Fresh Breeze

Place for out of bounds thoughts/ ideas.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Snapshots From North India

Dec 1998, 5AM
"Pair of cotswool, Shirt n Trouser, One or Two sweaters, One thick jacket with deep pockets, One multipurpose striped muffler and Pair of woolen hand gloves. All topped up with a long cap flaunting a woolen star ball at the end."

Yes, I used to be this multilayered onion back in 1998 while riding my bicycle to maths tuition classes on those chilly winter mornings. With fog limiting the sight to just a few feet around, I never gave up the hope for meeting that someone special on the way. The romance of those mistful mornings is still a class apart. I relived those special memories during my recent trip to North India this Christmas. Here m sharing some of those interesting moments that I captured during my winter trip.

8 Degree Celsius

Remember your first smoke in childhood? Well I smoked that for long and even loved that to bits. Yes, I am talking about those harmless winter puffs that nature makes available to anyone who tries it at the right time and at the right place. Free and without any warning label or harmful side effects. It was winter and I was in North, so here I am, all set to try one at the railway station. Even though the camera failed to capture it, you can see the dense fog around me. And yes, its not 6 or 7 AM, its 10 in the watch!!



Idli in North

The way North Indian food used to be a special cuisine in South India a few years back, it was the same in North India for South Indian food (Specially Idli and Dosa). Both sides of the country used to tweak the original recipe to suit the palette of their native customers (just like pizza hut indianized its pizza in India). Over the time, I witnessed a considerable increase in authentic North Indian food down south. Same way, I discovered authentic south indian delicacies in north but the thing that surprised me most was that, North, while excelling in its punjabi cuisines even surpassed in its quality of southern delicacies. For example, this mouth watering plate of Idli was served with TN style Sambhar, thick white Coconut chutney (little sweet), green chutney with a flair of mint and spicy brown chutney with a twist of tamarind. Hmm south speciality restaurants do have a point to ponder here.



My Toy Shop

While searching for presents for my young nephews, nieces and little Cousins, I chanced upon this familiar little shop in a corner of the crowded old market. 'Yes, This is my toy shop' I yelled with joy as I jumped in to check it out. From supplying my first 'Ping Pong' bats to 'Business Board' game, this shop formed an integral part of my childhood. Its been years I'd been here but the memories are still afresh.



Though the shop board bore the brunt of time, the variety and quality of toys was still intact. The familiar key-run toys were now replaced with push button and battery operated ones. Soft toy section was dominated by 'Made in China' labels while flashy hi-tech gadgets made their way to the showcase. As usual, I didn't return empty handed from it and continued my relationship through gen next.



Til ka Taad

Til or sesame is believed to have warming properties. So as soon as winter kicks in the North, til makes it way to all the sweet shops round the city. It comes in the form of Gajak, Revadi, Til laddoo, Til biscuit and the list goes on.



The only classification it used to have earlier was 'sugar based' and 'jaggery based' but now I discovered some 40+ varieties with names like 'Chini Agra Biscuit', 'Gur Agra Biscuit', 'Chini Roll', 'Gur Roll' etc etc.



Jingle all the way

When I touched down in Bangalore, Christmas was just over but one can clearly make out the festive mood that had set in. Santa Caps, Christmas trees, Chinese lanterns (China again!!) and Hanging stars were everywhere to be seen. Here's one well decorated Christmas tree that I found in Pizza Hut.



Even though I missed out on the melodious carols of the season but I did manage to get hold of this snowman as soon as he came out of his igloo.



So here's wishing you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2007. Have fun, drive safely and hey, don't forget to make those sweet smileys on back of those dew drenched cars.

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7 Comments:

  • At 12:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    New Year Wishes Divs....lovely post as usual...u shud post more often...loved the way u talked about the fog, then the south indian food available in North...was it imp to mention so much about Gajak n stuff :((

    Yeh snowman Forum mein khada tha kya???

     
  • At 3:09 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    Happy New Year Divs....Have fun!

     
  • At 11:17 PM, Blogger Divs said…

    @Mehak: New year wishes to you too buddy.. about the gajak n stuff, there was nothing specific.. I just tried to catch the mood of the season.. Aha, the snowman was spotted in a new mall called Brands Factory (Do check it out next time u're in Bangalore, Great Discounts afterall) :-)
    @Rajesh: Thx Rajesh, wish you a great 2007 too..

     
  • At 11:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Brands Factory....yeh kya hai aur kaha khula hai??? We are planning to visit Blr in Jan

     
  • At 5:55 PM, Blogger Divs said…

    Its a new mall on Marathalli Road where most of the factory outlets are located (Landmark: Innovative Multiplex).. do lemme know when u'll be coming down.. if m in town that weekend and u guys r free, we can have a cuppa together..

     
  • At 7:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    ohh yaar our house is on the Sarjapur Road...A BIG STORE in Marathalli...thats kind of hard to digest keeping in mind the n number of factory outlets already present..with no parking...narrow road n bridge...Bangalore mein kuch bhi ho sakta hai..

     
  • At 8:10 PM, Blogger Divs said…

    @Ritesh: Thx buddy. Hope I'll live upto the expectations going forward.

     

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