Sunday, June 21, 2009

A Visit to the Dhaba


Yes, my friends, I had a Mountain Dew after the longest time, and what better place to have one than in a dhaba?

Let me tell you a little bit about dhabas. They're the Indian versions of "fast food" and drive-thrus. They're found all over the country right off of highways, and everyone has their favorite ones for each road trip that they take. They sell full-fledged desi chinese (the Indian version of Chinese food), samosas, chai, pakodas (vegetables fried in gram flour), and any local delicacies. They're also characterized by paan shops (more on that later), loud music, and lots of truckers (and there are a LOT of trucks in India).

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures of the one I visited last night. There were also some very cute geese waddling around the back area where we had parked our car -- which I was also not able to get any pictures of. Let's just say they move quick and my camera's slow...I did somehow manage to get a picture of this:

My aunt and I thought it was really interesting that a sculpture of a god was surrounded on both sides by Vodaphone ads. Consumerism much?
The idol itself was very pretty. This picture's not incredibly clear (it was, obviously, dark at this point in the evening), but if you look to baby Krishna's left, you'll see a little peacock.

So that was the Dhaba. And if you were wondering what we ate (yummmmy) - samosas, onion pakodas, and chai! I would have taken pictures of more things, but I'm trying to ease into a photographer role without seeming like a tourist...it's much more difficult than I thought it would be!

Hello, Hello!

Hi Everyone!

So I thought that instead of waiting to tell stories when I get back, I would start a blog to keep you all updated on what's going on here in the big I-N-D-I-A. I'm a good week late in starting it, so I'll give a quick overview of what's been going on so far:
  • June 14: I arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Our flight was a good 45 minutes late. Just as I had expected, the minute I walked out of the plane, a huge burst of hot air hit me -- it's the moment that marks every India trip that I can remember.
  • June 15: Left for Varanasi on Indian Airlines and arrived approximately an hour later.
  • June 21: Visited the University of Allahabad Ancient History and Fashion Designing Departments.
And I have been in Varanasi since, mainly relaxing since work is still minimal. Anyways, this is a pretty dry post, but there are many details to follow!

Prachi

P.S. Such a creative name for the blog, right? :D