This outpouring of my heart
happened years ago and when I read the news that during his visit to India
President Obama's request was that during the state dinner the famous Modi’s
own Dhokla “ the taste of Gujarat” is to be avoided I thought it’s apt occasion
to share my views too on dhokla,” the taste of Gujarat”
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In the friendly city of Ahmadabad,
Where business goes on till midnight
Where with head held high.
brightly attired women walk along with might
‘Das Dhokla Shop’ they said ‘Is where you
savour the taste of Gujarat’
Hungry at heart we proceeded to
that Shop, famous around the corner
We saw the Dhokla beauties
exhibited, charming and colourful
In varied shades of Yellow and
green. Green and white, White and orange
With dark brown chutneys they
beckoned, these temptresses of Gujarat!
With their very look, they flooded
our mouth with salivating joy,
These temptresses of Gujarat!
Amongst us three we got eight
types indeed! For a princely sum of rupees sixty!
Friendly they were Soft and
succulent Tasty and tastier, At times Sweet, At times sour
The combo was great, We yielded
willingly to these sensory pleasure they tempted us
And we fell for them (naturally)
polishing off the whole lot! Not knowing their potency!
I still wonder how these small
nuggets, these soft sweet nothings had the magical power
To metamorphose into demon within!
They ballooned inside me, a genie released,
I couldn’t stand or sit I lay down
on my tummy to expel this beast
Rolled on the floor, made
innumerable visits to the toilet, I bent over and tumbled
All in the effort to extricate
this “Dhokla demon”
Whatever I tried, locked within me
this terror ruled the roost increasing in vigour,
My body humbled, my head in
tatters of pain, my muscles slackened like a jelly,
My pains mounted. my innards a
gurgling volcano ready to erupt,
My thought of the impending train
journey and the auto ride to the station,
An ordeal too distressing to even
to think, but oblivious my innards rebelled.
The two loving companions, my
daughter and niece and comforting words,
A generous dose of antacid did
help in combination with the jolting Auto ride
The entire contents of my stomach,
the eight sets of Dhoklas, all remnants
Like a powerful stream, a
sprouting Vesuvius, they flowed and drenched
The mother earth of Gujarat to
where they rightly belonged.
Mr. Obama indeed is a clever man,
Once bitten twice shy
He could have never relished the
wonderful Indian republic day,
The charm and charisma of the
Gujarati PM…..
If only he had yielded to the
temptress of Gujarat!!
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