Notes from travel in 'off the beaten track' Gujarat will follow in a deserving blog post(s) of its own. This is just on "life" in a small town.
Okay, maybe town is not the accurate demographic identifier, but I am unsure what to term a settlement where you can drive from one end to the other before reaching 3rd gear.*
Mithapur essentially consists of a soda ash plant and the township which feeds it. Nothing more, nothing less. That's why it's very difficult to answer "So what's new ?" when such a question is addressed to you in Mithapur. I mean, there is only so much that can change with soda ash.
The problem, when you live in such a small township, is your life becomes as predictable as the chemical formula of soda ash. And then there is the local telephone directory, which contains gems such as "Upper brine filtration", "Ammonium chloride line B", "Main bicarbonate office" amongst other such nettlesome memories from inorganic chemistry.
It appears that I have picked up 3 "Gujarati" words- Kem cho, BSE and Sensex. It also appears that using these 3 in conjunction with each other is enough to convey anything here.
Back to the town itself, it is christened "Mithapur", The people who created Gujarati language were the original ones with a sense of humor, since meethu in Gujarat means both sweet and salt. If you're wondering how does someone distinguish between "This food is too salty" and "this food is too sweet", all I can say is that there is no such thing as "too much sweet" in Gujarati cuisine.
And then there are the drastic changes to my dietary patterns. Good changes (if you're speaking from my mom's brahminical point of view). Basically Gujarat is to non-vegetarianism what Pol Pot was to Cambodian human rights. And the place I live in currently is not just Gujarat, but Saurashtra, which is the Gujarat of Gujarat. I do feel bad for all that coastline lying wasted here; there are just unmitigated opportunities for some 'Mahesh Lunch Home' level seafood (meanwhile makes mental note of what the first place I will go to after returning to Mumbai).
On the other hand, this place is great fun, and an extremely welcome change from Mumbai and its local trains. More on that later.
* The original use of this expression, I believe, was used by my dad to describe Singapore. But in this case, I am not even exaggerating.
5 comments:
Nice little "appetiser" of a post-Waiting for the main course. MLH awaits, so pls return soon. You are needed for the absolute majority vote against the Man.
How Gujju food got its unique sweet nature:
Gujju Husband : kemcho Wife, not enough Meethu in the kichdi i say ( translation: Kencho wife, not enough salt in the kichdi i say)
Gujju Wife: Mutter, Mutter, BSE, will add Meethu ( Translation: Peas, Peas, will add sugar wait)
Gujju Husband: Aaah Wife, why have you added Meethu instead of Meethu in the damn dish....
Gujju Wife: grrr... silly man, no Sensex for you tonight... sleep on the couch !!
Kemcho & BSE to you cuplord, that was shocking, given that it was from you and in spite of that, it was good.
I guess you didn't feel the need to mention Gujarat is even less sympathetic to drinkers than non vegetarians.
Alcohol, what alcohol ?
(innocent look)
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