Reliving my “puneri” connection

I’ve been hit by an attack of nostalgia, and have been living my “puneri” connection to its fullest for the past fortnight. Not to mention the suddenly resurfaced attraction and flaunting of all things Maharashtrian: from food to music, even books! Ganesh Chaturthi this weekend has just been the clincher, though. I just can’t seem to get over the “ghat” connection, as some of my friends who don’t get too offended by that term would put it.

My true Pune connection goes back to my grandfather who landed there when he was just 10, in search of work, having to support his mother and sister, since his father was no more. My mother was brought up in Pune, and my grandparents continue to have their place, even after over 70 years, in a typical wada in one of the 18 peths that Pune’s history quotes. I was born there too, and spent almost all my vacations only in Pune. That was my adda to do all the masti which I did not get to do in the big, joint family at home or just because my dad/paternal grandmother would plain not let me.

It all started with a visit, couple of Saturdays ago, to my athyas’ (my dad sisters who live in opposite buildings) places in Thane. Given the fairly large gathering of cousins, all the “youngsters” (as one of the athyas put it) decided to go out for lunch; that’s how we landed up at Khavayya to indulge in some authentic, Maharashtrian food. The jwarichi bhakri, zunka, shrikhand, and kharvas were just out of this world! But what really brought back Pune in all its glory were two totally unrelated things.

One, the aloo chi patal bhaji which came with my cousin’s thali; my athya and I had coaxed Pendharkar kaku (who lived upstairs in my athya’s building in Pune) to teach us how to make it. We had then painstakingly practiced making it on the family on alternate days for the next two weeks, till everyone was sick of it, and the two of us were almost thrown out.

The second memory trigger was a hilarious, tiny board placed almost inside the restaurant, which read, “Aaj parking samor aahe.” Now, clearly, I’ve parked my car before I can get to this board, but never mind, that’s part of Pune relived in Thane for you. All the bizarre falaks that the non-descript restaurants in Pune displayed with élan came rushing to my mind. There’s a wide variety of them from the one that asks customers not to leave tips as the waiters are paid their salary to the one that read, “Deo niwas kuthe hai te aamhala mahit nahi, aamhala vicharu naka.” (We do not know where Deo Niwas is, so please do not ask us.)

Back to Khavayya. Soon after we were through with lunch, we rushed home because Ang and I were getting late for Nandu's mehendi. What followed was a deluge of Maharashtrian culture, but more on that later... hopefully tomorrow.