Lai Gwad, Lai Gwad (very Sweet)

satchitananda · Feb 6, 2019

nandinimithun said: ↑

Lovely snippet dear @satchitananda
The first time I actually enjoyed a glass of sugarcane juice was in Mumbai, after my marriage....
My dh took me to a small shop and he told me that he used to have there in his school days, I enjoyed a big glass of sugarcane juice all to myself... .
Growing up we never really worried about anything and things were still fine and sane.... The struggles didn't look bad or big.....
Things have changed drastically, I wish one day I show my kids how my childhood days was simple and easy. ...
Sugarcane juice bought back lot of sweet memories, thanks for this lovely write up dear satchi.
Click to expand...

Hey Nandini,

Thanks a lot dear for the lovely feedback. I would love to go back to a ghural to have some 'authentic' sugarcane juice, but to be honest, I am scared of drinking it on the open streets. The idea of dipping glasses into already dirty water in a bucket is not exactly very appealing, but the ghurals used to at least wash the glasses in their own style!

GeetaKashyap · Feb 6, 2019

Lahanpanache gosht
Pausaat bhizlele divas,
Oosachey goed goed ras
aamhi kadhi visaru shaknaar ka?

(The memories of the childhood
The rain drenched days
The sweetness of the cane juice
Can we ever forget?)

satchitananda · Feb 6, 2019

See? The usacha ras has triggered the poet in you, Geeta! You have outdone yourself! :-D

shyamala1234 · Feb 6, 2019

satchitananda said: ↑

Strange are the ways of life. Just a month ago I was thinking how short of topics I was to write even a single snippet. And now ..... as the closet opens and memories tumble out, one more memory has fallen out on top of the pile - a sweet one, this! Sugarcane juice. No, I prefer to call it 'usacha ras'.

When I was a kid of around 5, there were many vendors from the villages around who would come to sell their goods in the city. One such person would come to sell sugarcane. He had a unique way of selling. He'd come singing and dancing. The song is etched in my memory and I still remember the tune as well. It went:

"Aai ni khaawa ni baba ni khaawa, sachrecha mewa
Lai gwad, lai gwad"

(All moms and dads should eat this sugary sweet, it is so sweet, so sweet)

I'd be waiting for him every evening in the holidays and then it was my parents job to buy those sugarcanes, make pieces of them and I'd eat them. Distribution of labour! I am told by the older sib that the man was filmed by FTII (Film and Television Institute of India which was a 5 min walk from home) students doing the act!

Pune is a city full of little shacks called 'ghural' serving usacha ras.

There would be benches inside and if you did not mind the flies, you could have a good time drinkng that sweet nectar of existence! Slurp...slurp... Well, being the eternal food lover (I am told people born under my star are all food lovers), what did little flies matter to me? Of course, I tried to keep in mind my parents' concerns and chose the cleanest one in sight. Not infrequently we used to go with a huge can and bring home some of the stuff. The 'grown ups' preferred getting it home and drinking it out of clean glasses.

I remember once after the Chemistry practical exam (6 hours standing), I was done and did not have the energy to go home. I had my bicycle with me. I crossed the road and went sat in a ghural which had a separate 'ladies' section! :-D Oh the little luxuries of those times! I had one glass. When the guy came to get the glass, I asked for a second. Then when he came back, I asked for a third!!! You had to see the look on his face to believe it. Only after that I gathered energy enough to go home.

Another time, I was coming back from work on my Luna (another of my precious memories is of going on my Luna all around town). I had not been feeling too well on that day. Right from the morning, every time I bent down a wave of giddiness would sweep over me. I thought I was imagining things and ignored it. On my way back, I turned onto the main road and there it was again. The giddiness. I was right in the middle of the road and did not know what to do. I got off, parked the Luna right where I had stopped in the middle of the road (yes, those days such luxuries were possible. One can't walk on that very same road today), walked across somehow to the side with darkness enveloping my brain. I tottered up to a lamp post to hold onto. Just then a young couple came up to me and asked me whether I was alright. I told them I wasn't well and that my Luna was parked in the middle of the road. I gave the man the key and asked whether he would be so kind as to move it to the side. He asked me where I lived. He took the Luna and went home to drop it there. I decided there was nothing better for giddiness than usacha ras. I told the lady I'd like a swig before I felt confident enough to walk. She obliged. I had 2 glasses of the good stuff after which she walked me home. She must have been wondering what kind of a nut she had offered to help! When I got home, my mom, sis and neighbour were at the doorstep, aghast at some stranger bringing home my Luna with me nowhere in sight. She kept asking him where I was and he kept looking around, wondering what to say. He must have wondered too, where I had vanished!!! Anyway, within 10 mins I was home, much to the relief of mom (I wonder, considering she used to swear that I was her Nemesis - 'shaitan' was her favourite appellation for me)!

One of the purposes of my glorious existence, I guess, was to contribute to the livelihood of sugarcane juice vendors of Pune!

It has been ages since I visited a ghural. All one gets these days is the 'clinically clean' stuff which is refrigerated and squeezed in clean machines. No, I am not complaining. They come in different flavours - with lemon, ginger, mint ..... but nothing can come close to the sachrecha mewa of my childhood.

Click to expand...

satchitananda said: ↑

Strange are the ways of life. Just a month ago I was thinking how short of topics I was to write even a single snippet. And now ..... as the closet opens and memories tumble out, one more memory has fallen out on top of the pile - a sweet one, this! Sugarcane juice. No, I prefer to call it 'usacha ras'.

When I was a kid of around 5, there were many vendors from the villages around who would come to sell their goods in the city. One such person would come to sell sugarcane. He had a unique way of selling. He'd come singing and dancing. The song is etched in my memory and I still remember the tune as well. It went:

"Aai ni khaawa ni baba ni khaawa, sachrecha mewa
Lai gwad, lai gwad"

(All moms and dads should eat this sugary sweet, it is so sweet, so sweet)

I'd be waiting for him every evening in the holidays and then it was my parents job to buy those sugarcanes, make pieces of them and I'd eat them. Distribution of labour! I am told by the older sib that the man was filmed by FTII (Film and Television Institute of India which was a 5 min walk from home) students doing the act!

Pune is a city full of little shacks called 'ghural' serving usacha ras.

There would be benches inside and if you did not mind the flies, you could have a good time drinkng that sweet nectar of existence! Slurp...slurp... Well, being the eternal food lover (I am told people born under my star are all food lovers), what did little flies matter to me? Of course, I tried to keep in mind my parents' concerns and chose the cleanest one in sight. Not infrequently we used to go with a huge can and bring home some of the stuff. The 'grown ups' preferred getting it home and drinking it out of clean glasses.

I remember once after the Chemistry practical exam (6 hours standing), I was done and did not have the energy to go home. I had my bicycle with me. I crossed the road and went sat in a ghural which had a separate 'ladies' section! :-D Oh the little luxuries of those times! I had one glass. When the guy came to get the glass, I asked for a second. Then when he came back, I asked for a third!!! You had to see the look on his face to believe it. Only after that I gathered energy enough to go home.

Another time, I was coming back from work on my Luna (another of my precious memories is of going on my Luna all around town). I had not been feeling too well on that day. Right from the morning, every time I bent down a wave of giddiness would sweep over me. I thought I was imagining things and ignored it. On my way back, I turned onto the main road and there it was again. The giddiness. I was right in the middle of the road and did not know what to do. I got off, parked the Luna right where I had stopped in the middle of the road (yes, those days such luxuries were possible. One can't walk on that very same road today), walked across somehow to the side with darkness enveloping my brain. I tottered up to a lamp post to hold onto. Just then a young couple came up to me and asked me whether I was alright. I told them I wasn't well and that my Luna was parked in the middle of the road. I gave the man the key and asked whether he would be so kind as to move it to the side. He asked me where I lived. He took the Luna and went home to drop it there. I decided there was nothing better for giddiness than usacha ras. I told the lady I'd like a swig before I felt confident enough to walk. She obliged. I had 2 glasses of the good stuff after which she walked me home. She must have been wondering what kind of a nut she had offered to help! When I got home, my mom, sis and neighbour were at the doorstep, aghast at some stranger bringing home my Luna with me nowhere in sight. She kept asking him where I was and he kept looking around, wondering what to say. He must have wondered too, where I had vanished!!! Anyway, within 10 mins I was home, much to the relief of mom (I wonder, considering she used to swear that I was her Nemesis - 'shaitan' was her favourite appellation for me)!

One of the purposes of my glorious existence, I guess, was to contribute to the livelihood of sugarcane juice vendors of Pune!

It has been ages since I visited a ghural. All one gets these days is the 'clinically clean' stuff which is refrigerated and squeezed in clean machines. No, I am not complaining. They come in different flavours - with lemon, ginger, mint ..... but nothing can come close to the sachrecha mewa of my childhood.

Click to expand...

Dear Satchi,
Nostalgia trip!!!
We had uncontaminated pleasures without any guilt trip when in college. Gannaras, panipuri.... not bothering about the hygiene part of the Gannaras or panipuri or surroundings we enjoyed them. Surprise is that we never fell sick also! Too much of awareness and knowledge has taken away fun from life!
Kagaz ki kishti is my favourite song also!
Syamala

satchitananda · Feb 6, 2019

Yes, Syamala. Those were days of unadulterated pleasures. It's strange how the hustle or even the monotony of daily existence has an effect of making us forget those little joys. That is when a bit of time on one's hands is therapeutic, giving one time to just shut one's eyes and to go into the past.

peartree · Feb 6, 2019

Oh Satchi, each and every snippet of yours sends me spiralling into my own nostalgia trip, of which I have nothing but fond memories!!

Usachi Ras, there used to be this shop called "Murlidhar Raswanti Gruh" at the corner of Bajirao Road and Tulshi Bagh, right opposite Vishrambaug Wada. That used to be my go to place for ras, because we got a 1/2 glass or a full glass and the 1/2 glass was 1/2 the price of a full glass, but was really 3/4th the quantitiy of a full glass really! So we felt really clever to order the 1/2 glass instead of the full glass!! It felt like we were getting more bang for our buck

Another favorite drink was limbache ras, with sabja seeds in it!! Such a treat on a hot summer day!

Aaah, I want to go to Pune now

satchitananda · Feb 6, 2019

Let me know when you are there next time, Peartree! I will gladly join you! And here's for days of Auld Lang Syne!

Paripoorna · Feb 6, 2019

Sugarcane juice is my all time favourite satchi..
Good to read your old sweet memories..

satchitananda · Feb 6, 2019

Thanks a lot Paripoorna! Welcome to IL and to my snippets. Nice to see this is your first post on IL.

Viswamitra · Feb 7, 2019

Dear Satchi,

I spent considerable amount of time looking for a job in 1988 in Mumbai. I traveled a lot by BEST everywhere and wherever I went I used to see a guy selling Sugarcane juice. I drank as much as I like without worrying about the flies around and the pure sugar content in it. Now I am not sure whether I would be able to do it. By default, they added lime juice and ginger to the drink. Guess what! I got a job in Pune to work for Center for Development of Advanced Computing! My wife and I used to go to MG Road to drink Sugarcane juice. Later I got a job with a software company in Andheri in 1992. We lived in Kandivli Lokhanwalla complex but for work I need to come to Andheri everyday.

I used to work until 4 p.m. on Saturday and I have always requested by wife and son to come over to my office and we used to drive to Juhu Beach and eat Pani Puri, Bhel Puri, Sugarcane juice, etc. We had the age to digest all of that and go back home those days. Excellent memories you brought back through your snippet.