Foodtrip to Goa - Best Places to Eat in Goa

I doubt if any coastal line on the Arabian Sea is as famous as Goa in the globe (could have said ‘the universe’ but I am not too sure about aliens as they are yet to come up with their own travelogues J) In the peak season, Goa’s aboriginals are reduced to minority and what we could see is herds of foreign tourists whizzing past the narrow roads of Goa. And since they are not always on the bike, they can be always found in different restaurants, cafeterias, shacks or their residential places. Tourists and travelers from such diverse territories congregate here. It is obvious that people generally find comfort in home food. The best example could be a houseboat in Dal Lake, Sri Nagar serving Poha to a Maharashtrian entourage or Idli Wada overpowering the chole puri at Vaishno Devi Shrine at Katara.

Goa’s popularity brings in tourists and travelers from diverse cultures and countries. No wonder it has emerged as one of the best food hubs in India due to the quality and variety of food served here. Some have actually evolved into institutions like Tito’s, Curlies, Martin’s. Myself and my colleague, Ashish (@ashish0712 on twitter)were keen to make the weekend trip to Goa as a memorable food trip, making the most of the available 2 days in Goa. Me being a vegetarian had done enough research and also took an expert opinion for the places to visit.

Following is the guide especially for veggies to enjoy Goa’s food to the fullest if you happen to be in North Goa (North and South of Chapora River)

1.       Breakfast  at Lila Café – This was a no brainer. Just before the trip, I had seen the ‘Highway on My Plate’ episode anchored by the legendary Rocky and Mayur (@rockyandmayur on twitter) eating their way in Goa. Although Rocky had a wonderful spread of his beloved meat stuff on the table, Mayur was not at all disappointed by the vegetarian options available. This place was marked for the breakfast on Sunday.

Fruit Bowl

Due to a tiring drive from Mumbai to Goa via NH17 on Saturday, it took us a while to understand that we are little late for breakfast on Sunday. Who cares? Make merry, have brunch! We reached Lila Café on the banks of River Bagha in minimal time using Google’s navigation system.

Located at the quaint spot, with white muslin drapes and white furnishings inside, cheerfulness vibrates in the space.

Veg Baguette, Croissant and Cheese Omlette

We settled at our table and like genuine foodies ordered a fruit bowl to start our breakfast. I was keen to try their muesli with curd but since we had already ordered for fruit bowl, I dropped the idea and turned towards more genuineness. Soon a vegetable baguette with cheese slices and a mighty croissant with plum jam appeared in front of me. In the meanwhile, Ashish had got his cheese tomato omlette which he loved and appreciated while eating. The veg baguette was good and filling though I must mention that the croissant we had was the best till date. With the plum jam and salted butter along with a cup of piping hot milk tea, we could have easily gobbled more. But we controlled ourselves. I dearly missed the pumpernickel bread which is also a signature dish of any German eatery.

So the day started well and we were happy for our belly as well as our soul. This is indeed a must visit and highly recommended place for all day breakfast in Goa.

Breakfast for 2 – INR 500-600 (veg)

RATINGS  :  Taste – 9/10  Ambience – 9/10  Service – 8/10  VFM – 8/10  

2.       Late Lunch at Baba Au Rhum, Arpora – Set in the residential area of Arpora in North Goa, this lovely pizzeria cum bakery is slightly difficult to spot at first place. Me and Ashish went about doing several rounds of Arpora before our navigation system failed and landed us in an unlikely residential area in Gaura Vaddo. You just have to be vigilant about a small boulevard on the left hand side while going towards Club Cabana in Arpora. You will never regret the efforts taken to reach this place.

Baba Au Rhum is popular for baking fabulous pizzas in Goa and is a reliable supplier of bakery stuff to most of the Goan food establishments. An afternoon visit to insipid Fort Aguada gave us some reason to do mandatory exercise and hence, even after good brunch at Lila Café, we landed at Baba Au Rhum. It didn’t take much time to finalize the order as we settled for a Mediterranean Pizza and a Caprise Salad.

The Caprise Salad which consists of discs of tomatoes topped with fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese and sprinkled with generous amount of basil leaves is served with warm breads. It tastes delicious. The showstopper however was the amazing pizza we had. Extremely soft base which forced us to use both the hands to hold the pie, was topped with melted cheese, sundried tomatoes, olives made it a heavenly affair. We further used the Caprise Salad stuff to enrich the topping of our pizza. Okay…this is the best pizza I ever had till date! We just felt that these guys are importing the pizza straightway from Napoli in Italy itself.

The homemade ice-cream at BAR is also very famous. But ironically, as with Lila Café we missed the pumpernickel bread, the most sought after chocolate ice cream was not available. The BAR guy recommended strawberry over lemon and it turned out to be very good ice-cream. Not too sweet, retaining the original taste of strawberries was a fantastic closure to our late lunch at BAR.

Never to miss the pizzas. You will be cursed if you miss these pizzas being in Goa.

A salad, a pizza and an ice-cream – INR 600

RATINGS :  Taste – 9/10 (Pizza 10/10) Ambience – 7/10 Service – 7/10 VFM – 8/10

3.       Dinner at Thalassa, Vagator – Thalassa is the place which is dubbed as arguably the best dinner venue in Goa and was the planned highlight of our Goa Food Trip. Thalassa specializes in Greek food (Thalassa itself means ‘the sea’ in Greek) Perched on the beautiful Vagator beach, Thalassa offers breathtaking view of the sunset as well as the sea. However, after having a late lunch at 4 pm, I was not keen to go to Vagator to enjoy the sunset. We came back to our beach shack at Anjuna and spent the evening drinking black tea and walking on the beach to prepare ourselves for the dinner.

The only mistake we made that we ignored the words ‘best dinner place’ and drove to Thalassa considering that a table would be waiting for us. As we entered the place, we were surprised to see the jam packed restaurant. We ignored one more thing…OMG…its Sunday! The attendant politely told us that it was unlikely that we would get a table as many are still in waiting and we had no prior reservations. Our hearts sank. I frantically pleaded with the attendant to make some arrangement but all in vain.

However Ashish came up with a brilliant idea of waiting at the bar where they serve starters also and pray to God to give us a table by the time we have spent enough money on starters. Fortunately, we found empty chairs at the bar and immediately ordered two caipiroskas (one of course a virgin for me!). How interesting that a drink without alcohol has the prefix of Virgin! Browsing through the starter’s menu, I first contemplated on Kalamata Olive Paste but dropped the idea of experimenting and went for Farmer’s Bruschetta. By the time we had couple of sips of our caipiroskas, the attendant came and directed us towards our table. We couldn’t stop thanking our luck.

Ratatouille/ Briami

The joy doubled as we settled at our table, I fired another salvo of another starter – Mini Pies (small super crispy samosas with separate stuffing of spinach and cheese). Then the farmer’s bruschettas arrived. These were the mightiest bruschettas I have ever seen in my life and we certainly had difficulty in eating them because of very tasty and heavy toppings. While going through the veg menu, the word which caught my attention was “Briami or Ratatouille” and with the consultation from our courteous waitress, we finalized veg. moussaka (Vegetable Lasagne) as well as Mushroom Lasagne. Lasagne is a type of pasta which is generally a rectangular shaped ribbon with generous fillings of vegetable and cheese topped with béchamel cheese baked in oven.

The lasagna busted my earlier notion of it being sweet and tasted amazing. I enjoyed my mushroom lasagna while Ashish hooked on to his Veg Moussaka. And then came the Briami (ratatouille), the Greek version of the famous vegetable stew topped with generous amount of cheese blocks with warm breads. Me and Ashish found it slightly tangier to our palette though happily finished it.

Baklava

I had already decided to order a ‘Baklava’ as our desert. Baklava is a sweet pastry finding its origin in Turkey and part of the cuisines of Ottoman Empire of Turkey and Central and Southwest Asia. Baklava has a characteristic taste and I actually liked it but Ashish was not too excited. After polishing off the Baklava, all we could have a big smile on our face. Thalassa turned out be the best place as it was expected.

Dinner for 2 – INR 3000

RATINGS :  Taste – 9/10 Ambience – 10/10 Service – 9/10 VFM – 8/10

4.       Lunch at La Plage, Ashwem – Drive to La Plage took us almost 1.5 hours from Old Goa. The suave French eatery located on the quaint Ashwem beach dishes out one of the best French fusion stuff in Goa. Supposed to be thronged by who’s who clientele, we didn’t spot any on a quiet Monday afternoon. But who cares when all we care is about food!

La Plage is probably the best place to have a lunch as the food is amazing and the view from the restaurant is superb. La Plage’s menu is pretty compact and offers very less veg options (considering its international clientele). It didn’t take us much time to finalize our order.

To start with, we ordered two virgin mojitos (firangi nimbu paani). Could be the best thing you can enjoy while looking at the lovely Ashwem beach. However, the “Bloody Mary Fusion” is also one of the highly recommended stuff in cocktails.

Couscous

We started with a humble ‘Laotian Salad’ and after tasting it, understood that why La Plage is so popular. Such a simple dish of vegetables with zest of vinegar and crushed peanuts tasted tantalizing. This was served with three fluffy warm breads which can be compared to Kashmir’s own tsochworu bread. Ashish though was slightly unhappy since breads were not stuffed with something spicy J.

For the main course, we selected Veg Tajine with Couscous and Pumpkin & Saffron Risotto. And since I have tasted both these dishes, I can swear by them. J Couscous as some of you might know, is a staple diet in Morocco and neighboring countries like  Tunisia, Algeria and Libya. The Veg Tajine (Vegetable Stew) served with couscous was out of the world. The taste of every vegetable was distinct yet so subtle that I simply closed my eyes to enjoy it. The accompanying sauce was like a cherry on top adding zestiness of chili to the dish. Risotto somehow suffers from the syndrome of being non-spicy and hence, not liked by Indians. However, risotto can be enjoyed again with its subtle flavors which emanate from its original ingradients. And the flavours are never ‘in your face’ kind as with Indian dishes. The risotto with roasted pumpkin and saffron was divine.

Roasted Pumpkin and Saffron Risotto

How I wished that I should have tasted Panna Cotta, the Italian delicacy. However, we were running late and hence didn’t have the luxury of enjoying Panna Cotta. May be some other day!

Conclusion is very simple here too. The best place to have lunch in Goa! So although La Plage is low on spread, it scores heavily on taste. Don’t miss this place!

Lunch for 2 – INR 1400

RATINGS  : Taste – 10/10  Ambience – 10/10  Service – 9/10  VFM – 8/10

Vote of Thanks - This blog or trip wouldn't have been possible without the guidance of Mr. Maulik Sharedalal, our guide on all aspects of life as well as THE BEST RESTAURANTS TO DINE ACROSS THE GLOBE! :)

Day 2 - Kumaon and I - Trek to Dunagiri Hills

Day 2 – 24^th June 2012 – Trek to Dunagiri (Dronagiri) to Maha Avatar Babaji’s Cave

The morning had an unexpected surprise for us. We were supposed to get ready by 7 am so that we can start our trek early and come back to the Ashram by lunch time. Apparently, I adjusted the alarm for 6 am in the morning though I had doubts about the functionality as my cell was running on low battery and the power supply in Dwarahat is even unpredictable than the stock markets.

In the morning, suddenly, I opened my eyes. I jumped in the bed and looked out of the windows. It seemed like our alarm had betrayed us and we’ve overshot the timeline. In a hurry, I lunged towards my cellphone to see if had drained and to my surprise, my cellphone was showing time…. 5.30 AM. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The atmosphere outside was similar to 8 AM. Birds chirping, clear light…but it was 5.30 am. I woke up Anita just to experience that phenomenon. She said it was surprising and went back to sleep. I somehow was at awe of the sight since I had never experienced this in my life. Such a stark daylight at 5.30 am! I wonder what must be happening to the people who keep on experiencing ‘White Nights’ in Russia and part of Europe!    

So as per the schedule, we were ready by 7.20 am (we had overshot the timeline by 20 minutes though!) Our guide, the 9^th standard student, Mukesh Arya was ready and waiting for us to take to the Dunagiri Hills and subsequently to the caves of Maha Avatar Babaji. As we came out of the ashram, our car was very much ready and was wondering about Shib Kumar if he managed to get a place to sleep last night. No! He didn’t! He was grumbling that he had to sleep in the car itself. Buddy, even I would’ve had to find my place if the Ashram administration had not allowed me to stay there. It was just their generosity that allowed me to stay inside the ashram.

The Dunagiri Hills were 30 km away from the Ashram at Dwarahat. So by the time, you must have calculated the stipulated time if you had been reading my travelogues…that’s right…1 hour! So the small town was just coming to the terms of the new day and we zoomed past the main market of Dwarahat on our way to Dunagiri Hills. Having chosen places which were very much unknown to a regular traveler, we had all the luxury of seeing no other vehicle on the road. Since Dwarahat is located in the plains and Dunagiri is in the hills, the drop in the temperature was obvious for us. Very much similar to the rise in the temperature last evening when we travelled from Ranikhet to Dwarahat!

The pines or the chirpines as they are called locally have actually invaded almost every landscape in Uttarakhand. Probably, at the first sight, you may love this tree for its unique appearance but the frequent sighting leads to boredom. Further, the tree does no good to the ecology and rather it damages it. It sucks the maximum amount of water from the soil thus rendering other plants and trees almost panting for water. It’s straw like leaves form a thick coat on the fertile surface which actually restricts growth of any of the other vegetation. The dry coat is also quick to catch fire and hence, responsible for most of the forest fires across Uttarakhand. I heard that Oak trees are the best for the ecology maintenance. Hope that I’ll see more Oaks than Pines in my next visit to Kumaon

On our way to Dunagiri Hills, we also chalked out a diversion that would have taken us to Kausani the next day. What a beautiful landscape it turned out to be! But more description will be available on that day’s account

Ok, one good thing about our bad pines is the pine cones. The wonderfully complex yet symmetrical structure makes it a must carry memento if you are visiting Kumaon. We saw so many pine cones lying by the roadside while going to Dunagiri and decided that we’ll carry them on our way back. So after a pleasant one hour journey since we started from the Yogoda ashram in Dwarahat, we made a pit stop at the one and only and the famous ‘Joshi Restaurant’ aka ‘Josh Tea Stall’

Joshi Restaurant, Dunagiri

A blog or a write up on Maha Avatar Babaji’s caves is not complete without mentioning Joshi  Tea Stall. It is actually interesting to see how material and spiritual things get entangled in a subtle manner for probably even for the staunchest of the spiritual person.  Search any blog about the trek to Dunagiri Hills and you will find the reference of Joshi Tea Stall.

Having breakfast in the lap of nature! :)

So Mr. Joshi is a typical Kumaoni thin frame, face glistening with a Dabur Oil face massage and a perpetual smile which is a Kumaoni trademark. As soon as our vehicle stopped in front of his restaurant, he came out greeting with his hands folded. We were also very happy that we got a reliable food joint since we haven’t had anything as we had started in the morning. A slightly off beat but yet very delicious combination of chick peas in red gravy and sweet buns gave a much needed start. This was accompanied by a cup of piping hot tea. And we were literally sitting on the roadside with a temporary arrangement of chairs and benches overlooking the wonderful valley and the green hills beyond it!

Mr. Joshi is the second generation entrepreneur (as people love to read in this way) since the tea stall was started by Joshiji’s father in the sixties. That legacy has been maintained well by his son and rather continue to flourish. The Tea Stall has now been changed into a restaurant and mind you, you will also notice Joshi Guest House which gives you the feeling of being in the lap of the nature without any luxurious amenity.

It was just 15 past 8 in the morning and the air was cool. We finished our breakfast and decided to drive towards the base of trek in the hills. However, looking at the condition of the road and our car, it was decided that we’ll have a walk to the base of the trek. It turned out to be a good decision. We found so many trees bearing fruits like peaches, pears and walnuts which we normally would have ignored on a ride in the car. Anita was again nostalgic seeing these fruits which are also very much common in her motherland, Kashmir. And without mention, you must also guess that pines were also there.

After walking for half an hour, we finally reached the base from where trek begins to Maha Avatar Babaji’s caves and can further be extended to Pandu (Pandav) Kholi. Anita did an unusual thing here. She was anyways not wearing  shoes which should have helped her to do the trek. But to my surprise, she removed her footwear and decided to a barefoot trek. That belief is commendable. So to be on the safer side, we decided to keep Anita between me and our guide, Mukesh so that anything coming in her way should had been dealt properly. So good of us!

Ubiquitous Pines of Uttarakhand

By 9.45, we managed to reach Smriti Bhavan situated amongst the oak forest. We decided to take a short break before we could proceed for Maha Avatar Babaji’s caves. Surprisingly, the caves were not far away and we managed to reach there within 15 minutes. That was a big relief because we were tired. Anita was probably the happiest amongst the lot. The satisfaction and spark could be observed at the same time in her eyes. I was also happy that she was happy. Somehow, the Kumaon trip was arranged with a very purpose of visiting Babaji’s caves in Dunagiri. I must tell you that Kashmir actually lost to Kumaon in this race when we were planning it initially. Alas, whatever happens, happens for good!

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we had added the youngest person to our group before proceeding for Babaji’s caves from Smriti Bhavan, Karan Bhandari. Barely started attending the primary, this wily kid knew every nuke and corner of the hills and surprisingly he was on his own. His parents were busy doing the daily chores but were least bothered about him getting lost in the woods. It was obvious that being the youngest, he got a hefty chunk of the sweets we had brought with us and he later told this to his mother in a Kumaoni dialect

Trek to the Cave of Maha Avatar Babaji

We were very much on schedule to reach the Yogoda Ashram in Dwarahat by lunch (late afternoon lunch).  By the time we reached the base of the hill, it was almost getting noon. The Kumaon Hills this time were slightly warmer than they normally are. And we were experiencing that and that too without any protection (hat, umbrella etc). The walk from the base till Joshi Restaurant made us sweat all over and Joshiji again came to help us with the chilled bottles of coke and sprite. Joshiji told us (and we were aware that) the South movie star, Rajnikanth is regular visitor to Babaji’s caves and last year, the bubbly Juhi Chawala had also visited this place. However, most startling was a muslim family coming all the way from Bahrain to visit Babaji’s caves. Joshiji had a truckload of stories to tell but we had very little time left with us. We bid adieu to Joshiji promising him about returning to Dunagiri and staying at his guest house.

On the way back, though we were late, we again stopped for 15-20 minutes to collect the pine cones on the road. After partially filling the boot space of our car with pine cones, we headed for Yogoda Ashram where lunch was waiting for us. Sticking to the simplicity of principles (or principles of simplicity) we had the food which tasted good without excessive use of oil and spices. We had an eventful first half which started with getting up early. A nap was must!

In the evening, after having the tea, I took the liberty to walk out of the ashram  to explore the area. The prayers inside the ashram were daily routine and Anita felt a strong desire to attend those prayers as well as the energization exercise. I sat for more than an hour on the ridge in front of the ashram overlooking the dense pine forests. Even a group of curious boys approached me asking me what I was up to! I told them I’m just chilling. They simply didn’t get the depth. To sit for an hour specifically between 5 to 6 pm overlooking the forests and the mountain range beyond with the cool air flowing means a lot for a person who is trapped in a corporate maze. I smiled at them.

In the meanwhile, Anita had finished her engagements and came out of the ashram. It was starting to get cooler and waft of wet soil was coming from a distance. Actually, everybody across Uttarakhand was praying for the rains. It had been an unusually hot summer for this year. There was a tea stall where Shib Kumar got an arrangement to sleep for a night. We were happy that he would not be grumbling the next day over inadequate facilities. The tea stall was being run by a couple in their late thirties. We were not aware that it was just a tea stall and not a restaurant. The lady was cooking bhindi (okra) for her evening meals and offered us some.  I had started feeling hungry and the lovely odour of okra made it an irresistible offer.

Me and Anita gobbled up all the vegetable with hot rotis that poor lady had prepared for her family. We realized this after she started cooking another vegetable for her family. We felt terribly guilty over this act and on the other hand, she was happy that we were satisfied. And she plainly refused to take money for this. Living a certain vicinity, we tend to form opinion about mankind. I mean the dialogue which I have heard again and again in many movies is “Bahar ki duniya bahut kharab hain” (The world outside is lethal). It was being proven wrong every time I visited a new territory, be it Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan or now…Uttarakhand!

In the meanwhile, the rain started and it felt like a blitzkrieg rain. Came out of nowhere with full force. Dwarahat got another reason to fall in dark. But this time it was for good reason. Finally the soil was soaked in water. The people were happy and so were we!   

Love peaches? Have patience! :)

Day 1 - Kumaon and I - On the way to Dwarahat

Day 1 – 23^rd June 2012 – On the way to Dwarahat, Uttarakhand

My Day 1 accounts may give you a déjà vu feeling always if you have already read my travelogue of Himachal Pradesh. The same story of going to bed late (this time it was 11.45 pm) and getting up early (oh yes, it was very early, we got up at 3.15 am to catch the flight at 5.50 am). The same story of slight anxiousness about the arrival of cab (this time it was duly taken care by the service provider by sending the sms well in advance). However, the unusual traffic at Priyadarshini Circle and also at the airport was making me bit nervous. We reached the airport well in time and whoa, there was no queue for the Spicejet flight for check-in. it was a 2 minute affair and we were through. J

Interestingly, we didn’t wait in the lounge for more than 10 minutes. The moment Anita went looking for her (as well as mine) early morning dose of caffeine, the boarding process started. The cute, little rabbit rushed hurriedly with two cups of coffee to join me for boarding in the plane. With an immaculate balance, we managed to save clothes of our co-passengers holding the paper cups in the bus which took us to the airplane. As  soon as we settled, we realized the coffee was worth the effort we took. Good one! No multi grain veg sandwiches this time though. We didn’t have time. Had to manage with slightly cold paneer sandwich on board with a complimentary hot tea. J

We had set an ambitious plan of covering 400 km and reaching our destination by 7 pm. Paulo Coelho was obvious this time, the universe was actually conspiring to make us achieve our target (did I forget to mention that the ambition was privy to a pure soul! J) We actually grounded 20 mins prior to our scheduled arrival to IGI Airport. There is no reason why I had to be happy wearing casuals and getting out of the IGI airport….i was sure, I was off to the hills, amigos!

Delhi was burning those days. I mean literally, it was burning! It was 8 in the morning and I just couldn’t bear my walk from the exit of the airport to the car parking where our loyal chauffer for years, Shib Kumar was waiting for us. Due to Saturday, we didn’t find much traffic on the road and zoomed past Kalkaji, Okhla, Noida and Ghaziabad in very less time.

With us hitting the NH 24 in Ghaziabad, I started getting the flavor of UP itself. The packed six seater rickshaws ferrying 10-12 people at a time, a passenger disembarking from these rickshaws or the UP state transport bus right in the middle of the road, the cars moving at a max speed of 50-60 km though the road in front of the car is open and clear, the road signs displaying the distance to the very very famous destinations I have read and heard about since my childhood e.g. Lucknow,  Bareilly, Nainital, Deharadun etc etc.

Our journey on NH-24 was very smooth and as per my calculation, we were sure to reach Dwarahat (a small hamlet in Kumaon, near Nainital) by 7 pm in the evening, before its dark! We took a short tea break after crossing Hapur and cruised our way to Gajraula to have a hearty meal at Bhajan Tadka. Oh yes, we crossed the holy Ganga river also in the process at Gadh Mukteshwar. Run by the Bedi brothers, Bhajan Tadka makes an ideal stop for lunch when you are heading towards the hills from Delhi. You tend to reach exactly at the time of lunch and are not disappointed with the offering!  For me, the food at Gulshan Vaishno Dhaba in Murthal, Haryana remains the gold standard for the food served in dhabas in North India and Bhajan Tadka couldn’t beat it. It also remains a place recommended by the food gods, Rocky and Mayur. So as per their suggestion, I pounced on garlic lachcha naan, panner kadhai but avoided chhole (chick peas). We concluded our meal with a hearty glass of….no, no, not lassi but a soda shikanji- a nice concoction of bottle soda, lime juice, sugar and shikanji masala! Works well with your belly.

In the meanwhile (or before confirming the order), I managed to strike a conversation with Mr. Prem Singh Bedi , the elder Bedi sibling running the Bhajan Tadka! I gave him the reference of the show HOMP and Rocky /Mayur and his face beamed with smile. I also told him that we came all the way from Mumbai and were looking forward to eat at his restaurant. He asked us what we’ve ordered for and made sure that garlic lachcha naans are prepared immediately. That was so nice of him.

After finishing our lunch at 12.30 pm, we still had plenty of time leverage on our side. However, it was sure a no non-sense journey. Well, the distance till Ramnagar (aka Jim Corbett National Park) is not exceptional. The same boring plain road! Shib Kumar had already taken an audacious decision to drive through Jim Corbett National Park instead of sticking to the normal Kathgodam – Haldwani-Nainital route.

In the quest to make it fast, Shib Kumar took an off beat road (the same blunder he had done when we went to Bikaner this February) and wasted almost an hour to cross only 20 km. But in no time, we were in the cool atmosphere of Jim Corbett National Park. The open top jeeps were overpowering other vehicles in numbers. And as we were in the mid of the park, rain started abruptly. And I was aghast to see that wipers of the car were not working. Shib Kumar was in the eye of the storm. I reprimanded him for being so careless in approach. We were already running behind the schedule.

Remember Paulo Coelho? The rain stopped as abruptly as it had started and we heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the road from Ramnagar to Ranikhet was not having heavy traffic (and later we realized why!). It’s a 93 km stretch and is a pure mountainous road. It was 4 pm and I was sure that we’ll reach Ranikhet by 7 pm. Dwarahat is another 30 km away from Ranikhet means the time we would have reached is  8 pm. It was not advisable to travel ahead of Ranikhet after it gets dark. So my instruction was clear and loud to Shib Kumar that we’ve to reach Dwarhat at any cost by 8 pm.

And kudos to Shib Kumar, he drove with amazing skill on one of the trickiest roads I’ve ever seen in my life, may be I could relate it to the journey we had from McleodGanj to Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh. It was very narrow road and we were driving at a very high altitude. But it is also one of the most picturesque road I’ve ever seen in my life. So admiring the beauty and Shib Kumar’s driving skill, we reached Ranikhet exactly at 7 pm. We had to pass through the main market of Ranikhet and it was bustling at that time. The air was cool and I wished I had few more days so that we could stay at Ranikhet too. But we pushed the accelerator and headed towards Dwarahat.

After driving for another hour, we reached the town of Dwarahat. It was 8 pm and people had already closed the doors, probably had their meals and were ready to go to bed. How lucky you people are! At the same time, we are either breaking our heads in our offices or facing gigantic traffic snarls or jostling for some space in local trains! Why, why….God is so unfair! J After asking for directions to our destination, we finally managed to reach Yogoda Ashram in Dwarahat.

Normally, Yogoda Society doesn’t allow non-members to stay in their Ashrams but since I’m the worse half of one of their sincere members, they accommodated me. So nice of them! I almost looked like a devil amongst good souls with my black lycra t-shirt, rugged jeans since everyone else was wearing simple cotton kurta-pajama. But actually, you don’t become spiritual by wearing simple clothes but you may say that it is one of the baby steps towards attaining spirituality.

We met a very interesting person in the ashram, Mr. Dogra. He has been associated with the Yogoda society since 1985 and was like a deputy head of the Dwarahat Ashram. Though he may look  very simple at first glance, his stature and oration commands respect. It didn’t take much time for us to strike a conversation with him which started with stock markets and moved toward spirituality.

A simple food was served in the dining room and the people in the dining room were supposed to maintain silence. Every person after finishing their dinner, was supposed to wash their utensils on their own. I admit here that Anita washed my utensils for all the time we stayed in the Ashram. I was slightly nervous and conscious of my own presence in the odd vicinity for me. Only Anita and Dogra Ji were the people whom I could approach in that premises.

We had an eventful planning for the next day and it was necessary to go to bed early. But Anita also had an appointment with the Head Swamiji (who is of Japanese origin) of the Ashram. He was kind enough to invite me to have a chat with him though I was non-member. Anita had got a lot of gifts for the children who are students at the Yogoda School and she needed to hand it over to Swamiji.  So finally, finishing the task and the conversation, we came up in our room and went to sleep…

Part 2 - The Street Food of Jammu - Gastronomical Gallis

The day of resurrection arrived. I had never planned for the feast I was about to experience that day but as the famous Grand Master Oogway from Kung FU Panda quotes, “One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it” Mine was not an exact situation but I felt like quoting that line here. J We had shifted our base temporarily to Amphalla for the wedding. Hence, I got ample time to explore the nearby area on my own and once again, I was sifting through the crowd and the busy streets of Parade and Kachhi Chavani. However, I seriously had no intentions to try the street food.

On the way, I met my better half and my sis-in-law who were there to get the henna designs on their hand. (Remember the ladies market). We decided to take a casual walk towards Pucca Danga. I don’t know if it was my destiny that we stumbled upon this guy called Suresh (or Prakash..normally the guys with these two names can cook very good food!) who was dishing out the ‘kulchas’ swiftly, bang opposite to ‘Taj Boutique’ in the ladies market.

My first encounter with Kulchas as I mentioned in the first part was not so good. There was a difference The guy I met earlier was a ‘Kulcha Seller’ and this guy looked like a ‘Kulcha Artist’. So I didn’t waste time and ordered a chole kulcha there. The same old combination – a warmed circular bread split open (kulcha), chopped onion, chopped tomato, the delicious green chutney of mint and coriander and lovely tasty stuffing of chickpeas. My first bite….mmmmmm….this is how kulcha should be made. The first flavor explosion I experienced in Jammu. With my next bite, I had already ordered another chole kulcha. Things start to flow and look amazingly seamless when you are ready to go.

After finishing off four chole kulchas, I spotted an interesting thing on the artist’s pan. A luscious, white stuff but still interestingly elastic. Those three discs getting heat treatment on the sides so that they can become deliciously brown. I wondered what it was and curiously asked. The answer was, “Kaladi” Eureka…..Ohhoy…Yay…I was face to face with the king of street foods of Jammu. I had seen the NDTV Good Times Show, Chakh Le India where the host Aditya Bal while wandering at Patnitop near Jammu caught hold of this amazing cheese.

Kalari is a traditional ripened cheese also known as Maish Krej in Kashmir and prepared from cow’s or goat’s milk. This is an exclusive cheese available in the hilly areas of JK and nowhere else. Extremely soft and yet dense and spellbindingly tasty! I have been mentioning it a lot on almost all my social media platforms that it beats the mozzarella cheese by miles. I really wish that Will Studd (the cheese expert and host of TLC Program ‘Cheese Slices’) must come here and talk about it. I never thought India could provide a contender in the elaborate list of variety of cheeses across the globe.

So, it was a no brainer that I asked for one ‘kalari kulcha’. Rest of the things remaining same, the stuffing is replaced by this lovely block of kalari cheese. And I can’t write about my experience. Don’t have words! I can swear by the kalari kulcha and can fight with anybody for its superiority over other street foods anywhere else in India. J

So actually, even after gorging 4 chole kulchas, the lovely smell and magical taste of kalari prompted me to finish off another kalari kulcha. All I wanted was to keep on eating them but I had a dinner to attend that evening. I promised Suresh that I would be there tomorrow to eat more kalari kulchas. With a beaming smile and a satisfied belly, I proceeded. The kalari kulchas had restored my confidence in the Jammu street food and I saw positively everywhere.

The next stop was a Gol Gappa vendor few meters away from the Kalari Kulcha vendor. The Pani Puris which are known as Gol Gappas in North India are slightly different in taste and I believe shape also. The Gol Gappas are more rotund capable of bearing more amount of the spiced concoction hence being more flavourful than its rest of India counterpart. No wonder I finished 20 Gol Gappas in one go (after eating 4 chole kulchas and 2 kalari kulchas). I was on rampage in the ladies market of Jammu. J

Momos on a cold evening are nothing less than bliss. A cousin of the Chinese dumplings, loved in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and the Hilly States of India. Made of fine flour with finely chopped veggies like cabbage, potato and for non-veggies, meat of course! I have always wondered it’s similarity to modaks in Maharashtra which are made in a similar way but with rice flour and sweet stuffing of coconut, jaggery  and other ingredients like poppy seeds. Interestingly, both the names also start with ‘Mo’. This I must say a healthier option since it is steamed and not fried and has no excessive usage of butter or cheese. Generally, it is served with hot soup to start with. We had the luxury of enjoying them on a cold evening of December when the temperature had dropped to 8 degree Celsius. I remember three of us finishing 120 momos on that evening. J

Since I have mentioned about healthier option, the discussion cannot be finished without the mention of ‘Kachalu’ and ‘Masala Mooli’. So kachalu are colocasia corms (and has got nothing to do with potato J) which are sliced and diced and marinated in spices. Colocasia in local dialect is also known as arbi, arvi, alu. Gujaratis can relate their ‘patra’ where the leaf is used to prepare the savoury dish and Maharashtrians also prepare ‘Alu Wadi’ in a slightly similar fashion. The garadu (yam chunks) available in Indore during the winter look similar to Jammu’s kachalu preparation but I am yet to taste garadu. So no comments!

Masala mooli (spiced radishes) is a simpler and yet a tasty and healthy option. A baby white radish is simply split open and doused with spices but to an optimal level so we don’t lose the actual spiciness of fresh radish.

I have concluded that Jammu’s food is all about the ethnic food. The swanky restaurants are no match for the street food. I had been to Falak, the revolving restaurant set atop the KC Residency in the Raghunath Bazaar. All I can say is the experience was terribly disappointing. Jaw dropping low service standards and zero value for money, I would advise people to stick to kachhi chavani and make most of it. J   Few other tips are – Lassi at Pehalwan di Hatti in Gandhi Nagar and freshly baked breads at any Kashmiri Bakery!

Surely, I had started my Jammu food exploration on a wrong note but what matters is the end. It was fabulous. I am slightly surprised that Kalari hasn’t got its fair share of popularity. Or may be things are expected to remain as they are and taste great! J I don’t know. But I know for sure that at least I have found multiple reasons to come back to Jammu. The street food is just awesome!  

Part 1 - The Street Food of Jammu - Gatronomical Gallis

Jammu enjoys a fair distinctness from the rest of the states as well as its beautiful cousin, Kashmir, in almost all aspects. Essentially a Dogra stronghold, the street food here in Jammu epitomizes it. It seems inspired by the perennial (and delectable) north Indian street food you generally start finding in Delhi and north of it. However, the beauty lies in the originality. And I’ve explored this when I was in Jammu.

Being a foodie at heart (and a traveler too), I generally tend to explore the food in a particular region wherever I go. So a trip to Himachal meant that I would have prying eyes for babru, shidu or chana madra. Going to Rajasthan lead to me devouring pyaaz kachoris, mirchi vada, mawa kachoris, makhaniya lassis. I am all set for my trip again to Rajasthan along with exploring part of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. All I am looking for is Garadu and Jalebi in MP and the awesome kutchi stuff in Bhuj. Guys, please start sending your inputs and girls, you also!

Ideally, being in Jammu during winters automatically opens various options for the street food and the best thing about it is, the weather, which is so conducive that whatever you eat, you are bound to digest it. In my view, the foodie’s den in Jammu is Kachchi Chavani area along with the Parade and Pucca Danga. There are many institutions in other areas but ideally a street food is served best in the busy bazaars where you almost keep on bumping into people.

Exactly two days after I reached Jammu this time (27^th November 2012 to be precise), I got an opportunity to visit Kachchi Chavani in Central Jammu under the guise of shopping. Yep, the responsibilities were divided. My wife did the shopping and I did all the eating. J. The first restaurant we entered looked like a swanky street food joint glamorously named as ‘Casino’, bang opposite to the Hanuman Temple. Of course, you are taking all the risk of paying and losing it all if you are disappointed with the taste of food. Something similar happened to me.

We entered with great expectations but somehow we had a very limited choice of aloo tikkis, chole bhature and the ubiquitous chowmein (or Chinese noodles for not so North Indian people). We were hungry so we actually went easy over aloo tikkis (potato patties marinated with spices and deeply fried). It appeared tempting with chole (white chickpea) gravy, curd and red onion but was terribly bland for my palette. Street food should actually bring an explosion of flavours in your oral cavity.  This never happened. It was like a star batsman getting out on a first ball of the innings which was a fulltoss. Even the chole bhature at Casino couldn’t save the day. Again a similar chole gravy, onion and a pale pickle. Was not happy paying the bill.

The extra bit of oil in the bhaturas (a deep fried Indian bread made of fine flour) made me conscious and I decided to walk while doing the shopping for wedding of my brother-in-law. My heart was also heavy. I had been waiting for this opportunity to devour street food of Jammu for months and such a disappointment! Anita, my better half, was also feeling bad for me.

 And…lo and behold…suddenly we spotted the ‘Kulchawala’ (A ‘Kulcha’ vendor, kulcha is a typical bread baked in an oven). Jammu is famous for it’s kulchas. So when I say Kulchas, it actually points towards the stuffing the kulcha has. So it can have a potato stuffing (Aloo Kulcha), chickpea stuffing (Chole Kulcha), soya chunk stuffing (Nutri Kulcha), paneer kulcha (cottage cheese stuffing) and K…. ahh…wait, good things never come easy! I’ll divulge the details exclusively in the next part of this exquisite and king of street food in Jammu.

Spotting kulchawala was a big relief. We thought we would grab a bite and ordered two chole kulchas. Preparation looked good. The kulcha was stuffed with white chickpeas, finely chopped onions and tomatoes, green chutney made up of mint leaves (pudina) and coariander leaves (dhaniya). The guy handed it over to me and déjà vu.. I was in a similar situation at the swanky Italian/Mexican Restaurant called Quattro in Mumbai, struggling with the huge stuffing in the tacos. The stuffing was oozing out of the kulcha. I took a bite. It was better than the Casino’s spread but again was not upto the expectations. Now, I started to feel uncomfortable. It was 2 o’clock but still the weather was cooler. This is one of the things I love about Jammu. What a fabulous weather (exclusively for winters J)!

We had almost reached in the last phase of our shopping and the possibility of tasting the ‘flavour explosion’ was getting dim. We walked towards the direction of ladies market. Ahh..what a place! So many pretty girls and women beaming with smile as they are there to purchase their favourite stuff. Okay..lets get back to the main subject. J  So exactly at the entry of the Fathu Chugan/Laxmi Bazaar, there was a newly opened snack baar and what it serving was only one item on its elaborate menu…The Lachcha Kulfi. (For the uninitiated, Kulfi is the cousin of ice-cream from the Indian subcontinent)

I had earlier heard about the lachcha paratha and even heard somebody talking about lachchedar biryani but never thought of hearing about lachcha kulfis. We have had enough of the tikkis, bhaturas and kulchas… and worse..we didn’t like any of them. Lachcha kulfi was bound to save the grace. And it was fairly good. I was not overjoyed though since the kulfi was not as sweet as it should be and was not flavourful..guess these are the two essential qualities of a kulfi. The noodles dabbled in little amount of rose syrup (or rooh-afza) was a good accompaniment but was still falling short of expectations. I was getting critical about Jammu’s street food…..

And then…. I will divulge the details in the second part which led to finding the gems of Jammu street food and resurrection of my belief in Jammu’s street food. Keep salivating   

Part 5 - Story of a Kashmiri Wedding - An Affair to Remember

The rain god looked very anxious to attend the wedding. The heavy showers were actually lashing the whole area. Barnai and Patouli are relatively cooler areas due to the Chinab’s water flowing through the canals there. It was the last week of November. These three factors caused severe drop in the temperature and tea scored heavily over cold drinks on that day. J

I along with few other members retired from the scene early and had the comfort of enjoying the hospitality of Meenu’s maternal aunty (Maasi). However, no description of kashmiri wedding is complete without the mention of ‘Posh Puza’. Posh Puza literally means worshipping with flowers. Here the bride and the groom are considered to be Goddess Parvati and God Shiva. This remains probably the most distinct ritual of a kashmiri wedding. A red shawl or cloth covers the silhouette of both groom and bride and the married couples from the bride’s side shower the petals (again of marigold). It generally creates a heap of petals on the heads of the newly married.

I had been through this ritual. Though we got compliments for the heap of petals on our heads, I was about to cry loudly at the end of it. J My back was hurting so much due to an inclined position and eyes were red and puffed due to constant exposure to the holy smoke. But Amit told me that it was fairly comfortable for him.  Good for him.

By the time we got back to the scene, the posh puza was already over. The eyes were heavy for most of the Meenu’s relatives. It was the time for Bidaai or saying farewell to the bride as she is now the part of new home. Yes, everybody knows that the boys is good, her in-laws are nice, the relatives (especially like me…okay…that’s too much of footage…I mean..my better 3/4^th) are cool but still, it is an expected world of unknown. The girl who has spent so many years suddenly leaves the place, suddenly she belongs to other home. It is indeed tough for the parents especially and the girl too. The emptiness in the house haunts the parents and the exposure to absolute novel stuff dazes the girl. I think it must be made compulsory for the groom also to at least spend a month at his in-laws sans all the luxuries of a ‘damaad’(Gosh..somehow the split of this hindi word throws English words like ‘Damn’ and ‘Mad’) and cook food….. J

Somehow, things were good for Meenu. She never felt alienated in the new set up since we people were not new to her. We had been very good friends. So this was a big comforting factor. So after Bidaai, we drove her to her Maasi’s home for the ritual of ‘firtur’ (I don’t know what is repeating here…can’t connect the dots like ‘firsaal’). Here, the aunt normally doesn’t allow the entry of newly-weds in a funny mood until the groom assures to fulfill her wish. I don’t know when Anita became the ‘aunt’ and was unruly demanding a Merc to Amit. Eww…common Anita…we stay in Mumbai…come off the age…demand Audi or Porsche! (Izzat ka Falooda!)

After entering the home, the newly-wed couple makes way to kitchen and again fed with the same menu. Now you know the names of the food items. Here, the association of ‘dyejhur’ with the ‘aath’ (the golden chains replacing the red threads the bride is wearing in her ears) starts. God, save the girl child! Here, the groom changes his clothes (undeniably suit..yes!) Time to drive to Meenu’s home. We were being eagerly awaited (I mean Meenu and Amit..we were the sidies) It was serious congregation at Meenu’s home. After we settled at our place, it was bit difficult to look up as everybody’s eyes were still on us as I was sitting next to Meenu and Anita sitting next to Amit.

Amit and Meenu had their fair share of food again. Rest of the group was happy with milk enriched with dry fruits. Time to change the clothes for the groom and bride again. Superstars, superstars! So finally, we were all ready along with loads of gifts which includes the tasty roth (a flatbread with poppy seeds and coconut), goes well with milk as well as tea. J A final goodbye and our SUV whizzed towards Amphalla. A traditional welcome at KPS and finally the bride became the Bahu of the Bhats (Bahu-e-Bhat).

A vote of thanks – Generally, an inspiration leads to creativity. The purer the inspiration is, the better the creativity. I have always been enamored by the distinctness of Kashmiri Pandits and no wonder, I am their son-in-law. The people, the food, the clothing, the rituals are different but also similar to rest of India. The watershed development of KPs migrating to Jammu and other parts of India from the valley has also had a deep impact on the lifestyle as well as the rituals. Mine was a creative effort to touch upon these facts on an occasion of a kashmiri wedding by being honest yet tickling your funny bone. This is pure inspiration which leads me to write and nobody pushes me to do it and I don’t get any monetary reward for it. You readers liking it, remains the biggest reward. Still my special thanks to all the members of Bhat and Raina family who undertook this cumbersome and herculean task of a kashmiri wedding and executed it in a very successful way. Thanks! J

Part 4 - Story of a Kashmiri Wedding – An Affair to Remember

A special mention for Krul and Vyoog before I start describing the wedding day. ‘Krul’ are the paintings done on the walls of the home signifying the start of ‘wanvun’ meaning the celebration period. Last time, in 2009, I had the privilege of painting the krul on the walls of Meenu’s (this is not our Raina girl but the Bhat girl and Anita’s cousine). This time however, we had pitched in a professional painter with whom I had a gala time listening to his love story while he painted the walls. ‘Vyoog’ is the rangoli and generally has a coarse design in Kashmiri weddings. But Anita was determined to make this event special, had bought the stencils in advance and made the most of it.

The Big Day. We got up well before the others as we were expecting since most of them had a late night entertaining session. I also had a responsibility of driving the groom, Amit all the way to Jagati to get ready in the morning and get him back in time in Amphalla. And yes, we did that efficiently. We left at 6.45 am from Amphalla and came back by 8.45 am. Can somebody please give me a pat on my back? But the scene at Amphalla was a pure shocker. Almost 70% of the population was as expected bleary eyed and dazed. And worse than this, nobody was making an attempt to get ready hurriedly and loved chitchatting in their cosy blankets over simmering cups of tea. J

I and Arun (he’s the cousin of Amit and son of Ashok Uncle whose Wagon R I was driving in Jammu), somehow fled the spot undertaking an important responsibility of decorating the SUV in which the groom would arrive at bride’s place and would drive her back to his place. As per the suggestion of our driver, we preferred to go to Gandhi Nagar which is one of the up market areas of Jammu. We reached at a decent floral shop which is popular for decorating vehicles for special events.

In the meanwhile, the groom was getting ready in KPS , Amphalla. Of the whole attire a KP (I have been using this abbreviation for Kashmiri Pandits and not for Kevin Pietersen, my intelligent readers must have understood this) groom wears is not the suit, the shirt, the tie or the trouser but the ‘Dastaar’. Dastaar is a special headgear worn by the groom on his wedding day. It’s a saffron colored cotton cloth tied in a specific manner fixed with pins so that the hair of the groom are not visible. It is also a tradition to pass it on to the grooms in the family from the elders. So the ‘dastaar’ worn by me during my wedding was supposedly worn by Anita’s grand-father in his wedding and probably, Amit was also wearing the same one.

Even today, I get compliments for the ‘dastaar’ which was perfectly tied around my skull, thanks to the guy who took the efforts. However, my heart was sinking since probably one of my best appeals, my scalp hair were made invisible. The ‘dastaar’ actually resembles the ‘Mysore Pagari’ worn in South India, another similarity amongst KPs and South Indians along with their affection to rice.

As per the tradition, the groom changes his clothes twice means he wears three different attires within the day. However, the suit he wears in the morning forms the majority part of the pictures as the part of the wedding album. The other two suits are worn only after leaving the venue of wedding with limited audience. At my wedding, I wore the most dull suit throughout and my 2 other relatively better suits were worn when the electricity was cut off in the area in the evening. Nobody even saw them. L What an irony!    

Coming back to the scene in Amphalla as we returned from Gandi Nagar, I also had an additional responsibility of tying knot for Amit’s tie in a Samosa style with elliptical groove. No..i didn’t do that. I didn’t have time for wearing my own clothes. I was wearing a graphite colored mandarin suit with Chinese collared white shirt and I know what tough times I faced while wearing that attire in the store room of KPS, Amphalla. My honest advice to the wedding planners (within home or outsiders is) – kindly make an arrangement for changing rooms. Boys can’t change clothes in the store room while couple of aunties are busy finding the barfi (a sweet) and get frustrated over finding rosogullas instead of Barfi in the same place.

By the time, I managed to wear clothes, Amit’s baraat was getting momentum with people garlanding him at a hefty pace. I feel for the groom at this moment. I felt that at my time also for myself. The poor chap is weighed down by the garlands. The flowers start spoiling the possible white collar of his shirt and he is unable to rotate his neck along the atlas vertebra. Further, most of the ladies hold the groom’s ‘dastaar’ to kiss his forehead making the dastaar go loose. An unusual thing happened though when the dastaar was being tied around Amit’s head. A gentle sprinkling started which unusual in the month of November.

A visit to Shiv Mandir is a must before the groom arrives at the wedding venue. Fortunately, KPS had a big Shiv Temple (obviously) at a 50 meter distance from the gate of the community hall and saved herculean efforts of many aunties for gyrating more than the stated distance. We were though running terribly behind the schedule. As per the earlier schedule, we were supposed to reach the wedding venue in Barnai by 10.15-10.30 a.m. and we were still at Amphalla at 11 a.m. Amphalla and Barnai, by no means are near to each other (remember..Director of Tourism..huh?). We had to have the engagement ceremony also before rituals of wedding start.

Meenu had called me twice asking about our whereabouts and all I could answer was our GPS telling Amphalla. I don’t know if the maxim ‘whatever happens, happens for good’ stands good hear. I hear that the delay actually gave people at Unique Resorts some leverage to shift the arrangement from the park to the wall before the place was lashed with super showers. We finally made the move and were en route to Unique Resorts, Barnai. We managed to lessen some of Amit’s garland burden in the SUV itself. By 12 noon, we managed to reach the gates of Unique Resorts and well, what a congregation eagerly waiting for Amit’s arrival! J

You really turn up to be a star on your wedding day (if you already are not a star). The garlands of marigolds were waiting for Amit. Soon, he was in a similar situation of non rotating neck but with lot of excitement as he could see Meenu after a long time. Draped in a stunning red lehanga choli, she personified the Indian bride. From this point, we passed the responsibilities to Mr. Shadilal Sharma, the official ‘Bramhaji’ of the Bhat camp. However, we had one more important ritual to complete – the engagement!

Amit and Meenu made a beeline to the stage which was very well decorated. Raina camp had a very good army of youngsters well led by Neha and ably supported by Anil. Coming back to the engagement ceremony, the ring exchange took as expected. As I mentioned earlier, me and Arun had kept few roses inside the SUV while decorating the vehicle in the morning. Amit stealthily had picked one and had hidden it in his suit. And it was a Kodak moment when he produced the rose out of nowhere and presented it to Meenu. Thank God, finally he gave the red rose..at least official records say so! Meenu was surprised and bowled over too.

Time was ripe and right. Guts had been experiencing a cascade of gastric juices. Time to go for the elaborate spread of the Waza. “Wazwan” is generally a term used for a feast and includes the more popular non-veg cousins like rogan josh, goshtaba, tabaknat, yakhni, risht, kali and machch. I just know them by names and seen them. I am a veggie. In Kashmiri Pandit wedding, the non-veg items are strictly prohibited since the wedding is associated with some sacred rituals like havan. However, the non-veg connoisseurs can actually look forward for ‘firsaal’ (fir ek baar saal – the feast, once more) at the bride’s home where all these delicacies are served. So I had my portion of rice along with our regular friends like dum aloo, rajma, paneer, nadru yakhni etc.

By the time, I finished my lunch, Meenu and Amit came back to the stage to perform the Jay Mala ritual. This turned out to be probably the liveliest ritual in the all 7 days. It was an impromptu idea of Amit to make this moment a bit funny by making it difficult for Meenu to garland him. However, the Youth Army in Raina camp had already planned for it. What they didn’t know was the sheer physical advantage the Bhat camp had got. It was me, 179 cm (5’11”) and Arun who is 182 cm (6’) who were standing guard for Amit. When Meenu stepped to garland Amit, he first stood on his toes indicating it’s the time. In a rush, I lifted him from the back though the alert Raina camp were quick to lift Meenu also. The second part was even more interesting. It was Amit’s turn to garland Meenu and Meenu was lifted in advance by her cousins. This time, it was a double effort by me and Arun and we raised Amit to such a hight that his Dastaar was touching the top. And Amit lunged forward to garland Meenu and was almost horizontal in the air while me and Arun balancing his weight. It was indeed a Kodak moment and has been well captured by the camera.

This was followed by a brief session of shutterbugging. At a point, I felt like James Bond is getting married in an Indian way. The poses given by them were new and unique (and not the typical boring style). Just the bond didn’t have a gun in his hand and the bond girl was extremely well dressed (not that the normal bond girls are badly dressed.. ;))

The couple was now ready for the serious part of the lagan (wedding) and proceeded to the place where Mr. Shadilal was waiting anxiously for them.