Those of you who are familiar with Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, smugly called JNU, will know about the most hip and happening place of this intellectual arena. Ok here’s the clue: it’s the place you come across as soon as you let yourself in through the “hallowed portals”, it’s got a rustic look, doesn’t even remotely resemble the swanky classrooms and buzzes almost 24/7. If you are still trying to figure that out, let me cue you in: it’s the one and only Ganga Dhaba.
Though the word dhaba, in the conventional sense, brings with it images of highway bonhomie over a rustic meal, yet as you weave your way through the scores of babul trees dotting Ganga Dhaba you’d be least reminded about one. Open from morning till 2 in the night, this dhaba actually comes to life post 5 pm, once all the classes are done with and the burden of staid discourses safely deposited where they belong best.
If you happen to arrive a little late you’ll find the numerous cement blocks that serve as seats “taken”. In that case, ensconce yourself on the curb close by and soak in the “ambience”. But before that you need to answer your tummy call.
Like any other university canteen in the country, Ganga Dhaba dishes out the regular fare of samosa and chai but what sets it apart are the steaming aloo bondas, served with a dash of sauce on the side. A bite into this bread-and-potato wonder and you’ve already decided to come back for your second one!
When you’ve had your fill, you decide to get a bit more nosey and start chatting up with the boy behind the counter. Despite the rush, he is more than willing to talk about all that goes on in the dhaba, be it an innocuous evening discussion about a cricket match or the protest marches ending with fiery speeches, steaming chai and aloo bondas, at 2 in the morning. And as you watch him draining oil from the batch of fried bondas, you can’t help yourself from digging into another one of those fried goodies. Calorie watching can go to the winds for a day.
2 comments:
Totally agree with you...who needs to count calories when aloo bonda is near? Like many who have adopted JNU as their own I too at times frequent the one and only Ganga Dhaba for a dose of the same. Recently a colleague went for the first time to JNU and discovered the wonder of Aloo Bonda ever since she has been day dreaming of the same every passing day! So you now know why is JNU addictive in more than one way!
oh man..that was an appetite rousing blog there.......i am salivating....and wishing i was in college...:-)
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