Preparing for my first Diwali in the desert. And I discovered the charms of Meena Bazar in the process.
I've been pretty allergic to the place since a couple of tentative exploratory trips where my toes were trampled and the rest was groped.
Yet its probably the only place where you can source all the makings of a good Diwali -- clay diyas, torans, rangoli powder and fairy lights. There are sweet shops and jewellers, pani puri and batatawadas to nicely round off the experience. So with visions of all the goodies to be had, and the money that could be diverted to the vacation fund, we set off.
It took a half hour to find parking. But that's ok. Meena Bazar felt like being back in Kalbadevi, only all the shops were airconditioned and none of the buildings were cessed properties.
At Madhoor we bought the rangoli, at Al Adil, the foodstuffs including multigrain bhajni flour that's shaped into sinful deepfried spiral chaklis. To my delight, the owner of Adil isn't an Adil at all but a fellow Ghat. After making encouraging noises about the yeoman service he was performing helping our tribespeople recreate a bit of Dadar in Dubai, headed out to Puranmal to sample the highly rated chaat. The day we had it, it was crap with sev on top.
Or maybe my tastebuds were just craving authenticity. The magic stuff that flows from grotty streetside chatwalla hands.
All in all, I'm happy to report, a fun time was had by all, with Baby scarfing barfis and adoring her new set of gold bangles. For Dhanteras day, one has to buy jewellery or kitchen utensils -- its the done thing. I've never followed that tradition, but this year something changed.
It was a bittersweet moment when I realised I've become my mother.