Here’s wishing Eid Mubarak to everyone!!! ✨🌙

Like so many people in Mumbai, my parents are from someplace else. Father’s side from Kolhapur & mother’s from Ahmednagar. So, obviously, I have spent a lot of time in Ahmednagar, mostly summers in crazy crazy heat.

Ahmednagar is an interesting town.
A. You can drive from one end of it to the other in about 30 mins tops,
B. It has, given its name, a massive muslim population, most of who are Ahmediyas,
C. It has one of India’s largest Army Cantonments (I think the 2nd largest after Dehradun) and
D. It has a MASSIVE Rajasthani Marwari population (how they all got there I have no idea).

So, my mother’s family was one of the prominent ones in Ahmednagar. There is a whole road named after the family – Daware Galli. FYI, Galli = Lane (in Marathi). I have no idea where the surname comes from since it means “left-handed” and I have seen hardly anyone left-handed in the extended family on my mother’s side.

Anyway, My grandfather was a lawyer, an advocate. I would like to think that he was one of the better ones in Ahmednagar coz I had a lot of easy access to all the cool areas of Nagar – Army Cantonment areas – the open-air theatre, the sports facilities, the pool, etc etc, through his friends.

One of those many friends was Chacha. For the life of me I don’t know his name. Never needed to know it. He had a bakery just before the main market of Ahmednagar which used to give out the best smells ever! For us kids, he was always Chacha and that was always Chacha chi bakery. Chacha chi bakery was open house for us kids. Everytime we would cross it on our bicycles, we would stop and be treated to some freshly baked warm sweet thing! Yum!

Now, my first experience (that I can remember) with Eid was in Ahmednagar when I was in my early teens. Daware galli was surrounded by 11 mosques, most of them within earshot. Thankfully back then there was none of this azaan-on-loudspeakers stuff, so we would hear most of the azaans very very faint, except just before Eid, when I assume, a younger boy with better lung volume, was temporarily given the job of yelling out the Azaans. So that year, suddenly the azaans got louder and my ajoba (grandfather) & my mama (uncle) informed me that Eid was around the corner.

One of my best friends in Ahmednagar growing up (still one of my closest friends) ran a family-managed grocery store. And I would sit with him often on the galla (cash counter) for fun. Often-times, when things got busy, he & his father would manage the customers, leaving me to work the galla. And Eid was always a crazy time for the shop. Mad rush of people to buy things including 2 things I distinctly remember – jayfal (nutmeg) & something called chironji (no idea what the english word for it is). And I would always wonder what that was for.

So the morning of my first Eid in Ahmednagar by 10am, lots of food started arriving. Each consignment included a vessel full of a white kheer-looking thing with the chironji floating on it. I had no idea what it was, but atleast I figured what all that chironji was being used for.

Also, my mama (uncle) has a factory and the foreman of the factory was a man named Ashfaq. I remember going around with him as a kid to all the many forts and tourist locations around Ahmednagar on a bike / Kinetic Honda scooter. Anyway, he had sent over not just a small vessel but a big-ass dabba full of that white kheer-like stuff.

So, come lunchtime we sat down to eat and among other things this, we were all served the white kheer-looking thing that people had sent over… And my mind was blown. It was one of the best things I had ever tasted. It was then that I asked & was told that it was Sheerkhurma. It was killer stuff. I had 2 bowls and within about half an hour, I was feeling both light headed and very sleepy. My mama was laughing his ass off at my situation but then explained to me that it was the nutmeg in the sheerkhurma which was doing its job. I had had the sheerkhurma which was sent over by Chacha which had a lot of nutmeg in it.

I am pretty sure that that was the first time I was high in life. 😄

Anyway, within a few minutes, I passed out & slept for 3-4 hours easily, only to wake up and still be full. No dinner was had that night. The same routine was repeated the next day as well – having leftover sheerkhurma for lunch and passing out and then no dinner!

So, as I wish everyone Eid Mubarak today, I hope all of you are able to enjoy Eid like I did about 30-35 yrs ago!!! 🙂

—————————————————————