Cultural Caravan – The Pit Stops (part I)

Culture – the word itself brings to one’s mind a pot-pourri and vividness of the world that we live in. You just need to drive into a locality a few miles away and already you will be feeling the distinctness of the tones in the spoken language, the accents, the “catch words”, the shops, the streets, each having a story of its own.

As I grew up, I was fortunate enough to see multiple places where I happened to stay for at least a couple of years. Back then, only these 2 distinct things for me marked the culture of one place different from another – language & food! Having stayed in Bokaro (in erstwhile Bihar and present Jharkhand) for around 8 years and then in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) for around 4 years, I was quite exposed to two distinct peculiarities of the place, esp. in Gwalior where I resorted to the use of word haiga which is the local use of the word hai (translated to ‘it is’) and also riya local alias of raha. An ensemble of which sounds much like ‘tu kya kar riya haiga?’ rather than the oft spoken hindi language’s ‘tu kya kar raha hai?’ (What are you doing?). It took quite some time for my language to get neutralized – thanks to onerous efforts by folks! Speaking of Gwalior, my mouth has already become a miniature version of Niagara Falls at the mere thought of ‘bhallas’ and ‘chillas’ (the dilliwallahs must be pretty aware of these roadside delicacies which were not to be seen anywhere in Bihar) which brought in it a very distinct Magadhi taste!

From Gwalior, my ‘base camp’ (as I have come to denote that where my folks stay) moved to Nagpur for 4 years. After my class 12^th, when I was about to leave for Pune for my engineering studies, I was pretty much feeling like a nomad – moving my camp every 4 years! I knew I would be in Pune for atleast 4 years…(If ATKTs didn’t work out then it surely would have broken the third spell of 4 years!). In Nagpur too – again the two most striking things were language & food with a speciality. The words ‘mahol’ (translated to fabulous, though in Urdu – it would be the environment around) and ‘chamka’ (understood as outstanding, though the common parlance would treat it as shine) both of which, of course became part and parcel of me – and still is! Every true Nagpurkar swears by these two! Moving to cuisines – we have the famous Saoji preparation – which will anytime give the Kolhapuri food a run for … its chillies!! The concept of ‘tapris’ became alive for me right in this place – Shankar Nagar Tapri – which serves aloo poha and garma-garam chai at dawn…and the place stays abuzz – with the major crowd being all the tuition students like me or the college janta catching the morning cuppa after the overnight GT session J

At Pune – the cultural capital of the state - the pot-pourri was very different. It seemed like this very sophisticated place while still preserving its own rustic ways – thanks to the Peshwai and the Jejuri influence…Also the faith following of Kalubai and Swami Samarth is very much evident from the typical messages on the rear of autos, six seaters, etc. The words chaaila, laye bhaari, boongat, the vegetable lauki being known only as doodhi-bhopLa…became more of the ‘words of prey’, but nonetheless was ingrained into daily parlance! First brush with the Joshi Vada Pav – from being a delicacy to transforming into something of the daily survival food, from the spicy missal paav, to Sujata’s mastaani (which is nothing but nice thick milkshake of 100 possible varieties, and the special ‘mango mastaani’ topping it all! However, I still wonder why it was named so?) Within Pune itself the hardcore Puneites found in the old area of all the Peths (Somwar, Mangalwar, etc) to the most sophisticated ones of Karve Nagar and Aundh, the city has a unique charm about itself. More and more spices being added to the pot-pourri – thanks to the burgeoning number of students in daily mushrooming engineering, arts and medical colleges in and around the city, where people from all walks of life bring in their own flavours and further add to the zing.

One’s mind does tend to race amuck, surrounded by so much of dynamism around, trying to make sense of things happening, expecting oneself to be a fully functional part of it, with all the anxieties and apprehensions. That is when the brewing starts and one begins to understand the layers beyond what is visible. The mind does begin to drive on a different lane, zooming off from the next pit stop!

More of the cultural nuances peculiarities of my shifting camps in the next pit stop!