Millets of Mewar

This blog was inspired by a close friend of mine Jana who blogs about various restaurants and recipes she has encountered! She has taught me the importance of taking pictures of my food so I can share it with others! Check out http://thegourmetspork.blogspot.com (her blog) for recipes and great restaurant suggestions!

My first week in India (before I moved with my host family) we ate at many delicious restaurants. These restaurants served many dishes that are very rich and saucy (Foods served in restaurants are different than the daily food I eat with my host family)and although I thoroughly enjoyed them they sometimes did not sit well to an adjusting stomach. Towards the end of my first week our program director (Roma Ji) informed us we would be having a light lunch at a restaurant in Old City all the other interns and myself were more than delighted to hear the words light and lunch together in the same sentence. As we pile into an Auto Rickshaw towards Old City we end up at our destination, Millets of Mewar.

Millets of Mewar is Udaipur’s first dedicated health food restaurant. It opened in November 2011 and has since developed a regular and enthusiastic following. The restaurant is the shared vision of a group of like-minded friends—Surendra (Sunny) Gandharva, Anoop Singh Poonia, and Manoj and Nirmal Prajapat—who believe in the power of food to inspire good health, good conversation, and environmental consciousness. Just four months after opening, Millets of Mewar was ranked the #1 restaurant in Udaipur on Trip Advisor. Manoj and Sunny, Millets’ master chefs, began experimenting with health food in 2007 after receiving training at the Health Awareness Centre in Mumbai. Back in their hometown of Udaipur, they started creating recipes that highlighted local grains, vegetables, and spices. Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response to their food, Manoj and Sunny started providing catering for events, attending food festivals, and running a food cart in the city twice a week. Soon after Millets of Mewar was born! Their methods are creative, authentic, and sustainable. Their ingredients are local, raw, vegan, gluten-free, and organic. Their food is unique, healthy, energizing, and made with love.

carrot, beat, coconut, and raisin salad

garlic, onion, capsicum, and cheese pizza

Nutella Pancake w/ Bananas

This restaurant is located in the Old City overlooking Lake Pichola. Millets of Mewar offers clean, wholesome, delicious food, as well as a ideal location to just hang out with friends or make new friends. I decided to Blog about this restaurant because every time I go I always thoroughly enjoy myself and as someone who enjoys a good salad (which Udaipur severely lacks) and healthy food I find solace in coming to Millets for those reasons. If you ever find yourself in Udaipur I strongly suggest you visit this restaurant and try anything on the menu they will not disappoint.

Namaste

(Source: http://milletsofmewar.com/about-us/)

Threading

Coming to India I knew that my usual self-maintainence routine would be altered. Getting a mani/pedi wouldn't be apart of my monthly plans with my mom nor would getting my hair done  (Udaipur does have many beauty parlors that offer these services however its not in my summer budget). However coming to India I knew that my eyebrows would not go without proper upkeep due to the fact that all beauty parlors provide the service of threading (which originated in India and is my favorite choice in facial hair epilation).

Eyebrow threading is a depilation technique which originated in India, although it is also widely practiced in the Middle East. The hair removal technique is not just for the eyebrows: threading can be used to remove other facial and body hair as well. Eyebrow threading involves twisting a piece of thread, usually cotton, into a double strand. This double stranded thread is used to pick up a line of hair and then remove it, creating a very clean, precise hairline. Eyebrow threading is a preferred hair removal technique for a number of reasons. Unlike tweezing or plucking, eyebrow threading removes one clean line of hair all at once, making it much quicker and easier to shape the brows. For women who would like to pursue a more natural beauty regimen, eyebrow threading is a good choice, since it does not use harmful products and will not harm the skin like wax and some depilatory creams can.

In the United States I pay anywhere from 8-14 dollars for this service today I payed 50 rupees (.84 cents) Yes! I payed less than $1 for my eyebrows and there are other places throughout Udaipur where its way cheaper than 50 rupees. I must say that I am satisfied with outcome as well, I always say that getting your eyebrows done can always give you that extra boost of confidence you need! I defiantly got that as well as a great deal that I could never get outside of India! Namaste.

(Todays information came from: http://eleganteyebrows.weebly.com/history-of-threading.html)

Rinku

Have you ever meet someone and said to yourself "They have been here before"? If no, I mean someones presence and energy is so strong that you feel like they have been to earth before because they posses wisdom and a aurora that can't be taught. Well meet Rinku, this little ball of energy stole my heart the moment I met her. 

Rinku attends the school that I'm working at this summer and she lives in the slums that are adjacent to the school. Although Rinku speaks as much English as I speak Hindi we find ways to communicate through games, handshakes, and me practicing her 7 tables with her. The other day I wasn't too thrilled to be going to work but as soon as I reached the centers and was greeted by Rinku's bright eyes and energetic "Hi Ma'am!" my whole mood shifted and I was so excited to be there.

Rinku has a energy about her that is so raw, genuine, and precious. Her eyes tell a story that unexplainable I pray to God she never looses it!  Everyday this little girl puts a smile on my face! I only hope that in the short time I have left here I am able to impact her life the way she has for me.

CLASSIFIEDS

Every morning as I sip my Chai and eat breakfast (a routine I am thoroughly enjoying) I have gotten in to the habit of reading the newspaper (Its an English Copy). I read about the current events going on in the country and sometimes Op-ed columns that catch my eye. This morning as I was thumbing through the paper the Classifieds  caught my eye in the US I'm used to skipping past the Classifieds because I'm not looking for anything within that section. However these Classifieds were not soliciting jobs, cars, or furniture it was wanted columns for grooms and brides! Yes, a wanted section filled with eligible men and women who were looking to be married. I began to look closely at each ad and chuckled to myself because although I'm well aware that arranged marriage occurs in India I did not know that families went as far as posting advertisements in the newspaper for their sons or daughters.

Arranged marriages have been part of the Indian culture since the fourth century. Many consider the practice a central fabric of Indian society, reinforcing the social, economic, geographic, and the historic significance of India. Arranged marriages serve six functions in the Indian community: 

(1) helps maintain the social satisfaction system in the society

(2) gives parents control, over family members

(3) enhances the chances to preserve and continue the ancestral lineage

(4) provides an opportunity to strengthen the kinship group

(5) allows the consolidation and extension of family property

 (6) enables the elders to preserve the principle of endogamy 

The practice of arranged marriages began as a way of uniting and maintaining upper caste families. Eventually, the system spread to the lower caste where it also was used for the same purpose. The specifics of arranged marriages vary; depending on if one is Hindu or Muslim.” Marriage is treated as an alliance between two families rather than a union between two individuals” . Ninety-five percent of all current Indian marriages are arranged, either through child marriages or family/ friend arrangement. 

On my walk to work this morning I began thinking more about arranged marriages and the benefits they present. In America although it is expected for a young woman to get married it is also somewhat left to her to find a suitable partner. Arranged marriage allows for the families of both the bride and groom to be satisfied (leaving little room for family "drama"). I know arranged marriage is more complex than that but, seeing the Classifieds this morning really made me think of the differences between marriage in the United States and India. Often times westerners criticize arranged marriage on the premise that marriage should be based off of love. Yet in India, the rates of divorce are the lowest in comparison to other countries of the world. The country maintains no statistics on divorce, and the numbers are not staggering by Western standards – anecdotal reports say one in every 100 Indian marriages is now likely to end in divorce, compared to about half in the United States.

I am not advocating for arranged marriage nor am I advocating against it. I'm simply sharing my morning observation and challenging you to consider life from another perspective. Often times we become complacent in tradition and rebuke things that don't fit in our "tradition". Living in a country with such rich and deeply rooted traditions, values, and beliefs has allowed me to look at the traditions I want to bring back with me and create amongst my family. Namaste. 

(Sidenote: As a scholar I need to stick to the practice of citing my work

http://postcolonialstudies.emory.edu/marriage-in-india/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/12/india-divorce-rate-rise_n_848201.html)

Sunday Funday Badi Lake

My work week here in Udaipur consist of 6days a week Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm. I'm not used to this type of schedule therefore anytime to relax and have some fun I try to do so. Majority of the other interns here have the same schedule so relaxing and enjoying the city together is always a highlight of our week. My first time going to swim at the lake I was a little skeptical (lets just say the water isn't crystal clear) however after getting over any feelings I had I jumped right in. The water isn't too cold it is the perfect temperature to cool you off under the hot Indian sun.

A lake in the village of Badi built at a cost of Rs. 688,000 (11,868 USD) by Maharana Raj Singh I (1652-1680) to counteract the devastating effects of a famine. He named it Jiyan Sagar after his mother Jana Devi. The lake covers an area of 155 sq. km., and has an embankment 180 m. long and 18 m. wide, which is graced by three artistic chhatris (kiosks or pavilions). During the drought of 1973, the lake supplied water to the people of Udaipur.

Any body of water has always been my sanctuary there is such a calming sensation that I get whenever I'm in the water. As my time I here quickly reaches the halfway mark I'm glad that I can always look forward to Sunday swimming at Badi Lake for a Peace of Mind. Namaste.

Pav Bhaji

I had this dish that is very reminiscent to chili, it indeed was a comfort food. After one bite I was hooked and I had to know the name. This is my newly found favorite dish in India and my plan is to learn how to cook it so I can come home and make it for my friends and family. I like this dish so much I decided to do a blog post about it!

Pav bhaji is a fast food spicy dish that is native to Mumbai and has now become popular in most metropolitan areas in India. Pav origninates from the Portuguese Pao, which means bread. Bhaji in Marathi means vegetable dish. Pav bhaji consists of bhaji (a thick potato-based curry) garnished with coriander, chopped onion, and a dash of lemon and lightly toasted pav. The pav is usually buttered on all sides.

The origin of this dish is traced to textile mill workers in Mumbai in the 1850s. The mill workers used to have lunch breaks too short for a full meal, and a light lunch was preferred to a heavy one, as the employees had to return to strenuous physical labor after lunch. A vendor created this dish using items or parts of other dishes available on the menu. Roti or rice was replaced with pav and the curries that usually go with Indian bread or rice were combined into just one spicy concoction, the 'bhaji'. Initially, it remained the food of the mill-workers. With time the dish found its way into restaurants and spread over Central Mumbai and other parts of the city. Pav Bhaji is so popular that this dish, can be found on the menu of most Indian restaurants serving fast food in Asia (especially Singapore, Hong Kong), America, UK (London), Switzerland and elsewhere. It has also come to become the staple dish in many Indian diets, due to its simplicity and delicacy. It can be eaten as a snack or as a meal in itself. It is often eaten as an evening snack between lunch and dinner, particularly in western India. In this part, Pav bhaji is available on hand carts and at kiosks. It is also available in hotels and eateries serving fast food. In recent years, Pav bhaji is also consumed as a light evening meal, and is also a party favorite.

Hitch Hiking To Udaipur (Literally)

Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle.

Last week I visited a village that is about 3hrs (by bus) outside of Udaipur. My overall experience in the village was wonderful the hospitality of the people is so sincere and welcoming. However this blog will not be highlighting my experience in Railmagra it will be focusing on my departure from the village. It was about 3:00pm as I set to leave Railmagra with my supervisor and another intern (Both are men). Sidenote: 3pm is the peak of heat in India! As we're standing waiting for the bus to take us back to Udaipur I'm literally drenched in a pool of sweat and the wind seems to be nonexistent that day too, 15mins goes by and the bus comes but does not stop, 10 mins later another bus speeds by as well with no intentions of stopping. In all of my 3wks here I have never heard of  a "full bus" in India there is always room for more. So I'm not sure why these buses didn't stop, at this point all 3 of us are soaking  in sweat and at the point of sunburn and heat stroke, when a huge truck comes rumbling through the main road my supervisor begins jumping up and down trying to grab the drivers attention. The driver stops they exchange words in Hindi and within 2mins I find myself in the front seat of a truck with four men (the driver, his sidekick who isn't photographed, my supervisor, and the other intern).

Initially I was nervous as I was holding on to my backpack for dear life! As I calmed down and realized that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity I began to embrace the experience and take in my surroundings. I was in this truck for about 2hrs and it was bumpy the whole time (which is why the photos are blurry) and as we rolled through various villages I observed India from a different perspective. As our roller coaster of a ride slowly came to an end I hopped out the truck and walked away feeling super adventurous. This was probably my first and last time hitch hiking and I was able to do it through the countryside of India!