THE DHABA SOCIETY OF JNU

Where can someone find the cheapest food joints in Delhi? JNU campus!

Some of the dhabas in JNU has been there for decades, there are new ones too. These dhaba has become a part of student’s life; so much so that in honour of its service we have become the members of ‘The Dhaba Society of JNU’. It is like the campus’ reply to the café society of the last century which was prevalent in the west. Anyway, every member of the society is distinguished as,

THE INTRODUCTIONERs- These members are new to the Dhaba Society, they are yet to know what time this dhaba opens, what time that dhaba closes and where to find the best what. They are yet to know the names of the dhaba and its workers. Just for the record, there is no such thing like this dhaba serves the best Chai. Every dhaba has its bad chai day and good chai day.

THE IN-LOVERs- These members of the Dhaba Society are in love, so in love that they forget to check their watches or mobile until mosquitoes drive them away from the dhaba. One piece of advice, if you want your love story to be a clandestine affair than Sabarmati dhaba should be avoided, strategically it is more like a playground-wide and too open.

THE INHALERs- These members are UPSC-CSE aspirations who studies for straight ten hours that they need a break to inhale the fresh air of JNU over a cup of chai. The other members of this category include student who is slogging for semester exams, term paper submission, dissertation or thesis submission and the ones who are into the movie marathon.

THE IN-SERVICE PERSON- These members of Dhaba Society are working, not a job, but under a service. Waiting is a stressful service. He or she is terribly broke that he/she waits for someone known to him/her to pay for the cup of chai. So sweet and very clever!

THE IN-NO MOODERs- These members form the philosophical unit of Dhaba Society. Nobody knows what’s in their minds. Smile has taken leave from their face centuries ago. They sit in one corner of the dhaba, which in Sheldon Cooper’s language is called ‘my spot’ and gaze at vast space sipping chai. Other members can only guess the reason behind such demeanour, might be failed relationship, doomed job prospects, rejections of various orders etc.

THE IRRITANTs- These members of Dhaba Society are people who feel comfortable only meeting in public, they want company. Generally, other members avoid them because of their loud and opinionated nature. They are a great companion to have while you drink your chai, but once your chai is over better to part ways or be prepared to burn your brain with the never ending argument. Beware! some of them are proselytiser.

THE INTO-BOOKs- These members of Dhaba Society read a lot and know a lot.  They read books, love books, think books, but drinks chai.  They are book bosomed, most of the time they are lost in the fictional world, which makes them utterly adorable because we want peace in the society.

THE INSIGNIFICANTs- These members of Dhaba Society are dwellers who want to be unnoticed by anyone. They quietly come, get their cup of chai, drinks and heads back to their respective hostels. They are comfortable with such engagements and other members do not seem to bother them. They are special for trying and achieving to be insignificant.

THE INTRUDERs- For the love of democracy, these people are not even members of Dhaba Society, they are intruders who take advantage of the friendship they share with our society members. They do not have respect for our society and that is exactly why they consider our dhabas as night club without the alcohol and engages in fights.  Intruder’s zone- the 24x7 area!

THE EYE (PRONOUNCED AS I) - I am yet to figure out whether ‘The Eye’ is a member or an intruder. The Eye knows everything that is happening in the Dhaba Society, and there are chances of he/she being a member of the society in past. A disloyal member will be the right word because a loyal member will not join forces to come up with ‘eviction notices’ time and again.

               I cannot end this blog post without a slogan so here is it, ‘Chai the day!’

*Staying away from the debates on non-veg and vegetarian food, I gave importance to chai.

THE GOLDEN WALK OF HER LIFE

HALF SCORE AND ONE

If she was an ardent believer of horoscope then I could have begun by describing how an Aries woman is, but she is not, so let me quote a line which is popular among men, ‘If you want to know what your woman will look like in 20 years, look at her mom.’ If they trust this line then they will be heavily disappointed, I will not be able to look as awesome as my mother with all the harsh sunrays kissing me, financial tensions, pressure of all kinds and, of course, the paramount pain of bringing up four children with different temperaments plus a husband who have his own ways of doing things.

FRILLS OF COMPASSION

Growing up with a woman who is as compassionate as her was never easy. At the stroke of midnight if someone calls for help then she will be the first one to stretch her hands. As a kid I remember the number of Horlicks bottle(s) I had to carry when that ‘uncle was sick, this aunt was hospitalised'. We use to call her ‘Mother Teresa’, it was rude, though, for which we were rebuked. I have to tell you that she has a huge heart, so huge the whole word can fit in. Once when our aged gardener expired, the whole night she made wreaths after wreaths with swollen eyes, she had an option of buying the wreath but no it was her way of paying respect to the person who had served us with loyalty. People who are close to our family often remarks, ‘Your children have inherited the sense of humour from your husband and the spirit of compassion from you.’ P.S. She does not get sarcasm; it is always a pain to explain jokes to her.

THE CONSTANT GARDENER

I hope the title is not patented by John le Carré. I am yet to meet the person who loves gardening as much as her.  Her knowledge of gardening is impressive, she knows almost all the flower’s name, grass and tree included. Which plant is best suitable for which climate and the significance of each flower. She can easily distinguish between perennial and seasonal flowers. If people were flowers then my mom might have choose for me the forever kind of friends, how I wish.  

THE EVENT DECORATER  

Way back in the mid-1990s when there was no concept of ‘wedding planner’ in Nagaland, she uses to make flowers from tissue papers, paint dry flowers, make the most attractive of flowers from chart papers just to make someone’s wedding grand. Trust me, she did not  charge even a cent to couples who were from modest families. Her huge collection of flowers were often borrowed from various Church services, funerals, birthday parties, bureaucratic parties-luncheons.  The way she decorated the flowers became quite popular among a certain set of ladies who in turn carried the message forward, she shined and she deserved it. Now, she does not involve actively as before, but sure she lends her flowers at an extremely reasonable rate.

VERACIOUS READER

She used to read a lot but now due to her growing eye weakness, she has become selective and often confines herself to newspapers. It was her idea to have a home library. She was the first person who taught me to love books, also the first person who encouraged me to develop an everlasting friendship with books. She warned me that a day is not well spent until and unless one reads, at least, a page from a book can be from a Bible or anything that’s worth reading. Thus, in solitude, I found the best of the company, thanks to her.

SHE IS MY MOTHER

I could have written paragraph after paragraph about her, like she is a fashion expert, an amazing cook, a woman of faith grounded on Christian spirituality, she is a daughter, a sister, a wife etc, but I do not think she will be interested to know so much about her, and it might be straining for the readers, least they end up screaming ‘Crony Post!’ Anyway, in short let me end by saying, I know her as my mother and I am blessed to be born from her heart.