Look again! One word and it caught your attention, right?

What is the fun if you have your chaat quietly? And isn’t this one way where you actually have a conversation?  Starting from a big slurrrppp to shrieking about the excess chilli and literally hanging out tongue, which is “symbolic” that you need water.  Eyes going red and watery enough to give you the ‘just cried’ kind of look.

Well, chaat and chat definitely go together.  Haven’t we all said this “चल चाट खाते खाते बातें करते हैं”….? We have during college days especially when having chaat daily with friends used to be the best time-pass activity.

Tickling all taste buds, the togetherness at chaat thelas depicts that bonding knows no boundaries. Drinking the pani puri water from the same bowl is one act of love where snatching the bowl to burst the puri with  the spicy water staining your clothes becomes a holi like fun for friends to tease and remind each other that revenge has been taken.  And then starts the gossip part because without that the spicy tinge is not actually complete.

The fact as stated by the grandmas and the grandpas is that bonding over anything that is different from your routine brings out a different side of your personality and when it comes to food, especially something that is tangy and makes you feel jumpy.  Here the fun element of a person gets into the picture, resulting in better understanding and adjustments to each others’ nature, which when developed with time, changes your style of thinking to help you build a stronger connectivity with the people whom you interact with daily.

Actually the thought of chaat came to my mind keeping aside all other varieties because I once had the opportunity to have chaat at the thela right outside Meera Girls College, Udaipur where my ears could not be blocked and the conversations and fun of the girls brought back to mind the memories I had with my friends in college canteen or at some thela while eating some or the other chaat item. I really wonder if the children now can understand the fun my generation had in the open air.

Chatting with friends is one way to lessen the mental burden, which is now limited to chat windows in most of the cases and the traditional chaat thelas are in poor condition since the earnings have gone comparatively very low making it difficult for them to survive.  Back in those days, the thelas, if run by an old man were the most thronged upon.  The elderly thela valas would also listen to conversations among people and also drop in an advise as per their own experience which was heard of with attention and respect was always maintained.

Changing times have brought in a gross difference in attitudes and thought processes and it is a matter of concern. People rush to counselors for betterment of their lives forgetting that the same task can be done at home, among relatives, friends and even in the neighborhood. Bonding has actually gone missing.