Touched by Water: A water travelogue

They immediately caught my attention, not just mine, probably of all the people around in the boggie. This 'big' family, two coupé across mine were all happy and seemed to be on the merry ride. 
Another 'large enough' family, soon joined us and occupied the seat right behind mine. They were a group of serious looking people bound together for some family obligations. They were busy settling their books for the trip. 
The 'big family' , all in black, soon got busy sharing what they had packed for lunch. The limited settings of the second class compartment did not seem to limit the spread of the lunch. 
One man apparently in command of the company behind, stepped forward with an empty 'chaai' cup and extended it towards a girl in the other group, gesturing to pour some from the bottle of ' Bisleri' water she was drinking from. Though surprised, she poured some. He moved on to the open door of the train and threw the water as he washed the cup. ' How rude? said I, but to myself, and so did  the young fair girl's expression. My eyes were rolling around three foci; one the indifferent man; the surprised girl and then the pack of five or so bottles of 'Bisleri' water that was stocked by the girl's family on the overhead carrier. I was surprised of why did not they carry 'their own water' along with the grand spread they had with them. May be they had forgotten and then spent a hundred rupee or so to have 'their own water' in stock.
Interrupting my mind's wander, rather to my surprise, the man, with the washed cup, walked back to the girl and then.. extended the glass once again.
Perplexed was she as she poured a full glass of 'her own Bisleri water'. Quite indifferently, as if a word of gratitude was not due, the man walked away and fed the water to his kid. 
What happened next was magical, just to me, or may be to a few more ill/logical souls as mine. A lady in black, quite possibly the girl's mother, stared a glaring stare at the girl, as if she had done something insane. Not even a word spoken, more people in the 'big family' got involved, none spoke a word, but all seemed to have clear intentions. Taking it all, the girl, shy in nature, but now with conviction, walked up to the man and his family. She seemed to be in complete command now. She extended the 'bottle of 'Bisleri water 'and asked "would you like to have more?. "
Now perplexed was the man, but in a loving Kasarkode accent she insisted 'Ithu Vacholi'. 
The water now passed from hand to hand amongst the man's family, each of them taking a sip of it. The man's dilemma rose as the bottle passed on gradually losing its content and more importantly it's identity.-From 'their' to 'everyone's'. Reassuring him was the girl with a very satisfied smile and adding more to it came the comments, do not know from where; 'after all its water' and 'they have more water for themselves". 
Now, what am I doing in this train,
watching the water metamorphosis -from 'mine' to 'their' and then to 'everyone's'?. 
I have been rerouted changing from rail to road and then from road to rail, because out there 'they' were killing the 'others' because they took the water which was not 'their'
Good that I rerouted myself, as now I read Menu's, Ann's and Dhanya's Whatsapp messages that, "it's still not safe out there".
Well there"s more 'my own Bisleri water' left with me for the rest of the journey.

The Bottled Hospitality

 (picture courtesy: www.artmajeur.com. Painting by: Dhanraj Keezhara)

“The fingers of thirst wither away while probing for edible beans
And man seeks compassion in a devastated body
The earth's mouth opens wide as a begging bowl
"What a marvellous sight it is to watch your secular regimes wagging their tail!
You will draw water upstream
And we downstream
Bravo! Bravo! How you teach chaturvarnya even to the water in your sanctified style!”
Lines by Namdeo Dhasal, translated from Marathi -Paani- by Dilip Chitre

Goli..The Vada Pav Experience

The most popular tummy-filler of Mumbai has made its way to Calicut. A Franchise of Goli, the Vada Pav Chain has opened opposite to Tagore Hall. They have 7 different versions of Vada Pav and we tried Mix Veg Vada Pav, Aloo Tikki Vada Pav and Masala Vada Pav . All the three tasted really good. The Garlic Chatni adds a lot of life to the dishes. The cost of all the dishes varies from 35 to 45. For a Cheese- add on, they charge an extra 15. Pretty expensive compared to what ‘Vada Pav’ stands for. The dish is pretty well known as a tummy filler with the least money spent.  

(Picture Courtesy:  www.golivadapav.com, www. brandkahani.com,www. rediff.com)

For a takeaway, they charge an extra 2 rupees for a cheap plastic carry bag, which is highly off the standard for such a restaurant chain.  The whole idea of charging for a carry bag is reducing the use of plastic, which fails here in this case.

So Goli…Paper Bags please…..

Getting addicted; the ‘fooding’ experience

The first time that I tried, rather was forced to try this place was three days ago as I and Vinodettan went in search of some food parcels with our Gond artist friends (Everything else was closed by that time). Then after, Nanma, I and Jinu went for dinner there, day before yesterday. I had lunch and dinner here yesterday. If not addiction, what else do you call it?

‘Fooding’ here is an experience. It gives you a feeling of community eating. They have large round tables around which at least ten can sit. For me, a stranger intruding into your dining table (this often happens in small hotels) is uncomfortable. But here, for reasons unknown I was very comfortable with nine strangers around me. May be it was the night, the crowd, the ambiance, the highway alongside, the bright lights, the sharp smell that the place smells of, or may be all of it, I don’t know what.     There were conversations, jokes and much more, which brought us all to a common ground. The ‘ritual’ of an old man (that’s the case almost everywhere) trying to get the attention of the vehicles on the highway with a hotel signage in his hand is followed here as well. However, the difference is that it’s an easy job for him as he gets unnoticed against the bright light, life and energy of the place which automatically drag people in.

Dont go by this picture. Its from my phone which does not have a flash

On the first attempt, we parceled some chicken 65. However, the ‘fooding’ here is incomplete without the ambiance. So sorry, ‘chicken 65’!, you are not being reviewed. After all, there is bird flu in the air.  With Jinu and Nanma, we tried Chicken Sukka and Porotta. ‘Correction, Jinu had Baji and Porotta! Its Advent.’ All these dishes appeared to be wrong choices to me as they somehow didn’t fit to the setting. (The air smelled fried and more fried). Moreover, it was a good excuse for a revisit. And to top it up, our friend Kiran, who visited us during dinner was curious about our review.  

It was new information for me that the place is open for lunch. The lunch as such is on a low key, but the specials, as they call it, adds flavor, a lot. Mantha (Sole Fish) which was the add-on was a lunch in itself. It reminded me of the classic fish and chips. I went back for dinner at the same place despite the distance (Anything for ‘fooding’). All highway joints have certain similar dishes to offer, all fried with fried marinade topping. This joint also offers almost all of them. However, a vegetarian innovation that I found here is ‘Pavakka Masala’ (Bittergourd Masala). I got a portion parceled to be tried at home. On a second thought, to confirm the taste, I asked for a morsel. The end result; two portions were parceled. Koonthal (Squid) masala also tasted great.

By the way, this place is on the Trissur Highway ,a few meters further ahead from Thondayad junction. Trust me, you won’t miss it and if you do, you really are missing an experience.

Brunch at Brown Town

Every once in a while who doesn't like catching up with their colleagues for a light brunch. Heavens know I do. A late morning chatting and catching up session is essential for our sanity.

Saturdays when we have early morning Staff Meetings, is perfect opportunity for such outings. Hena, my colleague and I, use this time to rant and unwind. It's a great stress buster. What has been adding to our experience is the great fare at Brown Town, Paragon Group's new bakery.

Let 's start with dessert. So the Cappuccino Mudpie is like an all time favorite but we have also recently added their Chocolate Ganache and Apple Pie to our list. Their pastry chef is out of this world, you need to try it to believe it.

While they don't have much choice with main courses I do vouch for their Chicken Club Sandwiches which is accompanied by Potato Chips and a Salsa Salad. Their regular Cappuccino and Fresh Lime Mint Juice are perfect accompaniment to this dish.

We wait each Saturday to splurge at Brown Town and am sure after this post you would too.

Punjab Di Rasoi

Nirmal Reporting...

Every time I visited Delhi I was given strict instructions by Jinu to pack Chaat Papadis and Aloo Chaat on my way back. I used to buy leak proof boxes of Chaat which would then be frozen overnight and taken through the stringent airline security to finally reach Calicut. And then Punjab Di Rasoi happened and I am now a free man.

Finally, Calicut has a genuine North Indian vegetarian place.

We have tried a lot of things here. In fact my wife is constantly found here during lunch hour with her office colleagues. She vouches for the North Indian Thali priced at Rs. 120/-. She also occasionally goes there in the mornings for breakfast (faults of having a good eating place near a foodie's office). They serve classic Madras fare in the mornings - Dosa, Idli, Vada, Poori Bhaji and the like.

The last time we were at Punjab Di Rasoi (together), we tried Lassi and Paav Bhaji.

The Lassi here is a perfect blend of taste and texture. They have two variants, Malai and Mango. Malai is our family favorite. Our cousin Dafy, who was visiting from Delhi had Lassi with us here and agreed to its authenticity. Mind you, one glass of regular Lassi can really fill you up. Nanma, the little foodie loved it, as is evident from the picture.

The Paav Bhaji took me back to my Nasik days. Perfectly buttered bread (paav) with tangy-spicy bhaji and a sprinkling of raw onions and lime juice...yummmm.

They also have some smashing desserts like their paan-flavoured Rasmalai. In the evenings they serve a variety of Chaats and other variants of street food. The Northern-style Pickle, Vinegar-ed Onions and Pudina Chutney platter - a mainstay of all North Indian Hotels- is also available on demand.

Though there is no other food joint in Calicut of the order of Punjab Di Rasoi, we have seen an evident deterioration in the ambiance of the place over time. However, the food experience remains. Adjacent to the hotel is their new Sweets Store which offers you a wide variety of North Indian sweets, otherwise rare in Calicut. A must  try!