Some simple joys of life… when people had time, when catching up was not over smart phone chats but, involved meeting someone in person and interacting face-to-face. There is a term in Gujarati we use for such leisurely catching up/chit-chat called ‘Gappa marva’. Honestly, one of the favourite time-pass activity is a rarity these days, so is this habit of eating shing/peanuts + chana a luxurious snack from the past. Infact, Shing-Chana eating supported livelihood of professionals called Bhaad-Bhunjo. Bhaad means both kiln and Kadahi in which the groundnuts, chickpeas, melon seeds were sand roasted, where grains like jowar, rajgira, maize kernels were brought in to be popped up/dhani making, where rice was puffed to make murmure/mamra. Bhunjvu means roasting and Bhaad-Bhunjo was the person who practiced this profession. Most neighbourhoods had a corner shop for this while in the countryside there was one amidst few villages. As this profession becomes oblivion so has the joy of enjoying such simple and filling snacks and the art of catching up. I mentioned luxurious because peanuts were an expensive snack and each bowl would have more roasted chana/chickpeas to peanuts. Mum always shared how her mother added few kankara/kankar/stones to the shared bowl of Shing-Chana so the kids would refrain from taking fistful but, pick them one at a time. It ensured the snack lasted long and the brood remained occupied for some more time while she finished her chores… I remember dad asking us to chew one peanut 25 times before reaching out for the next one in the bowl … don’t know how we did it 😂 Peanuts, Chickpeas and Chai are always in abundance in Gujarat. All we need is family, friends and time to enjoy them ❤️
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