DUSTY PLATFORMS, TICKETLESS TRAVEL AND GHUGNI TO DIE FOR

There is this railway station in South Bengal called Naihatti where we used to board the train for Kolkatta (then Calcutta). I never saw the ticket counter of this station, for buying a ticket would amount to social boycott in the ladies hostel. It was one of the traditions in the university that the girls always travelled ticket less. So during the few months spent in the university I experienced ticket less train journeys whenever we went to Kolkatta. Looking back I think it was a survival strategy since going to Kolkatta took 3 hours and we got just 10 hours leave from the hostel to go to Kolkatta and back and see a movie, shop and eat. 6 hours went in the journey, 3 hours for a movie and just 1 hour for shopping and eating.....the time was too less. Boys never had to bother about not getting back to the hostel in time so didn't think the long ticket queues were a waste of time. Anyway all I remember about Naihatti is dashing to the platform from the bus stand and gobbling a plate of ghugni before boarding the train. I had eaten ghugni all my life since it was one of the things my mother invariably prepared on all occasions but nothing had prepared me for this stuff. It was hot, spicy, tangy and dusty and priced amazingly (just Rs 2/plate!!).

Ghugni is a eastern cousin of choley. Its a thick yellow curry made with dried peas/matar or chickpeas/Kabuli chana and is very versatile can be eaten with rice, bread , moori(puffed rice), chanachur you name it or simply by itself also.

Coming to Naihatti's special tangy, spicy and dusty ghugni- the ghugniwala would add a liberal dose of chanchur, raw onions, coriander leaves, chopped green chillies and top it all with a slurpy tamarind sweet chutney and a sliver of fresh coconut and and and a train would go whooosh!!! coating the entire mixture with a fine layer of dust. I bet the dust did the magic since I tried making the stuff at home many times but it never tastes as good.