As a passionate foodie I know for a matter of fact that Delhi is the ‘chaat capital’ of India. Delhiites love street food and savory snacks. Especially during festivals, the selling point of any celebration is the food that accompanies it. Chandani Chowk ke kebabs and lassi, moolchand k paraathhey, lajpat ki Chinese chaat and ramji k ladoo, and pata nahi kahaan kahaan k chhole bhatoore, gol gappe, chat papri and momos..
In fact even across the street near my college, the market is buzzing with eateries and café’s and attracts a very large student population from the nearby colleges of South Campus. I was really excited to come to college and to be honest, this market across the road came in the top three reasons for my enthusiasm but I must admit that reality is very different from the picture portrayed in the popular media.
I feel that there is a compromise on hygiene and cleanliness when we are dealing with street food. Especially the market in question- Satya Niketan; is almost always dug up and witnessing some sort of construction work. There is garbage strewn across and from inside out the path is choked with wrappers and bottles thrown around. I feel that people get habituated to the degenerated level of hygiene that this place has to offer. And it gets worse in monsoon when pigs run around with their snorting little ones frolicking in the sludge. (And I am NOT making this up).
My friends and I have constantly been on and off alimentary issues now. Our canteen is probably as useless as the food outside and I, who NEVER thought could stand by the cause of the boring everyday meal cooked at home am surprisingly choosing ‘ghar ka khaana’ over anything else that I find in and around college.
It won’t even sound like a carefree teenager talking but it is SO freaking sad and scary that pudin hara/hajmola/dipendal and all these medicines meant for fixing tummy issues have become part of our staple diet!
No wonder me and my friends are stuck to our potty humor since we are part of a ‘shit in, shit out’ process quite literally.
As much as I’d love to travel the world and experiment with different kinds of cuisines, I must say that not everything edible, even if it tastes good, is meant for consumption. The last one and a half year that I’ve spent here, has definitely made me more careful in matters of food.
