A Diwali Soiree
Diwali first began a couple of weeks ago. A bit like Christmas buildings are covered in twinkling lights, shops are full of sweets and chocolates, and a bit unlike Christmas as fireworks start going off everywhere, in the garden, out of people’s garden gates, in the middle of the street, beneath the tuk-tuk you’re travelling in.....yes this did happen to me. It was pretty frightening, especially after years of watching Pre Guy Faulks adverts warning of all the evils of fireworks, watching a group of boys who were probably no older than 12, setting off Catherine wheels in a driveway and then trying to jump over them, barefoot, with sparks flying everywhere.
We spent one Sunday evening at a Diwali Mela, in one of the more upmarket housing estates close to our apartment. The houses circle a swimming pool, and large lawn. Set up around the edge of the pool were all the best local restaurants with stalls selling all kinds of delicious international cuisine. There was a bouncy castle and other fun activities for children. The lawn was covered in craft stalls, selling gift packs of beauty products, clothes, paintings, jewellery and endless amounts of other beautiful trinkets. I’m trying to be restrained around things like this, keeping my luggage allowance in mind, and also remembering things I have bought in other countries thinking they were amazing in their current surroundings, and then just seeming a little out of place at home......must not fill my back pack with endless amounts of crap! (Although obviously some of it will turn into gifts on my home coming....)
We were recommended the Mela by Mallika, the teacher from school Tom and I share a lift with each morning. She is our go to girl for information on the local area, and India in general. She is 22 and following the Teach for India Fellowship program, for any of my teaching friends reading this its a similar idea to Teach First, on the job teacher training. She lives at home with her parents, who were kind enough to invite us round the night before Diwali for tea and snacks.
We were welcomed by her excited, slightly chubby Dachshund, Ash. She jumped around, yapping wildly as we came into the front yard of the three story white house, it makes a nice change to see a friendly and we’ll fed dog . The front door was decorated with garlands of flowers and a collection of candles, and little statues of the Hindu gods. Inside we met Gaiyterie, Mallika’s cousin, and her mother guided us through to the lounge where she as setting up a table full of all sorts or treats. We drank glasses of Limca lemonade as we all began discussing travel plans for the next few days, before going outside again to hang the garlands of flowers we had brought onto the front gate, an easy job for Anna, Paddy and Ben, the tall members of the party. Mallika brought out a stool to stand on, which they didn’t need, but we joked we probably wouldn’t be able to reach even if we were standing on it!
We then went back inside to eat......you’ll have to excuse my poor descriptions, and even worse attempts at naming the food, but when someone puts a new Indian treat in front of me the last thing on my mind is accuracy during blogging........we ate spicy potato cakes, little crunchy potato and chickpea bites, vegetable sandwiches, which were a bit like coleslaw sandwiches, but nicer, French fries with Masala spice, and the highlight, I think was called Aloo Chaat.
There were three different elements to the dish, plus sauce and spice. Concerned that we did not know how to handle this new delicacy Mallika’s mum carefully made up bowls of the food for us. Part one, crispy disks of pastry, like deep fried puff pastry, the thick delicious samosa pastry in rounds about double the size of a £2 coin. Next in was a spoonful of cold spiced chickpeas and potatoes. On top of that two round balls made of ground lentils. They had a very soft texture similar to a sort dumpling, and vaguely reminiscent of a good quality mozzarella. They were white in colour because they had been soaked in curd, also giving a slightly sour, but not unpleasant, after taste. With the main ingredients in the bowl, the finishing touches were added, a spoonful of sweet and spicy chilli sauce, a sprinkle of masala spice, some salt and a sprinkle of chilli powder. The finished dish is such a great mixture of sour, spicy, soft, crunchy, crisp, smooth and chunky I could have eaten numerous bowls of, but having spied the home made brownies on the table I managed to restrain myself and only have two helpings!
As we tucked into a selection of brownies and gateau with masala chain for dessert Mallika’s father, Aaditya came home. He is a very successful photographer, and also has a small farm. His photography has taken him around the world as he was telling us about some of the places he has been he showed us one of his books from the 90’s. It documented the story of the Nagas tribe, from a hill station in North East India. He spent several months with the tribe over a number of years and the book shows different rituals and festivals with them, from day to day life, to a tiger hunting festival, where Aaditya himself set tiger, mostly through fear of the reaction of the tribe leader if he refused.
He is not only a photographer, but also a wealth of knowledge on the history of photography and an avid collector of vintage cameras. The collection began when he was left a large selection of old car, eras from a family friend who had no family to leave them too. The collection is now so big that they have a small museum in the basement of the house, featured as one of Trip Advisors top 10 things to see when visiting Gurgqon! It houses an incredible collection of photos of Ghandi and the independence movement, one of the original American Air Force cameras that took the picture of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, and a CIA camera the same as the one used to photograph Nixon during the Water gate scandal.
All I can say is thank you for such a great evening!!
