(this is a pre-post apology for the fact that i wrote this last saturday, but havent posted it! my computer is officially fried, a big problem to be figured out but is in the fridge while im running around India.)
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"Eggs and Peanuts"
This weekend has been great, and all the more since i am not shivering, sweating, or (stomach-infection-ing) any more! Without a doubt I have pushed my renewed health to the limit and am also exhausted, but, it has been worth it.
I spent most of my time walking, not to any tourist sites, or even places entirely new, but just weaving out of familiarity and disbelief as Delhi presents it.
slowly roaming around malviya nagar on saturday, i became hungry. but saturday evening there was to be a great get-together for my friend Alex's 'going away' (although he's manouevering to stay in India) and his flatmate's birthday. i decided that 'panch ka, mungfulli' would do the trick - that is 'five rupees worth of peanuts (please)'. i'm standing there starting to break into the shells of some roasted peanuts, and the peanut walla says to me, 'anda?'. it just so happens that he is an 'anda-walla' as well, which means, egg-seller.
Boiled eggs cut in half, sprinkled with black salt, and topped with red onion and freshly cut green chilli, is a classic street food in Delhi and upon immediate thought - probably the only 'healthy' (not super fried, starchy, or served with some glucose-based sauced) street food in Delhi. That being said, a plate of papdri chaat or some other such deliciousness by far is the best junkfood in the world.
anyway, i ask how much they are, and it turns out for 2 eggs its 1 rupee more than my bag of peanuts. but, ive eaten about half of the nuts, and i'm pretty alright with them. so i figure why not.. but asked him just to give me one egg, thinking i can work on a good exchange.
through a mix of my broken hindi and hand signals, i managed to put the uneaten half of my roasted peanuts back into the pile, and win a swap for a golden egg. shabash.
in India, anything and its opposite is always possible. some days, the auto driver will fight you for 1 rupee, the waiter at a posh restaurant will card you and embarrass you in front of your new colleagues, or the dhaab-walla will suddenly charge 5 rupees more for the same coconut youve been having every day for months.
but other days, you don't have to convince the auto driver to actually use the meter, and good deals can be struck with unexpected currency, like eggs and peanuts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Eggs and Peanuts"
This weekend has been great, and all the more since i am not shivering, sweating, or (stomach-infection-ing) any more! Without a doubt I have pushed my renewed health to the limit and am also exhausted, but, it has been worth it.
I spent most of my time walking, not to any tourist sites, or even places entirely new, but just weaving out of familiarity and disbelief as Delhi presents it.
slowly roaming around malviya nagar on saturday, i became hungry. but saturday evening there was to be a great get-together for my friend Alex's 'going away' (although he's manouevering to stay in India) and his flatmate's birthday. i decided that 'panch ka, mungfulli' would do the trick - that is 'five rupees worth of peanuts (please)'. i'm standing there starting to break into the shells of some roasted peanuts, and the peanut walla says to me, 'anda?'. it just so happens that he is an 'anda-walla' as well, which means, egg-seller.
Boiled eggs cut in half, sprinkled with black salt, and topped with red onion and freshly cut green chilli, is a classic street food in Delhi and upon immediate thought - probably the only 'healthy' (not super fried, starchy, or served with some glucose-based sauced) street food in Delhi. That being said, a plate of papdri chaat or some other such deliciousness by far is the best junkfood in the world.
anyway, i ask how much they are, and it turns out for 2 eggs its 1 rupee more than my bag of peanuts. but, ive eaten about half of the nuts, and i'm pretty alright with them. so i figure why not.. but asked him just to give me one egg, thinking i can work on a good exchange.
through a mix of my broken hindi and hand signals, i managed to put the uneaten half of my roasted peanuts back into the pile, and win a swap for a golden egg. shabash.
in India, anything and its opposite is always possible. some days, the auto driver will fight you for 1 rupee, the waiter at a posh restaurant will card you and embarrass you in front of your new colleagues, or the dhaab-walla will suddenly charge 5 rupees more for the same coconut youve been having every day for months.
but other days, you don't have to convince the auto driver to actually use the meter, and good deals can be struck with unexpected currency, like eggs and peanuts.
