Monday, June 18, 2012

Harakiri by the Puri...


Never thought Pani Puri, the Mumbai/Delhi Street food, would serve as poetic inspiration. But hunger and poetry complement each other.

And then my blogfriend Magiceye, seems to be determined to post more and more wonderful photos  of stuff that he then eats.

Traditionally eaten on the streets, the spicy liquid sloshing in leaf bowls as you slurp and crunch through the stuff, it is important that the puris that are stocked in thousands, exclusively protected , remained puffed.

At the end of the day, in life,  it is a learning lesson, when puffed egos are punctured, by a enthusiastic hoi-polloi.

(First photo by Magiceye, the other by Google)

Proud,
golden,
exclusive,
protected in special places,
they sit
in importance
puffed
in their prosperity,
making fake announcements
about
public service
and
dedication to humanity.

But the hoi polloi
know
that they need to be exposed
to
public needs.

A few puffed ones,
their prestige
nicely punctured,
and some newly sprouted and cooked
mung types
rush  in there,
encouraged by potatoes
mashed in excitement,
sometimes
dragging
some Boondi ladies along.

A massive hydration
of tongue tickling
minty, green masala water,
and
the puffed ones,
unable to bear
the load of
public expectations,
dripping a few spicy tears,
simply sacrifice themselves
into
a waiting mouth,
to be crunched into oblivion.

A lesson indeed,
for those
high up,
powerful,
with punctured egos
waiting in line,
resigned to their fate....

16 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Magiceye, Thank you ! Just wondering when you are going to start posting photos of Sabudana Khichadi, Puranpoli, Thalipeeth etc etc :-))

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  2. POORI dil se likhi poem padhkar mooh mein PAANI aa gaya! Wow, what a take! Here's an idea - you must record your poems and make a few albums out of it!

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha, Thank you ! Magiceye, eats, clicks, then i write, and tere mooh mein paani .....achchaa hai ! ....:=-))

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  3. Flanked by four sisters, I had learnt the art of consigning the punctured egoes to my abdominal fires early in childhod. And with that the fact the tongue is the greatest leveller of delicacies of all flavours. Loved the ode to pani-puris.

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    Replies
    1. USP, Being flanked and fussed over by 4 sisters plying you with all kinds of chaat must have been an amazing childhood ....Thank you for the nice words.

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  4. Wow...punctured ego of the proud golden and the exclusive.
    Love the way you put perspective to such things :-)

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    Replies
    1. Sangeeta, Thank you. I know its terrible, but the state of the country seems to be reflected even in the pani puri ....:-))

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  5. Mmmm...It is truly the stuff of poetry, Suranga! ;)

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    Replies
    1. Corinne, Thank you, plus you dont put on any weight with the words ....:-))

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  6. yummmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy I so want themmmmmm mam

    the picture is TORTURE itself...

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    Replies
    1. Bikram, Control, control, puttar ..... I thought they would have Diamond Jubilee Gol Gappas ?

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  7. Replies
    1. Ashok, Thank you, and I think they are yummy too ....!

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