the temple. You never know what you will end up drinking at other places!

    You will see a lot of shops selling milk-based mithais(sweets) in Varanasi, although please be aware of the fact that given the number of tourists entering the place, and the quantities they are producing it might not always be safe! Milk and milk-based products do tend to have a number of adulterants. Shops like Madhurmilan are bigger and one can assume them to be safe.

    Banarasi Kalakand is the most popular sweet here, although I found it a bit too sweet for my taste.

    To be continued…

     

  • So who wants to join me in Kerala :)

    While I was on travel last month I came across a travel writing contest being organized by Mystikal Holidays, a Kerala based travel firm. I was in Shimla and wrote a small note on it.

    You can read the note here.

    So I have won couple of days at this good looking place at Kovalam (Uday Samudra Beach Resort). So who wants to join me in Kerala :)???

  • A Deepdive into Varanasi: Into Freedom, Food, and Filth.

    The chaos around Varanasi represents the enormous variety of religious traditions which Hinduism stands for, at the same time also reflecting the freedom of belief it stands for. But to call Varanasi a city laced with simply Hindu traditions is not enough, it’s a city which is quite literally bathed in the Ganga, and ready to absorb all the filth around to come up with a refreshing feel day after day, just like the river itself.

    Varanasi offers the kind of freedom- both artistic and religious – which no other Indian city offers. An Indian would feel both puzzled and ashamed after looking at foreigners learning Sanskrit, practicing tabla or picking up Hindustani classical music. Guess a foreigner is equally amazed by the visual appeal of the evening Ganga Aarti and the ceremonious funeral pyres. Be it the freedom of expressing oneself creatively or realizing eventual salvation from the body, the city stands for freedom in its true sense.

    As I crisscrossed the staircases along the ghat, I witnessed the chaotic crowds merging into an eternally silent river, as if it was just there to pacify it. The dominance of Indians at the ghats near the Kashi Vishwanath temple started thinning down as I started moving towards Assi Ghat. I started exchanging smiles with more and more “high” foreigners on my way, some on  a healthy dose of bhang, some on Indian culture, and some on something really high. I saw them clicking pictures, reading Hindu religious texts, meditating, and enjoying few lovely cafes which have sprung up in the vicinity of the ghats. I think one of the reasons why Varanasi holds a special place amongst a lot of foreign traveler’s itinerary is this sense of “high” which the city provides them, with or without being actually high.

    When it comes to food Varanasi offers the variety to shake up even the rested souls. Popular items include Litti-Chokha the flagbearer of Eastern U.P./Bihari cuisine, chaats which are a milder variant of their Western U.P. counterparts, kachori-subzi, and dairy items like hot thickened milk, thandai, lassi and milk-based sweets. The long stay and involvement of foreigners has resulted in few brilliant cafes, bakeries and Italian joints along the ghat area. But a trip to Varanasi is incomplete without having kachoris, a kulhad full of lassi, and to top it all – a benarasi paan.

    And then comes the filth. And the garbage. And the extraordinary excess of it.

    On my second day in Varanasi I decided to take the holy plunge, but I was welcomed with a floating parade of the top consumer brands in the country. An enticing ensemble of beverage brands including mineral water bottles, soft drink PET bottles and juice boxes dominated the bathing section at Assi Ghat. I felt sorry for my friends selling shampoos and detergents, and for a pretty foreigner wrapped in Zeenat Aman-like Sari (from Satyam Shivan Sunderam, but well covered!!) who actually managed to take a dip in the mess.

    The sad part is that Ganga is a supremely appalling state. It is so sad that the slogans written on the ghats tend to be rather painfully funny. Along with consumer products and the usual suspects like polythene and human/animal waste, dead bodies appear out of nowhere to give a friendly appearance. And it’s just not about Ganga. I will never forget the incident when an Autowaala asked me to get down in Pandeypur in Varanasi, as half the road was covered with garbage and the other half was a pit full of water.

    But as I ended my gastronomically satisfying and visually chaotic yet colorful time at Varanasi, I also carried a sense of shame, both in the way we have treated Ganga and the way we have disconnected from some aspects of our culture, something which the foreign travelers have picked up on.

    More than anything the visual of burning funeral pyres alongside thousands of people bathing in Ganga in all colors of life made me think about life and death and so many other possibilities.

    Overall experience: Chaotic yet peaceful, colorful yet grim, tiring yet relieving.

    Food experience: Don’t miss the kulhads of lassi and chai, and kachoris and chaats. Be careful of the stuff you eat though, it can quickly turn from a Gastronomical dream into a nightmare.

    Places to stay: Cheap ashrams and guest houses both at Assi and Dashashwamedh ghat, don’t spend more than Rs. 200-250, and in peak season not more than Rs. 400-500.

    Things to do: Boat ride in the evening at the time of Ganga Aarti, Sunrise, Walking through the markets and witnessing chaos and people spitting the city red.

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    Have you been to Varanasi yet? What were your experiences in the city?

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  • We are what we eat and whom we meet.

    How about listening to locals talking about their life and aspirations while sipping a chai and dipping a Parle-G; or sharing a drink with an unknown traveler listening to their experiences; or cooking meals in someone’s kitchen creating chatpate menus; or weaving sari with a local weaver; or gobbling those lovely cutlets on Indian Railways while chatting with the most known strangers; or just covering the entire length of the country in a month, away from the weekly routine of working and waiting for weekends? Sounds decently interesting? Just a bit of what my India, or desh will be like for the next month.

    For a month, I will be traveling across the country, biting my way through local cuisines and eating the brains out of all the adorable people I meet. It excites me as I get to do what pleases me the most, eating, learning, writing, and above all talking to people.

    Ironically I have a much organized and clear plan for the chaotic Northern India, and a much more random one for the prim and proper Southern India. Half my tickets are booked, none of my stays are planned, and I am still to figure out of use a DSLR which my sister is lending me for a month. But most importantly I have planned what I intend to taste at each location and the kind of people I want to meet.

    There are few people who have inspired me a lot recently, most notably Paul Theroux and his travel stories captured in The Great Railway Bazaar, and few travel writers but most notably a girl named Shivya and her writings at The Shooting Star.

    I will be crossing most of the following cities on my travel, in case you happen to be in any one of them would be glad to catchup. The list includes: Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, Delhi, Shimla, Punjab (Amritsar, Chandigarh, Ludhiana), Bangalore, Pondicherry, Coonur, Kochi, Kannur, Bekal, Mangalore, Goa and Mumbai.

    To follow all the updates from my trip please keep visiting the blog, like the Facebook page, or follow @desh on twitter.

    Featured image by Ankit Varshneya.

  • Fear of Motion Sickness

    The idea of traveling is often accompanied by a variety of emotions and a switching mental state. Love, laughter, disgust, amazement, fear, curiosity are all significant emotions one can relate with travel. But nothing disturbs our mental state more than the fear of motion sickness on travel.

    Motion sickness is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system’s sense of movement (Wikipedia).

    In simpler terms it involves travelers puking, or feeling uncomfortable in an about-to-puke stage (called nausea) while traveling on different modes of transport. Interestingly throughout my life I have been through all of the above listed emotions when it comes to motion sickness.

    As a kid I was completely occupied by the idea of vomiting on travel. I recall the bus journeys we took to Bilaspur to catch trains, or the long drives from Korba to Jabalpur, or the shared taxi rides from Bhopal to Devas, I had left my mark on an entire state. Avoiding food, gulping soda, keeping a clove in my mouth, drinking less water, popping Avomine pills or keeping the window open- I tried everything, but everything failed. The constant fear in my mind of vomiting on road journeys, the disgust of actually doing it, and the love of my parents when they helped me clean up sort of sums up how I traveled on that dusty, warm, red-soiled, bumpy, teak-wooded M.P. landscape. Just to add  I was traveling on the worst roads in the world.

    And one day it stopped. I went through an entire road journey without throwing up. I was amazed by the sudden stoppage of uneasiness and vomiting. What a relief it was!!!

    But nothing can actually beat the relief one gets immediately after the act of vomiting. The freshness which follows vomiting is in a close competition with the event of a first rain, or that of taking a dip in an icy chilled Ganga at Har ki Paudi, or drinking water having saunf.

    But I started missing it, motion sickness was inseparable component of all my travels as a kid, almost as inseparable as a Digital Camera is to any travel nowadays, and from that day the way I traveled changed forever.

    Although like all things motion sickness came back again and again in all my travels, and non-travel situations, stirring up various emotions and creating memorable instances. Few of them which come to my mind:

    1. I was almost about to land in Mumbai when I saw the acres of slum encroachments visible near the landing strip of Mumbai Airport. All of  a sudden I smelt a strong smell too. I was amazed at the degree of stench and filth of the slums that it was able to reach the interiors of plane flying above it!!! Till I realized that a kid sitting behind me had puked.
    2. We had just had a brilliant Kerala style ayurvedic massage in Munnar and stepped out for a light bite. All of a sudden I see my friend who had undertaken the same treatment running all over the place and vomiting. The situation was extremely funny and evoked a sort of a contagious laughter with all other friends catching on to the situation.
    3. Every morning we used to reach Shimla bus stand early in morning, in between the steaming chai vessels, an army of sweepers cleaning the stand and the buses coming out of yard. One significant feature of Himachal buses are their vomit-stained sides from the previous days. In Himachal I realized that motion sickness is just a way of life. If spitting outside the window and leaving a Guthka mark is common to buses in M.P., vomiting is normal to people in Himachal. So when motion sickness came back to me after so many years on road travel, I felt normal, without any guilt or disgust.

    More than the stories I guess if you are or have been suffering from this sickness I have my own set of cures for the same. Please try them at your own risk:

    1. Never ever brush your teeth by Colgate in morning before you leave for journey, Colgate Gel works but not regular Colgate
    2. Mix three tablets of Hajmola in one glass of cold Limca and drink it, works wonders
    3. Avoid dairy products and high on sugar drinks
    4. Have fruits which leave a kasela swad in your mouth like Jaamun, Amla
    5. If you stop on the way on a temple, and if the prasad is Coconut, keep it in your pocket and eat it after the journey

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    Do you have interesting stories related to motion sickness or some whacky cures for the same which you would like to share?

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    Featured image by Prasoon Gupta

  • The First Sip

    Years ago when I was a kid, I had accidentally discovered and realized the existence of Alcohol. I had stumbled upon a bottle of Whiskey, while looking for something in my Father’s wardrobe. Till that point of time I had seen people drinking on-screen, but I certainly couldn’t imagine my father doing the same. There was something different about that moment when I held the bottle in my hands. Excitement, curiosity, or guilt? All I knew was that I will never drink alcohol when I grow up. There was something extremely repulsive about it back then.

    Slowly things around me were changing, I started noticing the bottles of VAT 69 more prominently than Helen Aunty’s cabaret numbers while watching a 70s movie; I realized that the reason Murali Bhaiya made those brilliant appetizers at Nucleus Club parties – the taste of those egg cutlets and smell of that fish fry still lingers vividly in my memory; I realized that drinking alcohol can be fun, can make uncles go mad in New Year Parties, can lead aunties to talk about behaviour of those uncles and can lead to kids getting excited about it. There was always that bit of excitement in class whenever our Chemistry teacher threw out the name of C2H5OH from his mouth. Few of my friends had taken up smoking and chewing tobacco but drinking alcohol was still faraway.  Alcohol in those days to me was a distant dream and I told to myself, I will never ever smoke. But drinking, yes will consider that for sure.

    Few years later engineering college presented the first opportunity to breakaway for many of us. Of course the stupid cinema of 90s had coloured our thoughts to such an extent that many of us still believed colleges to have sprawling lawns, a healthy sex ratio, more pyaar than padhai and those amazing costumes (girls wearing frocks with puffed shoulders and flowery belts and guys wearing tight jeans with Action shoes). Fortunately (much more than unfortunately) I landed up in a dry state. Although the presence of  lawns in my college was evident, I would rather not comment on the rest of parameters mentioned above.

    Gujarat has been a dry state because Gandhiji was born there. It would have been much more interesting if Gandhiji would have been born in Punjab, very very interesting.

    Despite being a dry state, in Gujarat alcohol is easily available. Be it petrol pumps, paan thelas, soda waalas, almost everyone is a supplier or claims to be one. During my engineering years I still thought about drinking sometimes, but the phattu me (or the law-abiding me) was scared to take the plunge. Maybe I was waiting for the right time, maybe I just found spending money from home on drinking an inappropriate thing. As always I was confused to take a call.

    It was in this state of confusion, (just before the placements, end of 3rd year) we set out on a trip to Abu. I had read about Dilwara temple in school textbooks, and heard stories about Abu Road station’s brilliant omlettes and rabdi from Delhi junta boarding the Ashram express. Although I had never realized that Mt. Abu was flocked by Gujarati tourists for another major reason, to get DRUNK. Legally that is.

    The trip was a memorable one for many reasons. 17 odd guys (and healthy ones) going for a trip packed in one Tempo Trax from Ahmedabad to Mt. Abu; one of my friend showing his ability to sleep anywhere, from railway station platform, to roads, to bus floors; visit to Dilwara temple on the final day of trip; all of us running out of money and a saviour coming up with 1000 Rs. But I will always remember this trip as the one I had my first sip. And what a sip it was!!!

    We gathered some money to buy a bottle of White Mischief (yes almost the cheapest Vodka available), a couple of bottles of Sprite, some lemon and Lays American Cheese and Onion chips. 8 of us sitting, 7 of them have had their first sips, and I was the only debutant. Visibly nervous, I was being constantly lectured by my friends about both the goods and bads of drinking. I was in no position to think that much, my motive was just to go for it. It was a mixture of emotions. Excitement, curiosity, or guilt?

    My friend passed me the glass, adding the caution, tera pehla hai, chota banaya hai. As I held the glass in my hand all those memories and thoughts which I have mentioned earlier passed before me. The strongest vision being of Dev Sahab drinking a Vat 69. Cheers they said and I gulped it.

    All I felt was warmth. I could trace the path through my oesophagus all the way to my stomach. I didn’t feel the sprite, neither did I feel the lemon, it was all warm. And I have had it in one shot.

    Hold the drink they said.

    And I kept on gulping them until I was four down. I was feeling warm in a so-called hill station. Slightly dizzy too. People were talking, and as always I was also talking. It was my first sip, and honestly it wasn’t anything special. It was something very normal. Not a big event as I had anticipated it to be. They asked me to go out for a walk so that I could feel better. But I told them I felt good. Or maybe I still didn’t know how I felt like.

    Was it excitement, curiosity, or guilt?

    As I recollect now this wasn’t actually my first sip. I had Mohua (an Indian liquor produced in tribal areas) at the end of first year, but it was a non-significant event, just had a bit in a dona.

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    What is your story of your first sip?

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    Featured image by Prasoon Gupta

  • A Day in the Life of an Indori Jalebi

    Indore is my kind of place: vibrant, extrovert, loud, confused about its future, and yet rooted to memories it has grown with. Despite being known across India for its food, the place is rarely explored except for people from Central and Western India. One can claim to have had its namkeens and sweets, but it’s a different thing to be there and be part of the Indori culture, so heavily dominated by its gastronomical aspects.

    I have traveled to Indore on numerous occasions, as a doting nephew to two loving aunts, as a caring brother and as a loving friend, and as a traveler exploring Indori food.  And on every occasion I have returned gratified although with an upset stomach due to excessive eating. It is difficult to go through the details of Indori food in length of a post, so I thought of having a companion whom I have met on every trip to Indore, and who could help us navigate the way Indore lives and eats (synonymous terms at Indore), the Jalebi.

    Jalebis are crispy saffron-colored sweets popular across India. They came to India through Iran, although India had its own version too, the Imarti. Jalebis are prepared from refined flour batter, fried in Ghee or Oil and dipped in sugar syrup. Imartis on the other hand are prepared from Urad Dal batter. There are other versions of Jalebi too like the Mawa Jalebi which is popular in Madhya Pradesh or the Chenna Jalebi popular in Orissa, both of them tasting a bit like Gulabjamuns and equally appealing.

    Jalebi at its core symbolizes everything about Indore’s culture and people. It lives the way an Indori does, in a bright and a colorful manner, sometimes arrogantly crispy on the exterior, but with a soft and gooey heart. It is an amalgamation of everything Indori, and is surely the most interesting person to know in town, as it can lead one to not only a plethora of culinary introductions, but also give one a snapshot of Indori life. It is an important component of the Indori food construct, it is not the superstar of Indori cuisine, but it helps us navigate through its delicacies as it is popular, pervasive, and present across all the meals.

    Every morning Indore wakes up to the smell of Jalebis served with Poha. Poha is snack prepared using water-soaked flattened rice and few basic spices, garnished with the famous Indori Sev and Jeeravan (a masala similar to Chat Masala, without the Amchur component). At Indore, the Poha is always fresh and soft as it is prepared and kept over a steamer. The soft feel of the Poha gives way to the crunchiness of Jalebi, with the spicy clove flavored Sev mingling with its hot and syrupy sweetness. A crunchy and refreshing start to the day, topped with a cup of hot, milky and sweet tea.

    A Jalebi can take two distinct flavors based on its thickness. The ones like the popular Chandni Chowk Dariba Jalebis are thickish, with a mushy-juicy center, crisp exterior and much more seeped syrup. They leave a more long lasting flavor as one tends to nibble on them for a relatively longer time. The others are the thin more crispy ones, like the ones served at Haldirams or at Indore with Poha in mornings, not so sweet, and very difficult to eat once cold. Most of the Jalebis lie on this spectrum of thickness, with the ones on the extremes tasting the best.

    Back to Indore and its lazy afternoons. Post the lunch and a nice siesta Indoris are ready for a dose of Kachoris (both stuffed with dal and with potatoes), Samosas, and Batla Patties (A Pea filled snack, with a covering of Potato). What I have noticed that the Jalebis served in evening are thicker and softer, probably because it is served with crisp evening snacks. Along with the snacks, sometimes a plate of thick dahi or a glass of lassi (the famous one at Ghamandi Lassi) is combined with Jalebi to create a tempting Khatta-Meetha combination, driving Indoris to work and have engaging conversation throughout the evening.

    Further in the evening the old city area in Indore Sarafa-a jewelry market turns into a salivating marketplace of delicacies. Here one would find Jalebi’s elder brother- the Jaleba. Served only in sizes of ½ Kg and 1Kg Jalebas are the perfect for families and friends to share and enjoy. And it is the perfect way to end a snacky evening tour of Dahi Wadas, Kachoris, Garadus (Yam deep fried and tossed with chutneys, like Delhi’s aloo chat), Bhutte ka kis (grated corn cooked somewhat prepared like Poha) and Shikanji (a fusion of rabdi, lassi, falooda) one can have at Sarafa. And there are few dishes like the Jhannat Kachori (Kachori filled with red chilies) which certainly can’t do without the pairing of Jalebis.

    Even when the markets close and it is late at night Indore is still awake and craving for a glass of hot sweet milk garnished with Chironjis. At the bus stand or at Rau one can grab a glass of milk with a healthy layer of malai and gulp it down with a Jalebi, probably cold and prepared sometime in evening, but becomes more than edible with the hot milk.

    After a hectic day of work and eating one has to just wait for a few hours, it will be morning again and Jalebi will be back with Poha.

    Indore would go back to be same again: vibrant, extrovert, loud, confused about its future, and yet rooted to delicious jalebi-filled memories it has grown with.

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    Which is your favorite city for eating out? Any city which beats Indore?

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  • Return to Korba

    Over the past 2-3 years I have travelled across various parts of the country. Most of these trips were planned and executed around a friend’s wedding, and given I have had so many friends getting married in the recent past, and at locations such as Indore, Dhanbad, Raipur, Kerala, Rajasthan, Interiors of Maharashtra, and Delhi, these trips have resulted in experiences worth mentioning. On some trips the destination overpowered the entire wedding experience, and at some the wedding was an event to remember. Needless to mention I have also returned gastronomically satisfied from most of these trips, learning a lot about the diversity across Indian food preparations, wedding delicacies and food on the road, rail, air and even water.

    But out of all the trips the one which I made this weekend holds a special place, simply because of the people and place involved. And yes as always slightly because of my flirtations with food on the trip.

    I was going back to Korba after about 9 years, a period in which I have moved away significantly from what I was at Korba. A relatively simple person who was mostly immersed in books, gully cricket, and mostly lost in his own thoughts went on to talk, travel, eat, make friends, and talk a lot. I became more expressive and confident, adapted new habits – both good and bad, met a lot of people from different backgrounds, slowly started spending more money and became more experimental about life in general.

    It is interesting to note how roles change once we are back in Korba, whatever we have done in the past so many years, when my school friends get together, we behave as we behaved for all those 14 years in school. Surprisingly, they are the only ones who know how to make me sit quiet. Very rare! And for us everyone is still the same, no one is a Doctor, MBA, Engineer, CA, or a businessman; everyone is just the same old DPS Korba student they were, and I am still the Pattu they met in 2002.

    Korba has changed, the township hasn’t. The city seems well maintained with brilliant roads, shining shopping complexes and even a flyover! Although all the forests around the city have disappeared and all I saw on the road from Churri towards Korba and beyond were just power plants.

    The township remains the same, all our addas are still there as we left them. But I heard that the kids are gone (after 6th most of them are packed away to a IIT/Medical coaching location), people hardly come out, there are no fights in club for badminton courts or on Mansarovar to play cricket, and those community gatherings and activities which gave the township its life have become rare.

     

    Random pic about Korba

    Oh, by the way I also tasted the famous Chhattisgarhi Daal Wada with the spicy brick red chutney (a cross between a schezwan sauce and a pickle masala), my favorite Indian Coffee House Cutlets –potato and beetroot stuffed and shallow fried tikkis (although I tasted them in Nagpur as I knew I won’t have time in Korba), 4 different dosas (one outside the CST subway, value for money Butter Sada; second from Nagpur Coffee House, now Rs. 40 as compared to Rs. 14 back in the days of school; third at a friend’s home at Bilaspur, simple homemade dosas served with a spicy peanut and dal chutney; fourth on the return journey at Bhusaval junction, a regular dosa with a Jeervan like spice sprinkled on top, hot and fresh), and some good food at the wedding. But for me the cutlets stood out, and to benchmark them I even had the railway cutlets (https://beingdesh.com/2010/04/the-story-of-indian-railway-cutlet/), but I would say the Coffee House ones win, again because of the memories attached to it. On the healthier side we munched onto tonnes of Oranges and Sandwiches parceled in Raipur. The craving for sweets was satisfied through Spongy Rasgullas, Flavored Dry Fruit Bites (a sweet which according to me is the true competition to my other favorite, Mysore Pak), and Santara Barfi (a petha style sweet, flavored with orange juice).

    As always I have deviated from the core discussion around Korba to food, but then things have been this way since back I was child, food has always been a key component of my discussion, at Korba, or after that.

    In hindsight moving out of Korba was probably good for me, as I understood life and India in a better way and become truly Desi. But still Pattu remains a part of me, and I hope it continues to be.