I decided
to celebrate the big 33 a little differently this time, partying with a
complete bunch of strangers rather than surrounding myself with people I am
close to, which is the way I like to spend important days, especially ones like
my birthday. This was a curated trail organized by TOI called the Royal Food
Trail in Madhya Pradesh, and given I’m a foodie and the fact that anyone would
love a royal treatment, it made sense to consider a tour like this. Although it
went completely against something Geet would want to do, it eventually turned
out to be one of the best trips we have been on, and here are some of the
highlights:
1)
The
fact that this is organized by TOI, ensured there was sufficient awareness
translating to over 3000 entries, and giving TOI an opportunity to handpick the
24 participants on the Trail. This was probably the best part of the tour, as
it ensured a group of like minded individuals, who got along like a house on
fire, making the entire trip truly memorable.
2)
Some
of the experiences on the trip were totally impossible to replicate. Dining
with the royal family while hearing their stories. Staying in the very rooms
that the Kings and Queens once lived in. Savoring certain delicacies that we
may never get to try again, including some that were prepared by the current
day Maharaja of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh.
3)
Visiting
places like Maheshwar and Dhar that is nearly impossible for people like Geet
and me to have ever considered on our own, and thereafter, having the time of
our lives visiting them.
The whole
tour was a concerted venture between TOI, Yatra.com and the MP Tourism Board.
TOI was largely involved in the branding and scouting for bytes, while
Yatra.com and the MP Tourism Board were somehow trying to keep the act together
in spite of the rants from some of the travelers given a bunch of gaffes on the
trip.
Thursday,
Aug 20
The group
convened outside the Bhopal airport, where Manoj from Yatra.com stood holding a
“Times Passion Trail” board. There were 2 flights each from Bombay and Delhi,
bringing in people from these cities, as well as other cities who took the
connecting flights from Bombay/Delhi given this was the only way to get to
Bhopal. So once everyone came together, we began our journey towards Jahan Numa
Palace where we were to spend Day 1.
Radhika
from the group who was later christened Radhe Ma was the first to make an
impression given her large personality and an even larger voice. She herself
stated that she kept the group entertained during the day while Suraj took over
the reins at night, which was completely true given how the next 4 days
transpired. Suraj was the next person we got to know who picked us out from the
group to have breakfast with, and he was this typical advertising guy who was
never short of pearls to share, some of them being:
·
In today’s digital world, one needs to isolate
one’s self, in order to connect
·
Nothing is real until it is posted in the virtual
world. If it is not on virtual, it is not real.
At
breakfast, I had some of the best Chicken Sausages I’ve ever had. It’s usually
something I don’t enjoy at breakfast, but took it anyway as I wasn’t in the
mood to start with Poha and Bhujia which I knew would be staple for the next
few days given we were in MP. After a good breakfast and even better
conversation, we checked into our second room as the first one that was given
to us just prior to breakfast had 2 individual beds instead of a King bed, one of the earliest gaffes from the OC. We
had to quickly change and meet at a conference table where Sanjay, the main man
from TOI introduced himself, followed by Mr. Gaekwad, the chief architect of
the tour, Anita, a historian that we were supposed to take tips from, but was
completely ignored by pretty much everyone in the group, and lastly Mr. Syed
Akhtar sahab, probably one of the most articulate octogenarians we have met.
The session
was an introduction to the tour that was to unravel itself, which included
Akhtar sahab taking us through a long
list of 50 dishes that hail from MP, including 13 different types of Roti from
here.
He also spoke of some of the historic monuments at
Bhopal, which included one of the largest and well as one of the smallest
mosques in the world, a big lake called Bada Thalab, that was actually man made
as our ancestors here were asked to bathe in 7 different types of water bodies in
order to cure themselves of diseases, and there were only 6 lakes in the
vicinity which prompted the king to commissione the creation of Bada Thalab
which would be the 7th water body that his subjects could use. Akhtar
sahab had a wealth of information, and spoke with a dry sense of humour that
kept all of us listening with rapt attention in spite of the lack of sleep on
everyones faces given the early morning travel everyone undertook.
Post this session, we had a short 1 hour DYOT which we quickly used to freshen up and change to “semi-casuals” which was the prescribed
attire for the dining sessions during this trail as we would be meeting
dignitaries, and Sanjay had already met and chided me on wearing shorts which I
did thinking we would get some time at least once we land and checkin.
Anyway, we got into the bus and prepared ourselves for
a journey to our lunch destination, and we reached in about 2 minutes, as the
hotel was just down the road. We were wondering why we even needed a bus ride
for this.
The lunch venue was at Rail Coach Restaurant, which
was a restaurant created out of an actual train. It was so authentic that when
people walk in, you can actually feel the train shake, giving the aging shock
absorbers in the trains underbelly, providing the impression of the train being
in motion. They even set up TV screens for windows on one side, which had a
scenery video on loop to once again add to the effect. Even the entrance was
just like that of a train station, as there was an entire platform with sign
boards around the train restaurant. We were just admiring all of this, with HP
for company, who we were having a first and last serious conversation with, as
he turned out to be the next funniest in the gang after Suraj and Radhika, when
suddenly some well built security guards started walking around the restaurant
with the organizers and we started to get the feeling that somebody important
is going to join us. Within a few minutes, there was some commotion outside,
and we started to strain ourselves out to see who it was, and it actually
turned out to be Shivraj Chouhan, CM of MP! He entered the restaurant from the
door where we were the very first table, and happily shook hands with all of us
there. He then sat on one of the tables for a brief moment, laying out some
sound bytes, before stepping out for some photo ops that all the participants
were thronging to be a part of. 
Geet and I were obviously not being very pushy
and found ourselves lining the corners, because of which we got cut out when
the photo actually appeared in the next days TOI edition, but we still managed
to get a “selfie” with him that Geet very nicely went and asked him for. The
whole thing was quite an experience that caught us completely off guard, and was
a really neat touch by the organizers.
After the tryst with politics, we got back to food,
the reason we were here in the first place, with a culinary experience of the
Bundelkhandi cuisine. We had Dal Soup, Gujan ki Sabji (an Arbi dish), Indrahar
(a Kofta curry), Bhata Bharta (from which we got a really strong flavor of
mustard) and Peas Muna, which we had with Lochai (poori) and Bhopali Veg
Biryani, and finally topped them off with Bhopali Jamun that is like the Jamuns
we get here, but with an interesting filling. The entire menu was vegetarian,
which we got to know was arranged given the presence of a government dignitary
there, but we didn’t really complain as just about every dish tasted brilliant.
I was also surprised to know that all dishes were prepared with mustard oil, although the flavor was strong only in the Bharta given the cooking style.
Post a scrumptious lunch, the group decided to walk
back given the short distance, and catch up on another short 1 hour DYOT before
we stepped out again to visit a museum nearby followed by a boat ride on the
Bada Thalab. The museum was really impressive for an Indian one. Most museums
we see here start and end before you realize it, and the ones abroad tend to go on and
on. This one was a really huge and well designed museum, with
artifacts from all around the country, describing the origin of the human
civilization, starting from Homo Sapiens to the various tribes that exist even
today.
This was followed up with a boat ride that offered one
of the best sunset views we have ever seen. The Bada Thalab is a really big
lake and you are constantly getting the view of the sunset from different
angles and backgrounds, and Geet and I went ballistic on the photos.
I was just thinking to myself that I possibly could
not have asked for a better birthday, in spite of the fact that nobody around
me knew about it, as the lunch and sunset were truly great experiences on their
own. But the highlight of the day was actually still to come.
Geet and I changed into dinner attire once we returned
from the boat ride, and walked up to the dining area which was completely
transformed with candle lights all around the entrance arch, followed by lights that lined up the lawns leading up the grand ball room. It was the prettiest
setup we have even seen at a dinner that wasn’t someone’s wedding, and my
elation knew no bounds when I noticed Chivas being served at the bar. I quickly
got to downing a few drinks with Galauti Kababs and Chicken Liver Quiche, when members of the Royal Family here began
interacting with us. There were 4 couples in all, which included the parents,
two sons and a nephew with their spouses. The parents were grandchildren of
General Obaidullah Khan, who was the last of the Begums that ruled Bhopal, and
it was interesting to hear about the matriarchal style of leadership that
existed here in the 19th and early 20th century. The
younger couples that we were chatting with were really cool people to hang out.
They have studied abroad, worked in Bombay, and now run this property along
with 2 others that the family still owns.
Just as we were chatting with all of them, I notice a
cake being brought out with my name on it. Geet was busy with Sanjay a while
back, and I figured now that this is what she was plotting. I cut the cake just
as the Qayali band singing in the background all this while started “happy
birthday to you” in Qayali style. Listening to them, cutting the cake, and
being wished by everyone in the group, it was something I could never have
thought would happen.
The night only got even better from here, as when we
got into the grand ball room, Geet and I noticed our names right next to one of
the royal couples, and we spent the rest of the night chatting away with Lady
Anjali Jaisalmer, who is a descendent of a Rajasthan Royal Family, a Hindu
Pathan, who married the Muslim Pawars of Bhopal. She was regaling us with
stories of how their wedding created a lot of news given a Hindu Muslim union
among Royalty that was completely unheard of, and more importantly, how she
practices Islam right now, and abstaining from all alcohol, in spite of being a
complete socialite most of her life.
Throughout dinner, not only were we engaged in a deep
discussion with her, but were continuously served food and drinks by waiters
who just stood behind us at all points of time, when not in the process of
bringing the next dish, that it looked like we could just snap our fingers and
they would appear next to you the next instant. We were served dish after dish
of complete extravaganza, and even learned a lot about them:
·
Dungar Mutton: Dungar is Onion skin that is
fried, and with minced mutton, the taste was simply divine
·
Bateyr: This is Quail here, and although the
meat was not something I tried, the gravy was awesome
·
Mutton Nihari: Absolutely the tastiest Mutton
Gravy to date
·
Machi ki Sheekh: Never knew Sheekh kababs could
be made from fish as well! And another interesting trivia here was that Sheekh
was the kabab format used for the working class, which Galauti or Kakori was
used for the royals. Of course, we were trying out different cuisines from that
era, and made sense to try some dishes that even the working class used to have
back then
·
Yakhni Pulao: Again, the tastiest Mutton Rice I’ve
ever had. And another tidbit here; Pulao is again the delicacy for the Royalty,
while Biryani was for the working class. Difference was that Pulao is cooked in
the meat stock while Biryani is just Dum style
There were a whole host of dishes and I’ve mentioned
the top ones here, and the way they were being served, we were completely full
after the first round of starters and main course with Roti and gravy. So when
they gave the palette cleanser, I thought it was a dessert, given it was paan
flavoured kulfi on ice cubes. I was in for a complete shock when they served
the highlight main course, Yakhni Pulao, just after this. But somehow the
palette cleanser had actually done the trick, and we gorged on the Pulao as well.
After all of this, the dessert comes by, and by this time we were seriously
starved for space in the stomach, so Geet and I just took one dish between the
2 of us. Right across the table were Kapil, Sahana and HP, and they ended up
taking only 1 dish between all 3 and giving us smiles from there. In spite of
starting out with the noble intention to only take a few bites from the 3
desserts that were offered on 1 plate, Geet and I still devoured the Shahi
Tukda, again the most brilliant Shahi Tukda we’ve ever had.
All in all, it was just the most wonderful dinner we
have ever been a party of. The Royal Family were such a delight to hang out
with. Geet even exchanged numbers with Anjali, and we chatted around for a bit
more time before we got back to our rooms to crash out.
Friday,
August 21
I
diligently woke up early and landed at the breakfast counter by 8am which was
the time given to us to assemble, and found nobody else apart from 2 waiters
still trying to set the place up. So I called Manoj from Yatra.com, and he too
groggily picked up his phone. So I realized people were pretty passed out from
the party the previous night, which in itself was a stretch as nobody got any
rest for the whole day after a Red Eye flight in the morning. So I got back to
my room and found Geet attending some work calls and furiously tapping away at
her laptop at the same time.
So I
basically had too much free time for myself and decided to hit the 25mt long
swimming pool, followed by an awesome sauna that was available on the premises.
Post a refreshing work out, we caught up with the rest of the crew at 9:30am
and enjoyed the sausages and poha once again at Jahan Numa before we checked
out and began our long journey towards Maheshwar.
We traveled
for 2 hours and took a lunch break at a place called Dodi where Radhika was
joking saying it belonged to the Dodi of Al Fayad. Suraj had smartly packed
some Yakhni Pulao from the previous night, that one of the “royal” waiters
promptly parceled for him when he asked them to, and both of us were chomping
on it as the spread available was once again vegetarian just like the previous
day. We were craving for some beer as well, and Sanjay very nicely had some
stock in his caravan, which was a separate vehicle that was following our bus
everywhere, much to the contempt of the people on board. Suraj, HP and a few
others had a bit of this beer that was available in the caravan, along with the
Yakhni Pulao and a few dishes that were once again really good – the Sabudana
Kichdi for example. It had pomegranate and peanuts in it, and tasted nothing
like the crap you get in Bombay.
We
continued on our journey after lunch, and weren’t even allowed to take a tea
break during the long 4 hour travel, as we wanted to catch the sunset at
Maheshwar. The ride didn’t seem as long though, as we were being entertained by
Mr. Amit Bhardwaj, the photographer on the tour, who turned out to be far more
than just a photographer. He kept cracking one joke after another, and people
like Radhika and Suraj who were the entertainment so far were also spellbound
to hear the stuff Amit was cracking. He made the lousy planning and terrible
driving by our bus driver feel much lighter, and we ended up reaching Hotel
Akhilya Fort well after dusk missing the entire sunset, and once again had very
little time to quickly change and congregate at the sit out area.
Geet and I
took our time to get ready though, as we just couldn’t get over the room that
was given to us. Being one of the only three couples on board, and having
celebrated a birthday the previous day, the organizers decided to give the best
room available on the property to the two of us. 
It was called Nagarkhana and
was situated outside the main property, on elevated stilts, such that it oversaw
the main Maheshwar Temple, the Narmada river just behind that, which was a view
that was directly visible from either the bed in the room itself, or the
humongous balcony available just outside the room. This was apparently the
actual bedroom where Queen Akhilyabai Holkar used to stay once upon a time,
and their family was known to have done done so much for the people here, that
the airport at Indore is actually credited to them and called Akhilyabai Holkar
airport.
Once we got
ready and stepped out to the dining area, we met Mr. Richard Holkar, who is the
current descendent of this very family, and chatted with him as we soaked in
the brilliant view of the Narmada that was visible from this place. There were
once again really good drinks available, and the entire group came dressed up
looking really grand. We enjoyed
some traditional Maheshwari cuisine after this, which included Katahal
(jackfruit) Pulao, Goolar (Plum) Duck, Corn Kichdi (probably the best version
of Kichdi I’ve had till date) and many other dishes that were finally topped
with a dessert that was fruit stuffing in a poached apple. The entire meal was
simply stunning, served by a bunch of waiters that were not as grand as the
ones at Jahan Numa, but just as efficient, as they were managed by an
incredible lady who lived here called Kunta Bai. Geet spent a lot of time
chatting with her and even tipped her graciously before leaving, as she felt
Kunta Bai reminded her a lot of her late Grandma.
After lunch
we checked out the only other room apart from ours that was located outside the
main property, called Maharaja Tent, where Sahana and Priyanka were staying. This
was an actual Tent set up on the lawn to maximize the space available, and
offered an equally brilliant view like the one we had, but instead of a
balcony, they had a small indoor pool where they could sit in.
Quite a lot
of people looking for a night cap landed up here and were preparing themselves
for a Laphroig bottle that HP had brought with him, but Geet and I were just not
in the mood for it given how much food we had just stuffed ourselves with. So
after chatting around for a bit, we hit Nagarkhana and slept like logs.
Saturday,
August 22
Geet and I
woke up to a beautiful view of the sunrise, visible direct from our bed as we
intentionally kept the curtains open in order to enjoy this view in the
morning. The sight of the sun, albeit covered by clouds, marked with the views
of the temple and river, completed one of the best morning views for us. We got ready early and took a walk down to the Narmada river, where a huge
bunch of people dressed in orange were taking their morning dips as part of
their religious rites in the river. It was one of those religious sights you
see being romanticized on documentaries of India. I was beginning to get a
craving to take a dip myself in the river, but decided to favor my better
judgment and simply continue behaving as tourists and taking more photos.
Once we got
back, Mr Gaekwad was explaining to us over breakfast how the location of
Akhilyabai Fort is in such a manner that you are likely to sleep completely
dreamless and really deep. This was actually true for us, and apparently for
everyone else as well as they completely agreed with him.
Over
breakfast, I ordered Scrambled Egg in Maheshwari style, which was eggs that had
carrot and some herbs as stuffing and tasting gorgeous. I had these with bacon,
which was a beautiful fusion dish that I just couldn’t seem to get enough of.
Geet ordered the same dish, but in Omelet version, and Kapil and Bimmy from the
group also ordered the same dishes after trying it out from us.
A quick
DYOT session after breakfast, we started off once again towards the banks of
the river for a boat ride that was arranged for us. The entire group went on 3
boats to a temple that was located bang in the middle of the river, were some
people in the group got off to pay their respects, while the lazier ones like
us remained on the boats while Amit continued taking our photos and cracking
jokes like “thoda fitness dikhayie pls”.
There were
just the basics that Kunta Bai had prepared; Luchi with Dal and Paneer Palak,
Rice with Mutton Roganjosh, and the dishes were simply out of the world. The
Mutton Roganjosh with plain rice was just the most delectable Mutton Gravy dish
we’ve had and none of us could stop ourselves from repeating it over and over
again. Sipping on beer from glasses that were shaped like the conches that were
probably used to announce the arrival of kings back in the day only added to
the effect, and the group of us that included Radhika, Archana, Kapil, Bimmy,
HP, Sahana, Suraj, Geet and me, sat on a table in a room that was away from the
rest, which was perfect for us given the amount of noise we generated. It was
an absolute blast of a lunch before we once again hit the road for another slow
bus ride. Amit joined the group to once again provide the entertainment, and
just before dusk set in, we reached our Hotel at Mandu. Now this Hotel was a
huge disappointment given how the last 2 days were. The rooms were dilapidated,
and the only saving grace was the view of the lake from the rooms. But we
weren’t complaining much as we already savoured some amazing moments so far,
and moreover, were only spending a very short time at this Hotel here, as we
would be driving to Dhar, 30kms away in Innovas for dinner later in the night.
Again a
quick 1 hour DYOT session followed, after which the boys were asked to assemble
earlier in order to get turbans tied on our heads. All of us wore our best
formals and headed towards Dhar for the Darbar that was setup there for us. It
was a fairly awkward session when it started off, as we were asked to stand up
one by one and salute to the Maharajah who was announced on to the throne in
the typical fashion we have seen on old soaps. Then there was some singing
about the stories of the dynasty here. Finally we were asked to compulsorily
take a tour of the palace when all we really wanted to do was grab a drink. It
was at this point that one of the members of the royal family came up to us and
in polished English, which completely defied the attire he wore, implored us
to be less formal and go ahead and have a drink first. They were offering
drinks that were not of the same quality we were getting earlier, but Old Monk
was still available in the 12 year old edition, and that was more than enough
for me.
When we
began drinking and having the food from here, we realized that all of this
setup was nowhere near the class of royalty we experienced so far on this trip,
but the incredible thing was the effort they put in organizing this. The
entire Royal Family went about doing their chores and serving all of us
throughout the evening, and didn’t have a morsel of food or drink on their own.
The food was also prepared by them, with some of the dishes cooked by the
Maharajah himself. Suraj kept joking saying that cooks from Bihar are anyway
called Maharaj and hence its not very different. But the fact was that these
people were indeed descendents of the kings from here, and today don’t have
anything to show for it, apart from trying really hard to give us a whiff of the
royalty that once existed. We really felt bad for all of them here and
completely mesmerized by how the royal family treated us.
There was
one time towards the end when each of us were called up by Sanjay and the
Maharajah handed out Silver Cuff Links for all the boys, and when the girls
were being called up, he didn’t like the gifts that were being given to them,
and instead asked his staff to get some silverware from the house itself.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough silverware to give to all the girls there,
and the Maharajah was so upset that he said he will personally ensure all the
girls got their gifts once they get back, as he wasn’t happy with the gifts
that were currently available. That was just too sweet of him. At the end of it
all, the Maharajah even made a closing speech, and when he was done, gave the
mic to his wife to speak as well, and even she spoke articulately in English. I
was completely stumped by their diction, knowledge and character, all of it in
spite of living in near poverty. The poverty is not really an exaggeration, as
there was one time when we were trying to go the loo, and were asked to use the
one in the Maharajah’s bedroom itself rather than the public one outside, and
even his own bathroom was barely holding itself together.
Overall, it
was actually a humbling experience for us, with the only loss being the
inability to enjoy the food here all that much. There were some dishes among
the starters that we enjoyed, like the Kaleji (Mutton Liver), Mutton Samosa,
Corn Kachori and Maratha Fish Fry. The main course consisted of some dishes
like Black Fowl Chicken and Egg Halwa that we were looking forward to, but
really didn’t taste that great. But the good thing about not eating too much
was that we ended up drinking long into the night sitting out at the lawn once
we returned to the Hotel in Mandu with the entire gang. There were surprisingly
a huge group of people who congregated for the night cap, including the organizers,
being the last day we were out here.
We kept
cracking jokes through the night, and got back to our rooms only once we
finished the bottle of Laphroig along with some of the remanents of the 12 year
OMR that we picked from the Durbar.
Sunday,
August 23
Breakfast was
extremely basic at Hotel Mandu and we began our journey towards Indore by about
11am. We were to reach by 1pm, grab lunch and Geet and I would be the first
ones leaving from the group as we had an earlier flight at 3:30pm. But by the
time we reached, it was past 2pm, and Geet and I barely made it to the airport. The rest of the group leaving to Bombay had a flight at 5pm, and they too ended up
missing lunch given some sessions that were planned prior to the last meal. So
for all of the Bombay folk, the awesome lunch at Maheshwar the previous day was
pretty much the last good meal we had for the trip.
It was a
bit disappointing with the organizing, as the entire trip felt like they were
just about trying to keep it together, rather than going an extra mile to
create delight. It may have been expected given it was being organized by the
Times, with so much of hoopla going behind some of the moments along the trip
like the CM visiting us, meeting Richard Holkar, and dining with the royals
from different regions, some of which were even covered in the TOI editions.
But anyway, I really didn’t want to complain too much as they did give us some
moments that would last a lifetime, the most important of which were the
friends we made over this trip. Something we are sure will stick for a long
time given we share one very important passion – Food!
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