If you are in Mumbai or from Mumbai, then you have to be in love with this entire fraternity of chaat.
I suddenly fly to the beach called as Chowpatty near to an area Girgaon, where my maternal grandmother stayed and where I always went as a child. I see the stalls of chaat vendors strewn all over the place. Mouth watering dishes like bhelpuri, paani puri, dahi puri, samosa chaat are churned out for innumerable people and everybody seems to be enjoying that feat. Families, friends, lovers all seem to gorge upon it as if they are famished since ages. Delicious stuff in damn cheap rates! And it tastes all the more great when it is topped with raw mango slices or coriander or pomegranate seeds. Even lemon put in appropriate portion works wonders. Day in and day out, the taste never changes.. How do the vendors manage to attract so many people for such a long time? Business tactics, I suppose!
Reference from Google: Chaat (Hindi: चाट) is plate of savoury snacks, typically served at road-side tracks from stalls or carts in India. With its origins in east India, chaat has become immensely popular in the rest of India and the rest of South Asia.
In my hometown, there was a small chaat vendor, who became big and rich just by running this business and he expanded his business by buying 2-3 shops nearby and became very famous. Whenever I travel to my hometown, I make it a point to visit that place and savor the tasty bhelpuri!! Earlier, once the college exams were over, my group of friends gathered at a small joint, be it the chaat vendor or a small restaurant, and ate to our heart's content and not only our stomachs, but our hearts were also filled. It wasn't very hi-fi or hygenic place, but we were very happy with the food we ate and company we had. We never fell ill then.
Cut to 2012
I visit an expensive restaurant in Bangalore and order food with great expectations and when the food arrives and I eat it, I think I have wasted money unnecessarily. I think of other things such as oil, hygiene, calories so much that the food suddenly looks bland and colorless. Do you also feel the same many a times?
I wonder, what is the reason? Is it that the feeling of being content in anything small is almost forgotten and there are lot of options, parallel options available where we can easily spend money without botheration? If you ask me, if I am satisfied with so many options, that are available, I would say, I am confused with so many options and do not know what exactly to eat that will satisfy my heart and stomach equally.
Why does the pani puri, bhel puri, vada paav costing only Rs. 10 give immense pleasure than an expensive buffet lunch in a 5 star hotel?
Can you tell me why?
I think the pleasure of being with ur close friends and enjoying the bhel sharing it just at the roadside along with the not so hygenic but extremely delicious taste makes it all!!!!!
ReplyDeletewow you reminded me of the chat stuff!!!!!
I feel the same level of satisfaction having a roadside pani puri or chat and that satisfaction way more than any 5 star restaurant experinece.
ReplyDeleteI guess the reason why we feel so is cause there's a simplicity in the food that very much defines the way we are comfortable being- presenting ourselves the way we are with no pretence. That's how we are when at home and that's how the Bhelpuri is served to us. No wonder it feels so satisfied when we have the road side snacks.
first of all chats r tasty, we know the taste already....all chat items r the ones which r eaten even form the lil pocket money we used to get in our school college days....so it used to be the pride factor as well tht how r we manging to hv yummy food plus not spending all the money given to us....the art of making a bhelpuri, the way the "bhaiyya" mixes it (rolling n twisting n shaking), the way he carries his tokri with all nicely cut veggies used to amaze me in my childhood plus u can ask to modify it as many times u want n he still does tht without complaint n without charging u extra, may be all these matters....when we go to 5 star restaurants more often knowingly or unknowingly we are burdened by the amt of the dish n we automatically decide tht it should taste very good coz man its damn expensive, secondly if its continental food we are not "used" to the taste....many a times our taste buds dont like it because its not "indianised" or spiced in indian style.....or may be "appearance of behlpuri wala bhaiyya" is so applealing tht u simply just cant resist eating it ;) hee hee
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