Once upon a bite in Chandni Chowk

Chhole bhature. Everytime I have this delicacy it transports me to the jam packed eatery located at Delhi's commercial hub Chandni Chowk, where I had it the first time. It's been eight years to that incident now but I still remember the day vivid and clear. The events of that day flash before my eyes as I savour the little spicy, little soury flavour; now so familiar. 

The next day my friend was to depart to her state. We were college buddies who had gotten placed in the same MNC during the placement drive. She had quit the job as she aspired for bigger things while I was happy slobbing at the same place. As she was about to leave the next day, we decided to give her a sort of farewell. So the four of us; me, my husband, my friend and her boyfriend, who had by the time become a good friend of ours started from our home just before noon; my husband cribbing about how we needed to have started earlier. 

After a half an hour ride on the metro and a bumpy rickshaw ride with the rickshaw stuck in the traffic, took it forever to cover a distance we could have easily covered in 20 minutes had we walked instead; we reached the entrance to the Chandni Chowk market by noon. 

After some amateurish shopping, we had fruit salad when my friend enlightened me that pregnant ladies are not supposed to eat papaya and hence we bartered with the watermelons and the papayas. Some more shopping after that and we were completely exhausted. We decided to have lunch before proceeding to Red Fort, the magnificent monument in New Delhi built by the Mughal king Shah Jahan, atop which the Prime Minister of India hoists the tricolour every Independence Day. 

Chandni Chowk is also famous for its food. There are a wide range of delicacies ranging from spicy food to desserts. I don't even remember the names of most. A table to the left most corner near the entrance of the first floor of the eatery just emptied as we entered through the door. My husband beckoned us to it exclaiming, "Grab it or else it will be gone" while I interjected, "but they haven't cleaned it yet". My husband rolling his eyes apprised me, "This is Chandni chowk for God's sake. Here if you don't take it as soon as you see it then it is gone forever". This fascinated me while he continued, "Let us occupy the table first. They'll clean it later". 

The table had only three chairs. My husband grabbed one which lay vacant from the adjoining table. The hustle bustle of the place prompted us to place the order as fast as we could. This place meant serious business. Any delay on the part of customers in ordering or savouring the food meant the eatery lost a significant number of customers in that limited time frame. So the food was steaming hot when we started to eat. My friend and her boyfriend were a strange couple. While I kept wiping the water that came out of my eyes and nose as the food burnt my tongue, they were still excitedly pulling each other's legs. Having always been a person of a few words, I listened to their humorous chatter; a smile etched on my face. My husband never joked with me. Yes we shared a lot of things with each other; we shared stories about our workplace and watched movies together but we never pulled each other's legs. Oh God! How I wished my husband would do that to me. I always played pranks on my younger brother and he played them on me. Over the years it has only cemented our relationship. I could see that bond between my friend and her boyfriend too.

As the food lost some temperature, the flavours began to blend in my mouth. One morsel appeared sweet and the immediate next spicy with no fixed pattern. Torn between the notion that it was my pregnancy hormones doing the trick or it was the speciality of the restaurant, I decided I'd rather turn my attention to savouring the food. It was love at first bite for me. The food just melted in my mouth; like the love between my friend and her boyfriend. Soon after she left, they began to have problems. It seems their relationship could not stand the test of long distance. It depressed me when it happened but five years down the lane, both are leading happy lives with their respective partners. So I think some relationships aren't meant to be and it is better to let them go before it is too late.

Even to this day, when I take a bite of Chhole Bhature, I'm transferred to the eatery and everything plays like a reel in front of my eyes. The first morsel I ever had of it, the time I spent with my friend, the love that sparkled in their eyes for each other and my husband holding me when he feared I would falter; a gentle reminder that it is always so good in the beginning of a marriage.

After we left the eatery, we walked towards the Red Fort which was a stone's throwaway. We had the best time of our lives in that magnificent place. To this day, my friend remains my most favourite travel buddy. I share an ease with her I haven't been able to share with many others; not even my husband. All he wants is to take photographs when we visit a place whereas all I want is to absorb the serenity of that place in my existence. He wants to capture as many aspects of the place as he can in his lens and I wish to capture the magnificence of the place in my heart. He sees the images on the walls as mere images whereas I see art in them. For him memories matter and for me, experiences.