Parathawala Galli

It was perfect weather. It was a drizzling morning after a night of heavy rain.

These days, the hungry mind of mine feeds on travelling, photography, new food and blogging. The mission for that day was to accomplish all these tasks at one go.

What else can be a better subject than the crowded streets of Old Delhi?

***

I joined my colleague at the Lal Quila a.k.a. the Red Fort. Half a day affair.

I wanted to have a cup of tea at the infamous Tea House from colonial times. While we were waiting for the cup of tea, I had the privilege to lecture my colleague about the antiquity of the tea shop and my previous visit that I couldn’t recollect much. I weaved his anticipation that the tea served there could do some magic and take us back in time. Sadly, when the tea finally arrived, it was a ‘dip tea’ in faded cups, and the tags that hung over the cups were a testimony to the fact that they came from a neighbourhood grocery. They charged the price of 10 dip pouches for one cup of tea. So much for the time travel ambitions.

Despite the anticlimax at the Tea House, I was still determined to transport my colleague back in time. I declared that we should go to Parathawala Galli. We took a rickshaw into the crowded streets of Old Delhi. The rickshaw driver squeezed the vehicle through people, dogs, cows and other rickshaws. Sure you ought to get those bumps when you travel back in time. It was a near death experience for my colleague, and I could see the relief in his face once we got down from the rickshaw.

***

Parathawala Galli is a crowded zigzag alley with many eateries. I was very particular about the Paratha shop I saw in the travel show. We had to wait for 10-15 minutes to get a table. About 40 people shared the space for 20, and one cannot be sure from whose plate they are eating. Hygiene conscious people should refrain from trying this place.

Unlike the Tea house, the Paratha shop lived up to the legends of antiquity.

They didn’t change the oil in the pan since the Independence!

The pan was dirty and burnt out and my crazy mind associated it with the supermassive black holes.

We ordered one paratha from each of the popular flavours.

Parathas are not divine or ‘out of the world’. It is not an exquisite food for Kings but a simple common man’s food. They do not require any culinary skills. Most of the flavours tasted the same, except for the dry fruits paratha and ‘rabri ka paratha’ (stuffed with fruit salad and milk cream). Though my colleague insisted that they were terrific, I couldn’t agree with him.

Eateries like the ‘Parathawala’ do not provide any exotic food or outstanding service. It is the atmosphere and the little stories we hear about these shops that make them alluring.

The trained tongue and cynical mind of mine did not allow me to travel back in time.

Nevertheless, I appreciate the wonderful experience I had there.

After all, taste fades away from memories but the experience lingers.