A home is where your heart is!!

Home is where my heart is... it means exactly how it reads. To me my home is where my roots belongs, my parents live, where I have seen my childhood, growing up days, where I have fond memories of playing and fighting with my siblings. A home where I have all the liberty to be myself and not trying to pretend or impress anyone else but myself... A home where when I walk, I feel peace, I feel safe, no worries, a place where you always welcomed and wanted.

I was born and brought up in a small district town Hoshangabad situated on the banks of river Narmada. My father shifted his base from UP to here due to his job. Unlike my other blogs I am not recommending anything here but just taking a stroll down memory lane!!!

I can’t go back to the days I was born but recalling those wonderful days always brings smile on my face J .Now as I have grown up I still miss those days and will always cherish the days spent with my siblings playing around in our house. The beauty of a small town, where I belong to is every third person knows you directly or indirectly.

The only outings those times were going to the banks of River Narmada, attending the evening Aarthi, sitting ideally on the Sethani Ghats for hours watching water flowing in reverse direction and watching small ferry walas crossing the river. School Picnic then meant going to Admgadh Pahadi or Tawa Resort, eating out meant having masala dosa or Chinese in Osheen or Rimjim Restaurants that too only during anniversaries or birthdays. Options were limited that time but still we enjoyed and were happy with no regrets and complaints.  

         

The SPM colony where we celebrated all the festivals with utmost joy, be it Diwali, Holi or Narmada Jayanti where the ghat attains the festive look when people from far cities, town or villages came every year to celebrate. Different types of earthen diyas were floated in the river and the whole place enlighten with its light as if the dark sky with millions of stars itself has came down to earth to give its blessings.

Oh!! I sometimes so much miss my childhood , My school, My childhood friends, my teachers, my neighbors, my colony ,my summer vacations... No matter how far I have gone but this place will always holds a special place in my heart where I have spent my precious childhood!!!

But as it says uprooting  is a  harsh truth of  life ,but often ,people are forced to leave their homes and relocate and left behind were the most precious memories of life.

No matter where I go in the future,my roots will always be there where I became me- a Confident ,strong and independent person and I know that I can always come home. After all home is where the heart is.

Murthal - Sukhdev

Murthal’s Paratha 

It was a long weekend or more precisely that week was ending with 3 days consecutive holidays on the occasion of Bakri-Eid including weekly sat-sun off. I was checking Facebook on my Smart phone when it started buzzing, a call from my dear sister whose birthday was falling round the corner, after some usual chit chat and rejecting many places as an option for her birthday bash, we finally decided to go to Murthal which is on NH1 Highway towards Haryana to have some lip smacking food. Till now I have only heard of Murthal and about its famous Dhabahs which offered verities of food and majorly famous for its Stuffed Parantha (Indian bread) but have never got a chance to visit until now, thanks to my dear sister who took us there to celebrate her birthday.

Where the Delhi’s Crowd goes on weekends? Umm may be nearby weekend gateways or may be some just resting at home? (Nahh... not likely), may be Malls, clubs or may be Sarojini, Janpath type market place. Why I am guessing this because it was comparatively less crowded on roads and surprisingly we had not got struck into any traffic jams that evening on our way to Murthal. We had travelled a good distance of around 75 Kms from Delhi to reach this place.

As soon as we reached the outskirts of Delhi, we found an array of resorts, and beautiful wedding banquet halls. After crossing Delhi, clusters of dhabahs can be seen on both the sides of road. These are not the usual dhabahs where you sit under the sky on charpaies but properly built AC dhabha with large parking space. One can find many famous joints like Gulshan ka dhaba, jhilmil, Ahuja, Sukhdev etc. We choose to halt at Sukhdev’s.

The Famed eatery was founded by sardar Prakash Singh in 1956 mainly to cater the needs of truck drivers. Now it is being looked after by his two Sons Amrik and Sukhdev Singh. It is a major landmark on the GT road, known far and wide for its matchless recipes, faultless service and clean ambience to relax & rejuvenate. Initially only simple fare of meal was served but over the years as the patronage grew, they have included everything from North Indian to South Indian food and Chinese to Continental in their menu. I spoke to one of the Boy who was busy serving orders said, this eatery opened daily round the clock for 24 hours and they worked in 12 hours shifts. Despite of so much crowd and 24 hours service, this place was very neat and clean and highly maintained. Washrooms too were very clean and built with granite stone equipped with electric hand dryer.

They have a three part sitting arrangement, first is the outermost which was the self service zone where people can sit and enjoy snacks items, meal was not served here. Second, no air-conditioned zone which was packed to its capacity and you have to wait to grab the empty table. The third was air-conditioned sitting though there is no price or rates difference in all three.

Ppl waiting for an empty table

Crowded

As it was a pleasant evening, we sat in a non AC zone. After grabbing our table we had ordered Paneer tikka, all verities of stuffed Parantha (Aalu pyaz, paneer and mix veg parantha) and Sweet Lassi. The Parantha which came were not the usual fried ones, but the tandoor Parantha with dollops of homemade white butter over it which was so heavenly in taste. I found paneer and aalu pyaz parantha much better than the mix veg one. The paneers in paneer tikka were very thick and properly barbequed dipped in green chutney surrounded with pieces of tomato and capsicum and was literally yummy and unmatched. Service was quick and we enjoyed every bit of it.

Tandoor Paranthe with White Butter

The interesting thing is that most of the dhabahs in that area are pure vegetarian and does not sell non -veg and not even eggs may be because the word Murthal is originated from the compound word ‘Muni Sthal’ meaning a place where saints meditated. This place is a vegetarians’ paradise and makes it a must visit.