You hardly need the locals of Indore to tell you that it’s the cleanest city in the country. The evidence could not be more stark everywhere you look. But every second person you meet will tell you how it’s topped the charts for several years running. They are extremely proud of it.
I arrived at Indore yesterday morning nestled in another sleeper bus; though I spent the night mostly sleepless, peering into the moonlit sky as the voice of Shreya Goshal sang Marathi into my ears and the wind whistled into the compartment, the curtains going haywire.
Yesterday can be well summed up as a discovery of food; a dive into Indore’s sumptuous delicacies. After all, I was too tired to do anything but eat. Just a 20 minute walk from my hotel lies a street-food market called Chappan Dukan. (Dukan is the Hindi word for shop). It is resplendent. Food stall after food stall lines each side and the whole place is exceptionally clean. It almost feels like I’m in a different country. Chappan Dukan is one of Indore’s main food hubs and sells quality street food. Just take a look…
But that was all yesterday… today I made straight to Chappan Dukan for breakfast. But instead of stopping at any of the enticing food stalls, I kept going, making my way right down to the end of the street.
For at the very end of Chappan Dukan lies an excellent coffee shop – almost hidden by the buzz of the eateries engulfing the lane. It is called the Habit Coffee Lounge, and it is fair to say that I will be making a habit of going here every morning for the next few days.
After a latte, a veggie burger and chips it was back onto the market street of Chappan Dukan where I almost instantly met a guy sitting on a bench. He called out to me so I sat down to talk to him. He told me he came to this same spot every day, just so he could sit and stare at the waitress in the cafe opposite. He loved her, he told me. But he has only spoken to her once. He doesn’t have a job. There aren’t enough jobs to go around apparently. So, he comes to this bench everyday to sit and watch the girl of his dreams. He sat with his left leg crossed over his right. He told me how to say have a lucky day in Hindi.
‘Aapka din subre’
I wished him a lucky day and headed off.
Come dinner-time, I was far from the glorious Chappan Dukan and walked into a restaurant named Nafees. I was very surprised to be told not to have a korma as it would be too spicy for me. But I accepted the waiter’s recommendation and opted for the butter chicken. But the butter chicken wasn’t even a little spicy – just how pathetic did this guy think my palate was? The butter chicken wasn’t bad, but I felt like I was eating baby food. I couldn’t believe I’d been too scared to order a damn korma. I swore to myself I would come back to Nafees before leaving Indore and make a point of ordering the damn korma…
I’ve only been in Indore for two days, but already it seems to me that it’s not only India’s cleanest city, but its tastiest as well. Though there is still plenty of time for that to be challenged…
