There have been many memories made this year in different places. Chai stalls and parking lots, sofas and metro stations, in the darkness of a cinema hall and in the eyes of a new friend.
However the memory that I carry into 2025 is the tale of the over enthusiastic falooda wallah.
I'd gone on a solo trip to Hyderabad and crashed with friends who did a fine job of hosting me, showing me the sights of the city and encouraging me to explore. It was during a particular dinner where I experienced Mandi for the first time that this story begins. My friends Vijju and Ani soon learnt that I had never had falooda in my life, and so learning they declared that tonight was the night!
And so we found ourselves, me in a kurta and jeans and Vijju and Ani in the outfits they wore to office, standing next to a falooda cart where the falooda wallah, upon finding out that it was my first time having this dessert, decided it would be the best dessert he could fashion.
In went the candied fruits, the kesar and the malai, in went the chocolate sauce and syrups and this massive dessert was given to me, with a red spoon to slurp it up slowly, while Ani clicked away and Vijju grinned as I strugged with the overflowing glass.
And this memory is what I'll send 2024 with- the love of a streetside falooda vendor who just wanted the child in me to have the best falooda he could think of.
Goodbye, 2024. You have been an experience!
The Bilge Master
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