|
 Some
of my fondest memories of growing up are the visits to the
exhibitions (rather eggibition in the local slang!) aka
porutkatchis that made regular appearances in summer and the
festival season at the neighborhood school grounds. It was such
an exciting event and my brother and I used every trick in the
book to visit the exhibitions more than once. It involved quite
some planning, the first is to convince mom and dad to take us,
and then to granny and grandpa and finally the cheap trick to
convince our young cousins to pester their parents (our uncle
and aunt) to take us along. And off we went! The merry family
ohing and ahhing over everything.
 The
smell of the dust mingled with assorted fried foods, the
dripping ice creams, the sweaty bodies added another dimension
to the whole evening. And did I forget to mention the blaring
loudspeakers? Lit up like a birthday cake, the exhibition was a
sight set to attract people of all ages. The milagai bhajjis,
Delhi appalams, karumbu charu and the pink panju mittais were a
treat. Fast food, the Indian style served on disposable plates,
made our mouth water and yeah, we went to the exhibitions for
the cheap trinkets, the thrilling rides and the amazing food!
And guess what, the tradition and rituals of
exhibitions and fairs are universal around the world. The state
fair of Texas is held every year in Dallas in the months of
September and October and I decided to visit it this year.
Definitely bigger than any exhibition I had ever been to, the
Texas state fair showcases and sells not just the typical
household items but also ranch animals like cows, pigs, goats.
So in the market for a painted pony? Just head out to the state
fair.
 Quite
a change from the typical fair foods I was used to in India, the
Texas state fair does offer some yummy food. Corn on the cob
with butter and cayenne chili powder for the kick, corny dogs,
fried cheesecake, fried bananas with chocolate and nuts and
cream, fried coke, fried cookie dough, fried latte and the list
goes on! Yes! I know many of these names sound really weird and
yucky but believe me they taste amazing. Just reinforcing my
belief anything fried and sold in the fair tastes good.
Oh yeah, it is nowhere close to the
eggibitions from my childhood but something is definitely better
than nothing. Stop by, say ‘Howdy to Big Tex’ (the official
mascot of the fair), show unwanted stuff, dream about expensive
luxuries, listen to loud blaring music, ride the skyway and try
your luck at some of the game stalls, attend a few shows and top
off with some amazing fair food!
But be warned it will leave the desi in you
carving for real eggibition food: milagai bhajjis and Delhi
appalams here I come!
- V
http://poohsden.blogspot.com/
|
