Thursday, December 11, 2008

Of Vada Pav and Chai

Love doesn’t need fancy restaurants and exotic places to flourish. It will if it has too.
Case in point as always is your’s truly – Aman and me spent most of our pre dating time on this small tapri right outside the college campus.
Our College (it was a residential one) was far from the city; add to that the hectic schedule of a B – School. That left us with no time and little energy to venture into the so called cool hangouts that Pune specializes in.
Most evenings were spent hanging in and around the college campus.

On a typical evening, right after the last lecture finished and there would be exactly 30 minutes before the group sat down and brain stormed on the upcoming presentation, half the college would rush to the Tapri outside. For the uninitiated a tapri is a small, dingy looking eating joint. There is usually no place to sit and eat in these tapris. Tapri’s are also makeshift and will relocate with much ease. The tapri outside my college didn’t believe in variety. The menu was limited to “The great Maharashtrian Vada Pav and the equally great Indian Chai”. But like any other roadside eatery the best part of this tapri was that the stuff was absolutely mouth watering.

It was the lethal combination of Vada Pav and Chai, combined with the lovely Pune evenings that did the trick. Aman and I spent most evenings at this tapri, talking about everything possible while we devoured the Vada Pav and enjoyed the tea. The lady who manned the shop charged Rs3 for the Vada Pav and Rs2.50 for the tea. Rs5.50 wasn’t a bad deal at all and this kept us going till dinner time.

And not to anyone’s surprise Aman popped the crucial question at the same Tapri. There couldn’t have been a better place. After all our friendship had started, grew and had flourished at this very Tapri.

18 comments:

Masood said...

I'm not supposed to say stuff like 'what a cute story' or 'How sweet' or 'sigh' so I'll just stick to 'Cool' ;)

Mampi said...

Bless the Tapri.
Post a photo if you happen to go back and if the tapri has not relocated.

Anonymous said...

touchwood!

I have amazing memories from my masters days at a tapri in bombay....

Monika said...

these tapris are always amazing and the satisfaction u get at these places is much more than the expensive res... :)

Magical Homes said...

Brought a smile to my face and also some memories.

Our tapri was a chinese van (these dot the landscape in Delhi,you get greasy chinese in these converted old vehicles, ) and it was midway between the institute and my home where my man would drop me everyday. Very cheap chinese and a shared coke and a very confused mom on why I would refuse dinner after a long day of studying!

Pinku said...

hey....

second Mampi put up a pic of the blessed place...

and yes love does grow in strange corners.... :)

Iya said...

@ Masood - why cant u say stuff like "cute" ??

@ Mampi - going back to pune is long over due... i am so sure i'll visit this place whenever i go back..and i wish this tapri wil still be around

@ Chandni :)

@ Monika - i so agree with that statement

@ Mumbai Diva - lol...abb mom ko kaun bataye ki pet kyon bhara hai...

@ Pinku - i so wish i had a pic ya...and urs and Mampi's saying has made me wish even more..

Anonymous said...

TRUE...I have been a loyal visitor of all kinds of tapris...Pune has it all...wada pav,burger,corn,ice balls,dabeli,golgappa,juice and tea...All outside my college...i used to have atleast 2 thins among these,Everyday:)...
Therefore for me a tapri is where i got frens and collected change n looked at those isolated souls who were florishing their love at this poor place...But atleast they did not waste their time like i did...

DeeplyDip said...

cool...tapri is a new word for me...and well it sounds like a nice setting - tapri, 2 love birds having vada pav and chai...cute...all the bets to you guys :)

Magical Homes said...

:) Hey tag time! I love your posts.;) so basically a ruse to get to know you better....

It involves some googling and may take some time so do it at leisure. Please pick it up from my blog.

Cynic in Wonderland said...

Sweet. you should go back to the place now someday.

Mampi said...

Eik award, aapke naam
come over to my blog to accept it.

Iya said...

@ Neha - darlin' y r u sounding so low??

@ DeeplyDip - u shud visit pune sometime, the place is full of such small eating joints. i picked up this tapri term from Pune...

@ MumbaiDiva - thanks for telling me u love my posts..(imagine a ear to ear grin...)
will do the tag soon...

@ Cyn - yup, my trip back to the lovely place is so so overdue...i have such beautiful memories of Pune...

@ Mampi - thank u.. i am so overwhelmed...

Anonymous said...

that was very sweet

- Sohpia

Iya said...

Sohpia - thanks :)

S.. Diva said...

wow.. thats a nice post!
i need to find a college and a tapri and an accomplice

Iya said...

@ Sneha - thanks, its all there, u just need to look.

and thanks again for visitng my blog. Will hop over soon to urs. C ya around

Unknown said...

hey.. nice one... quite a filmy plot ur life is :)

and you cant imagine how i found you :)