As yet another year dawns I remember the good old days when I was a kid. The schools in Nainital would shut down for the winters (Dec-Feb) and I used to spend the three months with my parents.
Winters in Uttarakhand were severely cold and we all would stay inside our houses tucked under warm quilts. As a ritual to usher in the new year my mother would cook piping hot gajar ka halwa*. The preparation for the halwa would start early in the evening. I would go with my father to the vegetable mart and we would bring fresh carrots and khoya*. Along with these we used to buy gajak* and roasted peanuts to while away the time while the halwa would be cooked.
My contribution in making the halwa would be to grate the carrots and from there on my mother would take over. The halwa was cooked over a low flame and would take around three hours to cook.Back in the 80's and early 90's Doordarshan was the only TV channel telecast in India. After dinner we would enjoy the programs telecast on Doordarshan, usually some Bollywood dance and music, with the gajak and peanuts.
Finally at midnight we would all wish each other 'Happy new year' and eat the halwa.
There were no mobile phones then and like most middle class families we did not have a telephone connection. Friends and relatives used to present greeting cards to each other. I remember going to the market with my mother about 10-15 days in advance to select the greeting card for our distant relatives. The greeting cards would be duly posted so that our new year wishes reached the relatives on time.
I have not celebrated the new year with my family for the past 10 years. I have friends here in Bangalore to celebrate the new year, however today as I write this I somehow miss the gajar ka halwa, the Doordarshan programs, the cold winter nights and the quilt under which I would be tucked in with my head on my father's chest and my hands around his waist :)
khoya = whole milk thickened by heating it in an open iron pan.
gajar = carrot.
gajar ka halwa = sweet pudding made from carrots.
gajak = A north Indian sweet made from jaggery and nuts.
4 comments:
Your blog makes me nostalgic and gives me all simple simple things we used to early days of life...Woh bhi kya din the..
Good one
Reminded me the cold winters of kumaon.I remember , we used to call it 31st and it was another day to stay late outside with friends:)
Gazar ka halwa :D
its very nice to read .Every thing seems to be very straight from heart as your chat friend said from a clean mind.
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