Chef Ranveer Brar’s Nostalgia moment from Belagavi

Since Chef Ranveer Brar introduced the Kardant from Belagavi in Master Chef India, he has been the talk of the town and we found this wonderful post from his blog about his visit to Belagavi then, when he was introduced to Kardant, Alipak, and Mande amongst other delicacies.

This post – Time for Nostalgia – is from when he was visiting MK Swamy bakery as part of a Food tour, where he stopped near St.Paul’s high school Camp Belagavi.

The Chef says –

One day, while shooting for a show near a school in Belagavi, I ambled around watching the vendors that typically wait outside school gates. One elderly Bhutta vendor came over and handed me a bhutta saying – “तुम भुट्टा इतने प्यार से देख रहे थे.. लो खाओ” (“You were looking at the roasted corn so longingly, here…take one“), just that.. and he left.

As I walked near of St. Paul’s school in Camp Belagavi, a simple gesture from a street vendor triggered a flood of memories. It reminded me of the vendors outside his school in Lucknow, also named St. Paul’s. These vendors had a unique quality that Ranveer had never fully appreciated before. Perhaps it was because they dealt with children that they still retained a sense of innocence beyond the realm of business.

As kids, we never realized the patience with which they catered to the chaos around them. They would hand out their wares, such as chavanni (25 paise), and if we fell short of a few paise, they would coolly ask us to bring it the next day. They would even add extra portions of chooran, ber, or Ram laddoo to our paper bags as compliments. We would leave with a simple thank you, feeling lucky and happily munching away.

It was only later in life that we realized that these extra portions were part of how they made their living. As we move on in life, we reminisce about our school days, teachers, and friends, but we rarely remember these vendors. However, that day, standing outside another St. Paul’s nearly two decades later, a gentleman named Nizaam chacha stirred my emotions inexplicably.

This experience made me realize that we often overlook the small things in life that make a big difference. It’s important to appreciate the people who make our lives easier, even if they are just street vendors. They may not be remembered as vividly as our childhood friends, but they play an important role in shaping our memories.