Greyer Shades of "RAM RAM SA"

"RAM RAM SA"
Choki Dhani is where you will get to know the purport of this phrase. A rajasthani gastronomic, folk and cultural export which is bound to enthrall a first time visitor. Legend has it that it was formed by a group of private cooks and entertainers of the king of Jaipur which incidentally also has the first Choki Dhani. Kidding!!..Some marwari may have started it definetely. Dont bother over it much.
So anyways a fine thursday when we did not have much work we planned to Choke ourselves with food and hence we planned on Choki Dhani. It has the indian style buffet where you are served till you pass out. 'Ram Ram sa' is what you are greeted with when you enter the Dhani or literally a village in rajasthani. You are applied a tilak and showered with flowers for you are about to battle it out inside with the awesome food and service. Spread over an area of about 4-5 acres in a traditional village setting viz. huts, machans, choupals, some cattle too, it does reminise you of an unseen rajasthani village. Its a traditional fair/mela kind of atmosphere replete with your regular Jadugars, karputlis, kalbeliyas, shooting arcades, mehndi etc. 'Ram Ram Sa' is what revebrates the air there. Whereever you go, you are greeted most politely and offered whatever they have on table. We started with some magic tricks by a very eloquent and proud jadugar.
Jadugar(excitedly): Ram Ram Sa!!. (meaning..welcome)
Us: Ram Ram Sa. Koi jaadu dikhao
Jadugar: Jaroor sahab
He claimed he had entertained some big shots. Really liked his dexterity. Some ten minutes of magic from things appearing and disappearing into thin air to some hardcore(??) stuff of coins raining from inside your undies. Guess, we really could use that kind of magic in these recessionary times. Finally
Jadugar(with shrunk eyes): Ram Ram Sa (meaning ...magic over)
Us: Ram Ram Sa (meaning.. Ok bye bye)
Jadugar (expecting eyes): Ram Ram Sa (meaning..some tip please)
We forked out some cash. Well he deserved it definetely
Next we proceeded to see some Kalbeliya dance. For the uninitiated it is a rajasthani folk dance combined with some tough gymnastic tricks with occasional fireworks (spewing kerosene) thrown in. Traditionally performed by a particular caste called Kalbeliyas, similar acts are a staple among banjars too. There was an entire family of three generations there with their setups and getups.
Entire family(almost shouting): Ram Ram Sa (meaning..please come)
Us(Obliged): Ram Ram Sa (meaning...sure! why not)
Artist: Sahab nach dekhiye
The Beautiful village girls dressed in colourful lehnga-cholis with miles high pots on their head, gyrated to dholaks and tamburaisque music. They did it all. Thumkas, danced on a tumbler, on broken glass pieces, on knives, picked a hundred rupee note using only their eyelids while bending over backwards. Really a music and colour riot. A treat to eyes.
Artists (panting): Ram Ram Sa. (meaning...show over)
Us (totally awed): Ram Ram Sa (meaning..No doubt India sucks in Olympics, All the talent is here rotting in Choki Dhani)
We tipped generously to the performers.
Artists: Ram Ram Sa. Ram Ram Sa (meaning..thank you thank you)
Next on our itinerary was a puppet show. Katputliyon ka khel. Some colorful bad ass dolls they were. A young boy was playing the dholak. He was soon joined by a singer.
Boy (gesturing): Ram Ram Sa (meaning ...please sit on the cot)
Us: Yeh bhi dekh lete hain
Neatly arranged dolls. One by one they were made to dance accompanied by catcalls.
However the show was kind of sullied by some foulmouthed patrons (women of kitty party variety) who kept criticizing the puppeteers.
Singer(to the women): Ram Ram Sa (meaning ...please excuse us).We kind of left it midway.
A mewar section was there too where on a raised platform a couple was playing some folky music. We arrived there and were greeted by the most unexpected host. Their 3-4 year old kids
Kids (in Unison): Ram Ram Sa
They pulled us to the porch and exhorted us to dance. Man that was the cutest persuasion I have ever seen in my life. Could not deny those little angels and we all started to shake our legs. I have to say it was the highlight of our visit. Also had a few bajra and makki ki rotis full of makhan. We proceeded to the snacks corner. Helped ourselves with some sumptuous kachoris and chat. Next one colleague wished to know his future and engaged a fortune-teller while I enjoyed a headmassage. After somemore hobnobbing, we decided to call upon the dining hall.
One big thali, five bowls and five or six attendants. Need one ask for more.
Attendants: Ram Ram Sa (meaning..get ready for dinner of your lifetime)
Us: Ram Ram Sa (meaning..how do you tackle all these fellows)
Item after item followed. Starting from Churan, dal baati, curry, dal sabzi, assorted breads to jalebi and chaaz. Delicious fare..only too much at one sitting With pagdi on our heads like a sword we had no other option but to push food down our throat. Somehow we managed to get ourselves up
Attendants: Ram Ram Sa, Ram Ram Sa, Ram Ram Sa (meaning...Tip, Tip, Tip and more Tip)
Us: Ram Ram Sa, Ram Ram Sa (meaning..how will we go home ..ab to Ram Bharose)
After a few minutes of rest,a paan and a big belly we all bade adieu to choki Dhani..
In retrospect it was a great evening, a chance to feel like royalty in a city where you keep getting pushed around all the time, a chance to know your culture and above all a chance to understand that words dont have a single meaning, they are not either black or white, they are not binary, they depend on the speaker, their expectations and their frustrations, their dreams and their failures, their pride and their humility, their treachery and their honesty, the myriad of human feelings and emotions which is behind every word and we hopelessly expect to find the right shade in this limitless canvas by an evening visit, a few tips and a blog.
Till then
Ram Ram Sa (dont know the meaning.........)

PS: Some Facts for Choki Dhani Mumbai
Reach: Kalyan station (w). Auto to Choki dhani at Bhiwandi bypass road
Cost: Rs 400/- per adult
Phone: +912522647074

Murud Janjira (24-26 Jan 2009)

Murud

Mahuli (June 2008)

Mahuli

My third trip to Mahuli. Friends come and go but the place still remains my favourite getaway during rainy days. All the three times I had different company, but the route was the same, the stream was the same, the temple was the same and peak was the same too. I had been bugging my busy (I am sure they pretend) friends for quite sometime now. Finally they agreed. A little bit of shopping for booze and snacks the Saturday evening at DMart made sure our lungs will keep firing for the trek the next day. Early morning we boarded the local to Asangaon from Mulund. A quick but expensive autorickshaw ride brought us to the base camp( pardon my exaggerations but this is my Mt Everest). An half hour climb and all of us were panting our ass out. Man I have grown old. Regular smoke breaks werent helping our stamina either but old habits for old people die hard. Nevermind, slowly and steadily we did reach the summit (took us about 4-5 hrs). There were some scary moments/slips but we lived to tell the tale. So what some ten groups overtook us and three of them even returned before we reached up there, but our spirits(pun intended) were high and we were high too. The summit was worth it. We picked a distant rock and parked ourselves there. Finished our booze and gave rest to our lungs. We explored and admired the fort the marathas had built up there. Man how did they do it. No wonder the enemies never cared to take it. We returned by evening. It rained on the way down and I did not like my ass get wet. There was a sense of accomplishment that we were still fit for the adventure, however the reality dawned the next morning when I woke up with a tremendous all body ache. May be I should do it more often to get used to it or completely stop..Nahh... will go again..may be with a different set of friends..
Adios