The House of Pickles & Powders
Guntur is not a very drivable town. Its small lanes and its
small town mentality will always ensure that the town stays away from the Smart
City tag. Conversation in the streets and the cafes seems to centre on movies,
Telugu Movies…how much they made or how much they lost…Tobacco and Chillies…and
the typical flexing of political muscles. And yes, the latest girl up for
exploitation.
My memory banks were in for an upheaval yesterday when I
went to Guntur after a few years. If I looked straight or down, nothing had
changed. The same narrow confines. The same bunches of people who seem to have
nothing much to do except discuss life on the streets. The same fascination for
oversized cars…possibly to accommodate oversized egos. In them days there used
to be Buicks and Plymouths, Studebakers and Cheverolets. Now there are the
Korean SUVs, the Hyundais, the Fortuners and the poor man Mahindras too.
The town’s Parking Sense is amazing. Park where you want,
when you want. And if there’s traffic behind you, they’ll adjust. But there’s a
condition. You cannot park in front of wherever you actually want to go.
No Sir. You have to park…and walk. The roads are so packed
that the traffic flow threatens to swallow your car by erosion.
In this wonderful ambience I asked the wife the standard
question. I’m in Guntur. Is there anything you want from here? Pat came the
reply…Korvi Kaaram.
Don’t ask me what it is, I had no clue. But my host
apparently knew. And he took me straight to a shop – Athithigruha Foods.
I stepped in and I knew that I was in a place like none
other I had visited. The shelves were lined with neatly packed plastic pouches
with intricately calligraphic legends…pointing to Spice Powders such as Nuvvula Karam, Nalla
Karam, Kandi Podi, Nalla Karam Podi, Korvi Karam Pachadi and many more.
I picked up what had been ‘ordered’ and also a portion of
what was being freshly packed…Nalla Karam Podi.
Now I’m waiting for a plain rice, ghee and powder kind of a
day…perhaps it is tomorrow :-)
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