Twenty- five Seven

My Happy Place

October 22, 2025

The joy of seeing fresh produce

I was shopping at Bhaji Gulley the other when I spotted a smartly dressed woman talking to my Bhajiwalla in a voice I recognised from the past.

I looked closer and sure enough it was R, the mother of Anna Shetty’s best friend from school.

“How come you’re here?” I asked, quite surprised to see her.

“Yes , I never come here,” she responded decidedly uncomfortable and embarrassed at being seen in the market. More at home on the Golf Course or behind her executive desk, she was quick to assure me that it was only certain vegetables that she wanted for Undhya that brought her here.

Ah food! The great leveller. It is only in certain markets that you get certain foods. Our local market caters more to the traditional Gujerati and Maharashtrian populace. No wonder she came here! She definitely wouldn’t find yam and Surti papdi in her Club’s shop nor at the municipal market in her side of town.

A few minutes later, another mum bumped into me. I was less surprised seeing her because she was more down to earth, but even she looked apologetic and reassured me that this was not her ‘scene’ . She had come to this traditional market place to find a traditional lantern for Diwali. Sadly, the traditional market had upped its game and soldidern ones made in China!

Both mums couldn’t have beaten a hastier retreat. But why I wondered? What was so down market about shopping in a local bazaar?

It was so vibrant, so buzzing with life. Little kids staring longingly at stalls selling fireworks, shoppers testing vegetables and fruits for ripeness. Flower seller making festive garlands to dress up cars and homes.

I think this live bazaar is my happy place. And over the years, I have gone to different bazaars in different places in the city. When the girls were younger, I used to shop closer to school. Sometimes, I would ship at the big municipal market selling fresh fish as well.

I don’t haggle with the vendors but love checking out the prices and asking about life in general. It seems so much more interactive than an app like Kisankonnect or BigBasket or even buying in an air-conditioned store.

BhajiGully is my happy place and I was particularly glad that I met these mums. It took me back to the days when our kids were little, when we waited outside the school gates for our kids to come out. When we met at PTAs or at school plays or sent in cakes for the school fetes.

I do hope to meet some more mums from the past albeit occasionally. That makes my happy place even happier!

Ciao
Diwali ?

October 20, 2025

Diwali is the festival of lights. It’s a festival when families come together. Food is the glue that binds them together.

As Indians became anglicised, our traditions became Westernised and many ‘educated’ people abandond tradition and ritual in the name of modernisation. As people’s jobs took them away from their homes, celebrations with family morphed into celebrations with friends and sometimes even strangers with people keeping ‘open homes’ for neighbours to pop in and partake of the Diwali spread.

Gradually, however, the religious aspect of Diwali gave way to pomp and show. The lights became electric, the decorations theatrical, the parties curated, the greetings WhatsApped and generally the whole festival has changed beyond recognition. And gifting became more of an annual TIP or gratuity that was distributed to all those who serve us.

Today, as I gave my grandaughter a ritual oil bath, I told her the story of Narakchaturdashi. This bath is supposed to be had at the crack of dawn, well before the cock crows.

But today, being a holiday , I let her lie in. She surfaced from the Land of Nod around 8 in the morning by which time the sun was high in the sky. I drew the curtains together to darken the room, turned on the airconditioning, lit an oil lamp and created an atmosphere of the Dark Moonless night. Luckily she humoured me and allowed me to massage her and rub her down with turmeric and scented herbs and finally wash it all off. I’m sure next year she’ll resist.

Our Diwali breakfast which is eaten en famille was eaten as it normally is – in dribs and drabs as and when people showed up at the table. And as for the tradition of eating Faral and freshly made a poha/upma/sabudana wada – it just doesn’t fit in everyone’s diet.

Last evening the parking area was cleared so that families could burst fire crackers. But not a SINGLE sound was heard. Not a single sparkler lit. This morning the cars are back because the staff realised that fireworks on Diwali are a thing of the past.

But I tell myself that each one of us is free to celebrate the festival in their own way- it is after all a time for joy and happiness.
So happy Diwali everyone, even if it is a vacuous greeting said without much sincerity.

Ciao,
My Diwali Spread

October 15, 2025

With half the household in diet-mode and the other half preferring chocolates to traditional sweets, my Diwali sweet-making has dwindled down to just half of what my grandma used to make.

Well, in Granny’s time, everyone went to Grandma’s for Diwali. Nowadays, everyone goes to the beach. Or some exotic destination. Or anywhere at all to escape the tedious uncles and aunts that one meets only on this occasion.

So the question of making traditional foods for traditional festivals doesn’t really arise. But this year, I decided to make some of the traditional sweets myself, especially since my kitchen is now renovated. Besides, I quite like the idea of being one of the few people who still cook traditional food at home albeit in a thoroughly modern way.

The Diwali snacks that make up part of the traditional repertoire are known as ‘faral’ and are particularly eaten as a breakfast treat on Diwali morning. These homemade treats are also distributed among friends and relatives.

Luckily, our menus are set and one doesn’t have to figure out what to make and what not to make. Somethings are a given: the ladoos that are sweet, the Karanjis that are stuffed with sweet and the savoury Chivda and Chakli to balance out all the sweetness.

Many people have outsourced these snacks to home chefs (like my father used to say – these are homemade but not in my home) or to regular shops selling traditional foods. Some people have done away with traditional sweets altogether, preferring to gift fancy stuff like designer chocolates, designer mithai, food hampers or fruit baskets.

Home sweet Home

So this year, I made two kinds of This year I made ladoos which are one of the mainstays of Diwali: the ones made from chickpea flour ( Besan) and the other made of Semolina and Coconut ( Rava). Both these are roasted in pure ghee, a process that takes a long time. The of course the sugar is added and finally with slivered almonds, saffron and powdered cardamom to add to the taste and richness, the mixture is rolled into balls. I make mine small because I hate it when people take just the half leaving the other half looking like a lost soul. And I also use cupcake wrappers so that they can be lifted easily.

To balance the sweetness, I made chaklis, which are deep-fried and crisp, made out of a multigrain dough.

Gift wrapped and ready to go

And since I’m not too sure how many people will eat them at home, I packed them off and sent them to my friends to enjoy.

You can see from the size of the packing that the friends too are just getting a wee bit – everyone is on a diet after all and if not our figures, we have to watch our health parameters.

Watch this space for recipes, which I shall post after the festival is over. Otherwise, just go online and check out Madhura’s website or better still Swiggy it to your doorstep!

I’m off now to make some more goodies…

Ciao,